Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Potato "Meatball" Soup

Inspiration strikes out of nowhere, doesn't it?

The idea for this recipe came to me as I drove through the middle of Thanksgiving night to get back home in Tennessee. 

The white lines of the Alabama highway flew by hypnotically like the blur of a passing train.  My car radio played static along with The Doors' "Riders On The Storm" while Trevor and Alexis slept.  Meanwhile I  mused about the Pommes Parisienne that I made last week and the thought hit me.  They would be great as a "meatball" in a creamy soup.

A cold front was prepared to march across and render Black Friday into a cold and dreary day.  Alexis had to be at work at noon at the mall so I made this batch of this soup for her to take for her and her co-workers.

Potato "Meatball" Soup

by www.nibblemethis.com

Ingredients (6 servings)
  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup celery, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup onion, chopped
  • 3/4 cup carrot, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 cup potato, peeled and finely chopped
  • 4 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 4 cups beef stock
  • 4 cups half and half
  • 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 recipe pommes parisienne (click for recipe)
  • 4 slices bacon, chopped and cooked
Instructions
  1. In a stock pot, melt butter and saute potato, carrot, onion, and celery until tender, about 10 minutes.
  2. Whisk in the flour and stir to form a blond roux.
  3. Whisk in the stock to thoroughly blend and simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Use an immersion blender to make this soup base smooth. [Note: You can skip this if you want a more coarse and chunky soup.]
  5. Stir in the half and half, remaining seasonings, and pommes parisienne. Simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.
  6. [Note: If you don't want to look up the pommes parisienne, you could just pan fry peeled fingerling potatoes or small potatoes in clarified butter until cooked and then add roasted red pepper, parsley, salt and pepper.]
  7. Garnish with bacon pieces.
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Potato "Meatballs"! 

Yes, those are styrofoam bowls and a cafeteria style tray.  I thought it was fitting since I was sending this in to her work ;)
I apologize for the lack of pictures.  I made this recipe after about 2 hours of sleep and really wasn't planning on posting it but it tasted too good not to write up.

Speaking of which, here is a bonus recipe that I did for Alexis' work crew on Sunday and I didn't take a single picture.  But it was pretty damn good too.  It was adapted from a chicken and wild rice soup recipe that my mom gave to me years ago.

Smoked Turkey and Dirty Rice Soup
source: www.nibblemethis.com


Ingredients
  • 6 quarts water
  • 4 chicken bullion cubes
  • 1/2 cup carrot, peeled and finely diced
  • 1/4 cup celery, finely diced
  • 1 8oz package Zatarains Dirty Rice mix
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups half and half
  • 2 cups smoked turkey, chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp creole seasoning
  • 1/2 cup smoked gouda
Instructions
  1. In a stock pot, bring water, bullion, carrot, celery, and rice mix to a boil. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
  2. In a sauce pan, melt butter and whisk in flour to form a blond roux (about 3-5 minutes). Slowly add the half and half while rapidly whisking to thoroughly blend.
  3. Add the cream mixture to the stock pot and stir to blend. Add the turkey, gouda cheese, salt, and creole seasoning. Simmer for 10 more minutes to blend.
  4. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as needed.
Yeah, I realized that no grilling or smoking was involved in either of these recipes.  Live fire cooking resumes shortly.