When I was growing up, we never had soup. My family didn’t consider it food. In the early 1960s when I had to learn to cook, I began reading cookbooks. I soon learned soup was a good food and easy to prepare. I later discovered it wasn’t always that easy, but always good and worth the time. I now have it often.
In one of my older food/cookbooks, I read a brief history of potato soup. It’s been around for a very long time. There was a short recipe that sounded good. After reading it, I changed a few ingredients to suit my taste. Here it is:
About 1 ½ pounds of potatoes
1 quart whole milk
1 cup chicken broth or water
2 tablespoons salted butter (I use salted butter so I don’t need to add that much when I eat the soup)
Salt and pepper
Buttered toast cut into cubes
Wash, peel and quarter potatoes. Put them in a soup pot with the milk and other liquid. Bring to a simmer. Try not to boil. Cook until potatoes are soft, 20 to 40 minutes, depending upon the type of potato you use. Once soft, mash with a potato masher. Then add butter and stir until blended. Add salt and pepper. I’ve found that a lot of pepper is good with this hearty soup.
Put cubed toast in the bottoms of the bowls and add hot soup. Serve immediately. This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings, depending upon the size of the bowls. Enjoy!
Because soup is relatively easy to make and, by doing so, you can control the ingredients, we have practically no canned soup in our home. In fact, cream of mushroom is the only one we keep. When I don’t feel great, this on a piece of toast makes a tasty small meal.
Enjoy and stay safe!
If you have questions or suggestions for this column, please contact me directly at guthrielarason@verizon.net.
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