I have been craving my mom’s potato soup. I wasn’t going to make it a blog post, but I am not in the mood to try something new (or even cook at all for that matter) so I reconsidered. In keeping with my minimal effort attitude today, I decided to look online for some photos so I don’t have to actually MAKE the soup before I write this post (since I have time to write right now but there isn’t a meal coming for several more hours yet).
Well, in the end, I couldn’t find any images that closely resemble my mom’s soup so now I think I MUST write it up and photograph it for my recipe blog as soon as possible!
The potato soup gauntlet has been thrown down.
Last Christmas I created a cookbook of my mom’s family recipes using Shutterfly. I was quite happy with the finished product, and I think she was surprised and pleased as punch. This soup recipe is included in that book, and I’m happy to share it with you!
4 to 6 potatoes (my mom likes Idaho)
water to cover the potatoes and vegs (or chicken broth)
1 T. butter (or more to taste)
a little onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped (include all the leaves if you have them)
1 carrot, shredded or very finely chopped (opt.)
parsley, opt. (I don’t think my mom used this very often. If you use parsley fresh would be better; add it near the end of the cooking time)
flour
2 eggs
salt and pepper
milk (or half and half)
garnish with crispy bacon and/or thinly sliced green onions
some people like grated cheddar cheese on top, or stirred in
Image by Kristin (beautyredefined) via Flickr CC
- Peel and dice the taties. Boil them in water (or broth) to cover. Season the water with plenty of salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile in a small skillet melt the 1 T. butter, and add the onion, celery (and carrots, any other vegs if using). After they get softened and get a little color, add the vegs to the boiling potato pot. The taties will take about 20 min. to cook. (Note — you can skip this step of cooking the vegs in a skillet with butter and just toss them in with the potatoes at the start. I think it tastes better to cook them a little separately first. But you are in charge!)
- Keep poking the taties with a fork as they boil. When taties are nearly done, begin to make the rivels. Put 1 C. flour and a little salt and pepper in a bowl and make a well in the center of the flour. Stir two eggs up and pour them into the well with a fork, pulling bits of flour in as you stir gently. Scrape the small blobs onto the simmering soup until all the egg is gone. All the flour will not be used. Use as many or as few blobs as you like. As it boils, the rivels will cook but will still be pretty chewy.
- Turn the heat way down. Add milk or half and half to get the consistency you want for your soup. Heat gently but don’t boil it at this point or it will curdle.
- Serve steaming hot garnished with some crispy bacon and slivers of green onions on top.
I sometimes add leftover ham to this soup. Home made buttermilk or baking soda biscuits go great to eat with this hearty, satisfying soup. A fresh salad with lots of crunchy vegetables would be nice, too.
For a vegetarian version, you would obviously leave off the bacon and use water or vegetable stock.
Finished! Garnished w/ crispy bacon and freshly ground black pepper. This is the actual soup I made. TTQ cc
I’m guessing this recipe is a combination of recipes from my mom’s and my dad’s families. They both grew up in the same small town and were grade school sweethearts, graduating from HS together in 1949. Dad went into the Army and then they got married in 1952.
Dad was the youngest of eight children, living on a farm in central Indiana during the Depression. Their lives were not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Dad’s dad died on his 13th birthday, so his mom was a single Mom through most of the Depression years. Dad’s favorite foods included mashed potatoes, noodles, homemade bread, potato soup — inexpensive and filling foods that could be made with very simple ingredients. Flour, eggs, milk, potatoes, butter, broth — I assume they grew or made most of these things on their farm.
My mom’s family was a “town” family. Her dad was a mechanic, a fireman and town councilman. My mom’s family probably had more income, but my grandparents on that side were extremely frugal. They saved EVERYTHING, and though my grandma on that side was also a very good cook, she didn’t make the same buttery, starchy foods my dad’s family made.
I’ll share more family recipes in the future.
I looked for a video to show how to make the rivels, and I found this little gem. The music is very fun. I have never heard of garnishing with boiled eggs! Proceed at your own risk. I will add photos to this post of rivels when I actually make the soup next time, okay?
Here are several potato soup recipes similar to mine: It is interesting to me that several mention Indiana, Amish, German heritage and/or Grandmothers.
http://youngwifey.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/potato-rivel-soup/
http://cookiebakerscorner.blogspot.com/2011/05/potato-soup-with-rivels.html
http://www.lovethroughthestomach.com/2011/02/potato-soup-with-leeks/
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/4v3hf9xt/potato-soup-with-rivels.html
http://www.indianahumanities.org/foodforthought/index.php/2010/06/grandmas-potato-soup-with-rivels/
http://www.berksweb.com/pam/soup.html
http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipe/german-potato-soup
Image by bricolage108 via Flickr
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