Best Potato Soup Ala Chef Dennis & Eggs In Purgatory

Sandwiched between a Thursday of 72F and a predicted Saturday of sunny and mid-50’s was a Friday of rain and 42F which seemed perfect for a fire and soup.  Plus, Bev and Pat would be coming home at an unknown time from a few days in Gatlinburg making eat-anytime-soup the ideal meal.

One of Bev’s favorite soups is potato but hers contains only potatoes, butter and liquid and is garnished with bacon, cheese, etc.  But I prefer to have those things cooked into my soup so when Chef Dennis posted the recipe for Best Potato Soup on his “Ask Chef Dennis” blog, I decided to make it for something different.  To ensure leftovers, I increased the recipe by 50% to get the one below and I changed the cooking process a little.  The original recipe plus some good how-to pics can be found by clicking on the above link.

Best Potato Soup – Adapted from Ask Chef Dennis

The Ingredients:

9 strips bacon diced, divided

4½ tbsp. butter unsalted or salted

1½ cup onion chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp. all purpose flour

3¾ cups chicken broth

3 cups milk 

3 lbs. potatoes, peeled and diced

¾ tsp. salt to taste

¾ tsp. black pepper to taste

1½ -3 cups water start with one cup and add more if needed though the simmering process.

¾ cup heavy cream

1 cup shredded cheddar (added by Larry)

bacon optional – diced and cooked for garnish

cheddar cheese optional – shredded for garnish

Thin sliced green onion tops - garnish

sour cream optional – garnish

The Directions:

1. Add the bacon to a large pot and cook over medium heat until the bacon begins to crisp up. Remove 1/3 of the bacon to use as a topping.  Tilt the pan and spoon out excess bacon grease.

2. Add butter and the chopped onion to the pot and continue to cook over medium heat until the onions are tender (3-4 minutes).

3. Add the chopped garlic to the pot and cook for about 30 seconds.

4. Add the flour to the pot and stir to blend together with the butter and bacon grease. This is your roux which will thicken the soup.

5. Let the mixture cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour.

6. Add the chicken stock to the pan and whisk until well blended. Bring to a light boil over medium heat, then add the milk to the pot and whisk together.

7. Add the diced potatoes, salt, and pepper to the pot, mix together, and bring to a light boil, then reduce to low heat and cook for 30-45 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.

8. *Depending on how thick the soup is add 1 – 2 cups of water to thin the soup out while the potatoes cook. (Larry added none)

9. Remove half of the potatoes from the soup and set aside. (Larry remove ¾ of the potatoes)

10.Add the heavy cream to the soup and puree the soup using an immersion blender, food processor, or hand mixer.

11.Return the potato chunks and add the shredded cheese to the soup pot – re-season with salt and pepper to taste.

*if the soup is too thick add water to thin it out.

12. Bring the soup to a light boil and serve.

We served it with a nice Cindy salad (she cuts the ingredients into small pieces).

The Verdict:

We all thought the soup was very good – even Bev – and I would make it again plus we had enough leftovers for several more bowls full.

Delicious Breakfast

I believe I may have made eggs in purgatory before but I can’t remember for sure.  Since we had some sauce leftover from our recent spaghetti meal, I decided to give the dish a try for breakfast.

Almost every site I looked at showed the eggs cooking in the sauce in the pan without a plated shot and now I know why, they can be difficult to get onto the plate looking pretty.  I had hoped the whole thing would just slide out of the pan but no go so I had to scoop them out to get this.

I served the eggs with a couple pieces of leftover Italian sausage and a slice of sourdough bread to use for dipping in the egg yolks and mopping up the remaining sauce.  It made for a very good breakfast but I prefer eggs other ways as their taste got lost in the sauce.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

02/17/23 meal date