This soup is a staple in almost any restaurant, especially if they serve baked potatoes regularly or as a special. It's a great way to utilize day old bakers that might be left over from the previous night service. One of the benefits of a soup like this is the versatility that you have with it. You can make it with chicken stock, or dairy, or vegetable stock to get a well flavored soup that can cover almost any dietary restriction.
For this particular version I use dairy and vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian, but not vegan. I also like to use different types of potatoes when I make this to get a more rounded flavor. I use baked Idaho potatoes, as they are the traditional baked potatoes that one would use, and then also add some baked russet potatoes, the large ones, to make a smoother, creamier finish.
Another cool thing about a soup like this, is the versatility of the garnish. I like putting bacon on it, but if you are going for a vegetarian option you can omit that. For other garnish, the sky is pretty much the limit. I normally use sour cream, cheddar, bacon, scallions, and pickled jalapenos, to be fair anything you like on your potatoes will work.
Ingredients
Russet Potatoes, large 4 ea
Idaho Potatoes, large 4 ea
Garlic Oil 2 T
Avenue Spice 1 T
Old Bay 2 tsp
Aleppo Chili 1 T
Vegetable Stock 2 Qt
Milk 1 Qt
Buttermilk 1 Qt
Onion, diced 2 ea
Butter 1/4 cup (1 stick)
Water 1 Qt
Sherry Vinegar 2 T
Salt and Pepper to taste
Garnish
Bacon, scallions, shredded cheddar, pickled jalapenos, sour cream, anything else you can think of
Method of Procedure
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Wash and dry your potatoes. Taking a fork, poke all of the potatoes thoroughly.
Taking 1 T of oil, your avenue spice, Aleppo chili* and old bay toss all the potatoes to get an even coating then place on a sheet tray.
Put the tray into the oven and bake the potatoes until they are knife tender and the skin is crispy, normally 1 1/2 hours.
Let the potatoes cool and cut into chunks.
Saute your onions with the remaining oil and your butter.
Combine your chopped up baked potatoes with you softened onions and continue to cook for another 10 minutes until the butter and onions are fully mixed with the potatoes.
Add your stock, milk, butter milk, sherry vinegar, and water then bring to a simmer**. Cook for 1-2 hours.
Ladle out soup into your blender (you can use a stick blender but it will have to work a lot harder) about halfway up. Make sure you have a mix of about 1/2 & 1/2 potatoes to liquid and blend.
Season to taste and serve with your garnishes.
*I like the mildness of Aleppo chili, and I use it in a number of dishes. If you don't have this you can substitute any other mild chili flake or powder
**The potatoes will absorb a lot of liquid, make sure the liquid your adding to the potatoes is enough to completely cover the potatoes and with excess to absorb.
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