Soup for You!

NEWMAN: "Elaine's down there causing all kinds of commotion. Somehow she got a hold of his recipes and she says she's gonna drive him out of business!

"The Soup Nazi said that now that his recipes are out, he's not gonna make anymore soup! He's moving out of the country, moving to Argentina! No more soup, Jerry! No more soup for any of us!"

"Seinfeld," Episode 116; 11/2/95

I had another one of those situations where I realized that about two cups of leftover chicken stock from Christmas needed a home, along with a couple of potatoes and a package of mild cheddar cheese that had been purchased by mistake. We don't eat mild cheddar cheese. I mean, I don't eat mild cheddar cheese. Give me sharp or give me nothing. While you're at it, give me extra sharp. But, mild? It's only hope would be as an incredient, because there would be no eating it from the package.

I recently tuned into a trick I read about on a food blog. It was designed for people who only had three things in their refrigerator, but I knew it would work for me, too. The idea was to put the three ingredients you had on hand into a google search, then stand back and watch the amazing recipes that would magically emerge from the internet. Unheard of ideas that would take your three, potentially completely unrelated items and produce something you could actually eat.

I put "two cups of chicken broth, potatoes, cheese" into a search knowing that a long list of potato cheese soup recipes would likely emerge. The only question would be whether I would find a recipe that called for other ingredients that I had on hand or wanted to use in a soup. No respectable potato cheese soup comes together without some other stuff. Although I also had sour cream and heavy cream in the refrigerator, I certainly didn't want to add to what would likely be an insanely high calorie count for any soup using milk.

The other challenge would be to find a recipe that would come together properly with 1% milk, since that is all we drink. Without the heavier fat content, it would certainly help the nutrition calcs, but the lack of fat might lead to some other, unforeseen disaster.

It didn't take long to see that the "Ruby Tuesday's Potato Cheese Soup" from recipezaar.com was the one I needed. Now, I don't know if it is really the recipe for the potato cheese soup served at Ruby Tuesday's, since I've never had it. The good news was that it didn't make very much. So, the risk of making it and having it turn out poorly wasn't very high. I was using up extraneous ingredients that might go bad without trying it; I hate few things in life more than throwing out any food that passes its shelf date or withers in a vegetable bin. I waited a few days to see if my interest would wane.

Today was another "sun" day in metro Denver ahead of what was forecast to be colder temperatures and snow for Super Bowl Sunday. But, who knows?! I rarely plan my food around the weather here because you no sooner get your mouth set for something warm, and the sun burns down on you. Or, vice versa. I had three or four things going already -- lemon poppyseed bread in the oven, onions on the stove to caramelize and top bisquits for a recession-style pissaladiere, and two loads of laundry in various stages. Another pot on the stove wasn't going to be a big deal.

To my great surprise, this soup was very good. I have never put white vinegar into a soup pot and almost left it out because I wondered if it would impart a sour flavor. Since the whole thing was a kitchen experiment anyway, I added it. It smelled strong, and I could smell it throughout the cooking time. I thought it was a mistake.

I knew that vinegar was an acid in this recipe, like lemon juice or wine. But, it really seemed to marry all the flavors of the ingredients and sharpen the cheese somewhat. That was an added plus, since I wondered if mild cheddar cheese would disappear on my taste buds and leave me with plain, old potato soup.

The other thing I liked about this recipe was that the soup did not water down as I ate it. I cooked it for a long time on very low heat, since I'm at 6100 feet. Everything requires more cooking here, and I didn't rush it. Using one percent milk meant that it was going to be thinner than recipes that use sour cream or heavy cream. But, I didn't boil it down to reduce it. It wasn't really thick, but it didn't taste or eat like a thin, watery soup either. Not using heavy boil at any point in the recipe probably contributed to this outcome. Even the broccoli cheddar soup at Panera waters down after a few spoonfuls, so I thought the consistency got the same high marks as the flavor profile.

It will be a cold day in Denver before I make this soup again.

Or, maybe it won't.

Ruby Tuesday's Potato Cheese Soup

1.5 hours/50 min. prep

Serves 2

2 large russet potatoes

2 tbsp. finely minced celery

1 tbsp. finely minced onion

1 tbsp. grated carrot

2 cups chicken stock or chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. white vinegar

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1.5 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus

1 tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese

1 tbsp. shredded monterey jack cheese

2 slices bacon, cooked and drained

1 tbsp. chopped green onion

1. Peel potatoes and chop into bite-size pieces.

2. Make sure vegetables are minced into very small pieces - carrot should be grated, not shredded.

3. In a large saucepan, combine vegetables with chicken stock, salt, and vinegar over medium heat.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and milk.

6. Remove saucepan with vegetables from heat and add flour and milk mixture.

7. Return pan to heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes or until soup has thickened.

8. Add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese to soup and simmer until melted.

9. By now, the potatoes should be tender and falling apart.

10.If not, continue cooking until soup is as thick as you like it.

11. To serve, divide soup into 2 bowls.

12. Divide remaining 1 tablespoons of Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses and sprinkle on the soup.

13. Crumble bacon and sprinkle evenly over the cheese.

14. Top each bowl of soup with chopped green onion.

CRD Note: Swanson's Chicken Broth is my preference for this recipe and those like it. The flavor and consistency results beat any recipe that only uses water, by a lot.