| Learning to make your own homemade potato soup | | | | The best way to a great base is your stock and |
| recipes can be exciting, satisfying and very full-filling. | | | | creating your own homemade stock can have an |
| When you create a soup (that everyone loves) for | | | | amazing effect on your soup. Though it's slightly time |
| family or a friend and they ask where you got such a | | | | consuming, it is also very easy and rewarding. |
| wonderful recipe, what would you rather tell them? | | | | 3 basic stocks are used for potato soup recipes. |
| "I just got it from some website or cookbook..." OR | | | | Chicken stock, vegetable stock and beef stock. |
| would you rather tell them "I made the recipe up | | | | - Chicken Stock - Chicken stock is the second most |
| myself and it's the newest edition to my own | | | | popular stock used for potato soup and has a strong |
| cookbook!" | | | | and very rich flavor adding a bit of bite to your soup. A |
| If these are the words of gratification that you want to | | | | basic chicken stock is usually made by slowly |
| hear, then here are 3 tips to help you create the | | | | simmering chicken bones, skin, meat, celery, carrots, |
| delicious recipes that you desire. | | | | garlic, onion, parsley, salt and pepper in a pot of water. |
| Tip #1 - What Type of Base? | | | | - Vegetable Stock - The most popular of the 3 stocks |
| The base of a soup has the greatest effect over all | | | | used in potato soup is vegetable stock. It has more of |
| others. | | | | a natural and relaxed flavor compared to chicken |
| There are 3 main bases to start with that you can use | | | | stock. It is full of natural vitamins and nutrients to keep |
| for your potato soups, cream base, clear base, and | | | | your body healthy. A very basic vegetable stock is |
| puree based. | | | | achieved by slowly simmering carrots, garlic, parsley, |
| - Creamy Bases - Creamy potato soups are usually | | | | onion, celery, leek, bay leaf, mushroom, salt, pepper and |
| smooth and comforting with a subtle taste. There are | | | | sometimes parsnips, thyme and potatoes. |
| many ways to make a creamy potato soup but we | | | | - Beef Stock - Much different from the 2 above and |
| are just going to go over 3 popular ways to get a | | | | often not used in potato soup, beef stock has a very |
| creamy base. | | | | rich and bold flavor and great in some soups with |
| - Cream Base 1 - The easiest and most used is just | | | | potatoes. Beef stock is made with beef bones, fat, |
| by adding enough heavy cream until the desired | | | | meat, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, salt, pepper, |
| consistency and tastes are met. Another similar | | | | garlic, parsley, thyme and sometimes tomato. |
| method would be using milk but this would be a lot | | | | Tip #3 - What kind of ingredients do you want to use? |
| thinner and a lot less creamy. | | | | Now that you know what kind of base texture and |
| - Cream Base 2 - A bit more complicated but most | | | | stock you want, we need to figure out the ingredients |
| likely not to difficult for you is using a light roux and milk. | | | | that go well with each. This is only a guideline to help |
| Just add 2 teaspoons of roux for every cup of milk to | | | | you choose your ingredients. |
| the soup, stir well, until the desired consistency is | | | | - Ingredients for a creamy base. - Bacon and cheddar |
| reached. Be careful, roux can make your soup | | | | are the most popular ingredients in creamy potato |
| extremely thick. | | | | soups. Some other great ideas would be carrots, |
| - Cream Base 3 - The least used of the 3 but second | | | | green beans, onions, garlic, celery, green onions, chives, |
| easiest would be using cornstarch and powdered milk. | | | | chicken, ham, shallots, thyme, peas, dill, salt, black and |
| Dissolve 1 1/4 tablespoons cornstarch to every 2 cups | | | | white pepper. Good stocks with a creamy soup are |
| of soup broth you have in a small bowl of cold water. | | | | vegetable and chicken stock. |
| Add 5 tablespoons powdered milk to every 2 cups of | | | | - Ingredients for a clear base - With beef stock would |
| soup broth you have and the cornstarch/water | | | | be tomatoes, green beans, onions, garlic, celery, |
| mixture to the soup at the end of cooking and stir well | | | | parsley, chunks of beef, bay leaf, barley, bell pepper, |
| for 1 1/2 minutes. | | | | cayenne pepper, ground beef, salt, mozzarella and |
| Clear Base - A clear base, the easiest of the 3, | | | | black pepper. With vegetable or chicken stock would |
| normally has a rich and bold flavor with no extra | | | | be chicken, ham, carrots, white beans, green beans, |
| additions like heavy cream to the stock, the base IS | | | | celery, garlic, thyme, squash, onion, zucchini, shallots, |
| the stock. | | | | white wine, dill, salt and black pepper. |
| Puree Base - A puree base is loaded with rich flavors | | | | - Ingredients for a puree base - Carrots and tomatoes |
| and is exactly what it sounds like. All the solids are | | | | are great for a puree based soup along with these |
| pureed with the stock of your choice after the soup is | | | | healthy additions. Onion, garlic, zucchini, squash, bell |
| cooked. This is best achieved with an immersion | | | | pepper, kidney beans, shallots, celery, green onions, |
| blender which you can dip right into the soup and blend | | | | sweet potatoes, peas, dill, salt and various peppers. |
| with. Another way would be to strain the solids out of | | | | The most popular stock with puree based potato soup |
| your soup and add them to a blender then add a few | | | | recipes is vegetable stock although chicken stock is |
| cups of broth and puree. Then add the puree to the | | | | used sometimes but rarely. There are many more tips |
| broth, mix well and voila! | | | | for you to create a great potato soup recipe but these |
| Tip #2 - What Type of Stock / Broth? | | | | 3 are the most important basics to get you started. |