December 9, 2009 Dear Friends, Jane and Michael Stern say the Rock Café's chicken-fried steak is America's best. This potato soup may run a close second, and according to the people at the café it comes out to costing 55 cents a serving. I like the idea that with some bacon and a few potatoes, you've got a soup night supper, and it reheats well. Take a try at this, and you'll be stocking it in the freezer. Everyone's Favorite Potato Soup with Bacon Reprinted with permission from Dollars To Donuts: Comfort Food and Kitchen Wisdom from Route 66's Landmark Rock Café by Dawn Welch (Rodale, Inc., 2009). Copyright © 2009 by Channeling Media LLC. Serves 6 When I first started at the Rock, money was tight, and I had to find ways to make use of absolutely everything in the kitchen. One thing that made me crazy was the sorry sight of a pile of baked potatoes that didn't get sold during dinner service (I'd never sell them the next day; they were too soggy and soft). Then, one day, a light bulb went off — why not turn them into potato soup? My potato soup became such a hit that I had to start boiling up extra potatoes to augment whatever I had left from the night before. It's still one of the most popular items at the Café. - 4 thick-cut bacon slices
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 9 (about 3 pounds) russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 2 cups whole or low-fat milk
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Finely chopped chives, for serving (optional)
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the bacon in the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the onion, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon of salt to the pan and cook until the onion is soft and the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Crumble the bacon back into the skillet, turn off the heat, and set aside. 2. Bring the potatoes to a boil in a large pot with 4 cups of water and 1-½ teaspoons of salt. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until they're tender and just starting to break apart, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Using a potato masher or wooden spoon, smash the potatoes in the pot with the water until they're mostly broken up (you want to keep some chunky potato bits). 3. Heat the milk in a small saucepan or the microwave until hot, and then add to the potatoes. Stir in the bacon and onion mixture, the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Return to the stove, and continue to simmer until the soup is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chives, if using, and serve hot. LYNNE'S TIPS Think of this recipe as a base for seasonings and add-ins that appeal to you: a bit of fresh dill and/or small shrimp, some curry powder sautéed in, canned corn or fresh kernels cut from the cob in season, or sautéed leeks for a riff on the classic vichyssoise. THOUGHTS FROM LYNNE For many of us, me included, sometimes mail order shopping is the only way holiday presents happen at all. While we've all had a few clunkers with mail order gifts — lousy quality, careless packing, late arrival — there are many good dependable sources for really exceptional mail order food gifts. Here's a short list of solid sites I've used over the past several years. Quality and dependability are high in each one, and so is price. Yet, think small, really good things like a jar of jam that could change your mind about jam forever. Its price tag may seem ridiculous for jam, but reasonable for the gift budget; and once tasted, “ridiculous” goes out the window. 1. Katz and Company (katzandco.com): this small company in California's Napa Valley cooks up the lushest, chunkiest, truest tasting apricot jam I've had so far. Their Branches Apricot Jam is a case where sending a gift card promising what is to come in early summer is a good thing. They wait for the season, do small batches with select fruit, and when the jam's gone, there is no more until next year. It's worth the wait. 2. June Taylor Jams (junetaylorjams.com): another prime source for marmalades and conserves. Like Katz and Company, Taylor works in small batches, and she coddles each one with techniques which create deep, layered tastes. Her Meyer Lemon Marmalade is so true to flavor you think you are standing under the tree. I've never had a jar from this company that has not been a standout, and she has stock year 'round on most items. 3. Tea Source (teasource.com): is my local tea shop, which also does mail order teas and tea paraphernalia. Since you can order anything from two ounces on up, small gifts are possible. Tea Source's creator, Bill Waddington, personally sources his own teas from India, Sri Lanka and China. Aside from being a walking encyclopedia on the subject, his teas are prime. Right now I am in my Ceylon period (I like my tea with milk and sugar and Ceylons take kindly to this treatment) drinking Bill's Ceylon Doombagastalawa Estate, OP which is aromatic, slightly sweet and has a soft fruitiness to it, and his Ceylon Pedro Estate FOP 1 which is bright, astringent and faintly sweet. There are more exotic teas and all of them come with specific brewing instructions. 4. Zingermans.com is the big brother of food sites. Their own artisan breads, raw milk and artisan cheeses (including homemade Liptauer — the Hungarian spread that's addictive) from America, Italy, and France, oils, cured meats, condiments, candies, pastries, and on, and on. Quality is high, so are prices, but you will not be disappointed. 5. You might take a look at The Splendid Table Store as well, at splendidtable.org. Profits go to support public radio and the items are our personal picks with many tallying in at very modest price tags. Have a great week, Lynne Copyright 2009, Lynne Rossetto Kasper.
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