The Melting Pot 2.0/The Melting Pot 2.0.iso/food/soups/potato05

Text File | 1995-09-27 | 3.9 KB | 85 lines

Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Potato Soup
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 17:47:52 GMT


Here's my tater soup recipe.  As a variation, I sometimes top it with diced
fresh avocado.  Anyway, it differs from traditional potato soup in that it
aims for a thinner, lighter taste, both through the skim milk, lack of butter,
and red vermouth.  Enjoy.

INGREDIENTS
-----------
4 medium Idaho potatoes
1 Tbs whole wheat flour
5 cups skim milk
1 cup water
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 shallots
2 roma tomatoes
pinch rosemary (refuse to apologize to her about this)
pinch saffron
1 cup red vermouth (ideally red vermouth, though white will do if absolutely
            necessary; do not substitute red wine for the vermouth,
            however.  Besides, vermouth is cheap.)
1/4 c. white vermouth
2 Tbs olive oil (use extra virgin -- it smells so much better)
--------
Peel potatoes and dice into cubes the size you want in your soup.
Peel and dice onion and shallots; peel and chop garlic.

In a large stockpot, pour the olive oil and heat over medium to low
heat (around 4 on an electric range, unless you have copper pots and pans,
in which case make it more like 3 or even between 2 and 3).  When you
smell the aroma that indicates the olive oil has heated, toss in the garlic,
onions, shallots, and rosemary.  Stir a little bit, enough to cook reasonably
evenly, but no need to go nuts.  Keep an eye on things untill the onion
turns translucent, but don't wait for things to turn brown.

Pour in the skim milk, the water, and the diced potatoes.  Cover; increase
heat on range in order to bring to a boil.  Once it's boiling, reduce heat
to low, so that the soup can simmer.

Heat the cup of red vermouth for 10 seconds in the microwave--enough to
warm it a little, but not really beyond that.  Throw the pinch of saffron
into the cup of heated red vermouth.  This will soften the strands of
saffron.  Let stand for 10 minutes or so while the soup simmers.  Pour
the saffron/vermouth mixture into the soup, making sure you get every last
precious saffron strand in.  (Be compulsive about this--the stuff is
pricey.)  Let the soup simmer for another 40 minutes to an hour.

While the soup is simmering, wash the roma tomatoes, cut them in half,
and scrape out the seeds with your fingers.  Take a cheese grater and
place it over a bowl.  Run the tomato halves over the largest holes in
the grater, with the sliced side facing the holes.  This will take the
pulp off the tomato skin, but the skin won't go through the holes, so
your fingers will be safe, and you'll be left with a skin (which you may
eat) and a bowl of just tomato pulp (which is what you'll use in the
rest of this recipe).

Once the tomato pulp has been extracted, heat a teflon skillet over
low heat, dry, or a small skillet with just enough olive oil
or cooking spray on it to keep the dry heat from damaging your pan.
Pour in the tomato pulp and the quarter cup white vermouth.  Let the
pulp cook down a little bit, so that it's no longer a runny liquid, but
don't let the pulp burn.  What you'll have is a nice tomato puree, with
a little vermouth taste giving it a slight kick.  Remove from heat.

When the soup is ready, pour it into a bowl, of course.  Then take
a teaspoon, scoop up some of the tomato puree, and put a dallop in
the center of the soup.  It will float, and the red puree against the
backdrop of the off-white soup (with some reddish hues from the red
vermouth, but mostly still white) makes a wonderful presentation.
Serve immediately.  If you want to really impress people, put a salad
plate under the bowl in which you intend to serve the soup.  Chop some
fresh chives, and sprinkle the pieces around the plate before you set the
bowl on it (aiming for the edges, since the bowl will of course cover
the center).

--Jack Stecher
[e-mail]