We had been married for a year or two. Like many newlyweds, we were on a tight budget, we both liked to eat, and we came from families of good cooks – and no written recipes. Oh, I had, several cookbooks – still have, an early 1970’s edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It is the one with the checked red and white cover, little tabs on the side for meat, vegetables, soups, etc. Most of the tabs have worn off and a few of the pages are torn or splattered with ingredients. I have a newer version, but, I tend to reach for the well-worn edition, mostly because the back inside cover has quick conversions and my favorites are so used that they just seem to tumble out right when I need them.
This, however, is not a post about cookbooks. It is about my journey in making potato soup, which was one of those comfort foods that my groom loved and for which there was no recipe. Tom’s mother made it, as did her mother before her, and his great-aunt, Ethel. It comes from their family’s kitchen on the old homestead in Ohio. The potatoes were harvested from the kitchen garden behind the barn. The milk would have come from the cow in the barn and the eggs came from the chicken coop just a few steps from the barn. The bacon was from a butchered hog, smoked and cured and oh-so-good.
Potato soup is comfort food. It is inexpensive and something many cultures share, with variations in seasonings and ingredients, but with the common use of potatoes.
In those early years, having had the soup only once, maybe twice, and with no idea whatsoever how to make it, I thought I would give it a try. Tom thought he could guide me through it – and he did. It is amazing what we can remember from those moments of our youth when we had the opportunities to observe. Color. Texture. Aroma. All part and parcel of our what and how we ate.
Back then, I bought probably more potatoes than needed and a pound of Oscar Meyer bacon. We peeled the potatoes and cubed them into bite sized chunks, then set them to boil with water. I fried up the bacon, cooled enough to handle, and crumbled it into bite-sized pieces that were tossed into the bubbling pot.
When the spuds were tender, Tom said to add milk. This was in the days where we used whole milk. Skim was for when you were sick. I knew enough to not let the milk boil.
All pretty easy so far, don’t you agree?
The “iffy” part was making what Tom called egg curdles, which didn’t sound very appetizing to me then, nor does it today. I call them dumplings.
Cracked an egg into a bowl and scramble. That part really went well. It was when I needed to add the flour that things, shall we say, grew tense. Tom had no idea and I had no frame of reference. We worked together with me adding flour a tablespoon at a time until it looked like Tom thought it should look. I made dough balls and dropped them into the hot milk.
TADA!
It turned out pretty good, though the curdles/dumplings were a bit too big. Practice makes perfect, and so, slowly but surely, this comforting concoction has gotten better and better over the years.
It was particularly good on Saturday night.
So here, dear reader, is the basic recipe, which some of you asked for. My sister-in-law added minced onions. I think she sautéed them first. Leeks or shallot would also enhance the flavor. I don’t add salt, bacon takes care of that, but, I do add freshly ground pepper. This is based on the approximations that I used the other night. It made enough for several hearty servings the first night and leftovers, which mellow the flavors and taste even better
Tom and Penny’s Potato Soup
Cooked bacon broken into bite-sized pieces
4 large baking potatoes, washed, peeled, and cubed into bite sized pieces
Enough water to cover potatoes in pan
Boil until the potatoes are fork-tender
Dumplings
Add enough milk to be able to add dumplings and simmer until hot
2 eggs, beaten, in medium-sized bowl
Add about one cup of flour, a few tablespoons at a time, until dough forms a soft ball and pulls away from sides of the bowl
Drop by small spoonfuls into soup until done. (only a few minutes)
This made my day! I especially wanted potato soup because I have been feeling “pitiful”. and it is one of my favorites. I had a tooth extracted last week, a matching one was adhered to my partial and today I discovered a crack in the bonding. Mind you, this is a lower front tooth. I am going to dry my tears, go to the grocery and get the fixins after I pick up the repaired partial. I already feel better for the guidance and the soup coming in the future but especially for you somehow knowing I really needed it. Thank you!
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Thrilled to hear it, Marilyn. Thank you.
I hope the soup soothes your spirit a bit, and that your dental dilemma is soon remedied. Yikes. These extractions can be bad enough, but, to have the partial crack is truly unfair.
I am actually very appreciative that you asked for this recipe, Marilyn. I just “do it” and have never written it down. As I wrote this post and thought about it, I realized I was really being unfair to our daughters and niece, who may or may not want to make it someday and find themselves in the same boat as Tom and I were many years ago.
