No superpowers here. Just good food.

Soups / February 24, 2016

Today there are almost as many techniques for changing and presenting food as there are foods. Air, vapors, alginates, malodextrin powders, sous vide, eating in the dark; too many to count! Wow. (Read the article, here.)

Then there are the days when I long for a meal that is just simple and tasty. Nothing too fancy, just good food. That’s exactly what I did when making my Creamy Dijon Potato Cheese Soup. Velvety from cream and mustard, interesting with the addition of a little honey and coriander powder, and one more secret ingredient you’ll just have to find for yourself. All if it made this soup just plain mmmm-worthy.

If you have a hour, you can be a chef-hero in no time…even if you don’t have wings, or the ability to fly, or x-ray vision!

Creamy Dijon New Potato Soup

Servings 4-6

Ingredients:

5 cups diced new potatoes with skin on
1/3 sliced and chopped yellow onion
1 C no-salt added chicken stock
1 ½ C 2% milk
2 T oil
2 T butter
4-5 drops liquid smoke
1 heaping T flour
¼ C water
¾ C heavy cream
3 T Dijon mustard
1 t honey
¼ t coriander powder
1 C good melting cheese (I used Mozzarella. Gruyere would be good!)
Chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish

Method:

Heat the butter and oil in a large Dutch oven pan. Sauté the onions in the oil and butter for about 3 minutes until soft. Add the potatoes, the coriander and about 1 t salt and ½ t pepper. Stir and cook on medium until bits of the potato start to have a little brown on them. Usually takes about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, which will deglaze the pan and then stir and let simmer uncovered, stirring often, until the potatoes are soft, about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the honey, Dijon, liquid smoke, and heavy cream. Stir that into the potato mixture and stir well, turning the heat down to low but keep the soup steaming hot. Then take the flour and whisk it into ¼ C water, blended and then stir it into the cream and soup mixture, stirring gently until you see it begin to get a little less watery. We’re not trying thick, just binding the sauce and making a roux. Put the lid on, keep on low, and let simmer for about 5 minutes but don’t let it boil.
Remove lid, stir in the cheese, taste, and then season with more salt if needed. Serve. Garnish with flat leaf parsley if desired.