Hope you feel better soon. 1 degree here right now. 😦
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I use sautéed onions too and I did a saucepan of those today in order to make some potato soup tomorrow. I don’t use milk as I’m allergic, I use chicken stock (I think you call it broth) and I also put some celery and leeks in. I like the bacon idea! I have some smoked ham in the freezer, left from Christmas, so I’m thinking that would work as well. I love the way soups change and grow over the years. I also find it’s good to be flexible and use what you have in the fridge or freezer. My kids laugh at me… I freeze left over veg and potatoes for soups and also chicken carcases which I save up and when I have enough I make huge pan of chicken stock. Your soup looks delicious, Penny.
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I will try this with chicken broth, which we also call stock. Yours sounds so hearty with the celery and leeks. I’m sure those leeks you are pulling out of your garden are particularly flavorful this time of year. I have thrown in leftover ham when I have it on hand, and it should flavor your soup nicely. We seldom have bacon, Cath, so it makes for a good excuse to buy some. You must have the best stock around! I understand – there’s a turkey carcass as well as some frozen stock in my freezer. Thank you.
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Potato soup was one of the only things I requested of my mother when I was sick. As I’m under the weather today, this made my mouth water. I always put oyster crackers in mine instead of dumplings, and Mom thickened hers with cornmeal. I can still taste it. 🙂 Thank you for that memory.
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Oh, dear . . . I hope you are feeling better today, Andra.
Your mom’s soup sounds delicious – and so comforting. Interesting that she adds cornmeal. I should try that sometime. My grandmother would make something we all called milk soup. I blogged about it once-upon-a-time and was surprised to learn many other cultures (besides my Greek one) used this.
1 degree here this am.
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What a delightful memory of you and Tom concocting this recipe! I have never had potato soup with the dumplings! That’s completely new to me, but it brings to mind how different family cultures have preserved unique recipes for this wonderful comfort food. I would just love to give your recipe a try. I have never met a potato I didn’t just love, and yet I often forget about potato soup. I used to make a really good potato-leek…now I’m getting hungry, Penny! 🙂
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Thank you, Debra. It was rather pleasant for me to reminisce about that first stab at making this. Good thing Tom was so observant. 🙂 His mom was a fabulous cook.
Isn’t it amazing how such a simple soup as potato soup can be adapted in so many ways? 🙂 It’s so cold here this week. I awoke to a whopping 1 degree today. We had chicken noodle soup last night.
Happy eating.
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Yummy!!!! Thank you for the recipe. I love potato soup! A friend makes a good potato soup. Will have to direct him to this recipe. It sounds wonderful.
Love your reminiscences.
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You are very welcome, L. Marie. Yum. Sounds like a very good friend to have. What’s fun about potato soup is that it is so adaptable. Hope he makes some for you soon.
Thank you. Stay warm.
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Love the newlywed memories. You were brave to wing it. I had my eyes on that red plaid cookbook every time I stepped in the kitchen back then! We make soup often now… Even when it’s hot outside. Fits well with our way of eating these days. Your sounds heavenly.
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Looking back, I suppose I was, Sallie. Fortunately, Tom was always observant, especially if it involved food he liked. 🙂 I was/is still a good cookbook. I really don’t cook much out it in anymore, but, it reminds me of ingredients and especially amounts.
I like soup as much in hot weather as cold. Well, maybe a little bit more in cold, and there are always leftovers with soup; for lunch, leftovers, or to freeze for another day. I’m wondering what kind you’ve been making lately.
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I made a tomato-bean soup the other day, which especially pleased my vegetarian daughter and me. I look forward to making more soups this winter, and your potato soup will be one of them!
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Oh, that sounds so tasty and hearty. Yum. Soups always sooth the soul as well as nourish us, don’t they? Enjoy your winter soup making, Susan – and the eating.
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Mmm, that sounds delicious. Recipe duly noted. 🙂
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I consider that a high compliment from a master soup maker such as yourself. Thank you.
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The whole time I was reading this I was thinking how much Declan would like it – his Irish love for potatoes you know! How nice that you share the recipe and it looks like I have everything in the house for it! Even the whole milk, which is all I buy 🙂
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I hope, if you make it, that Declan likes it. Even better with whole milk, Janet.
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