National Culinary Review

Farmers Market Fingerling Potato Soup

1 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley 1 t. fresh thyme

starch out and to the bottom of the bowl. He pours out the water with the starch and adds the potatoes to the soup pot.

8 cups whole fingerling potatoes

6-8 cups canola oil

1 cup leeks, white part only

2 T. roasted garlic purée

8 cups vegetable stock
Freshly toasted ground black pepper and
kosher salt, to taste

1½ cups peeled, diced carrot

1 cup peeled, diced parsnip

1 cup peeled, diced turnip

1 cup plain yogurt ¼ cup orange juice, reduced to 1 T.

1 t. toasted ground cumin

1 t. toasted ground coriander

1) Heat oven to 350ºF. Scrub and dry potatoes. Put in pan with oil (enough to completely cover potatoes); cover with foil. Roast until easily pierced with knife, about 30 minutes. Cool. 2) Cook leeks slowly over low heat in 4-5 T. oil until very soft. 3) In high-speed blender, combine potatoes, garlic and leeks. Add 4 cups vegetable stock; continue adding until right consistency. Season with salt and pepper. 4) Coat carrot, parsnip and turnip with oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast at 350ºF. 5) Whip yogurt in bowl with reduced orange juice, cumin, coriander, parsley and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. 6) In soup bowl, place 4 T. warm vegetables; top with 1 t. yogurt. Pour soup tableside over vegetables ( 6 oz. liquid).

For a completely white potato soup, Koberstein adds a little lemon juice to keep the potatoes from oxidizing. But for one of his favorites—potato/sausage soup—he wants a little caramelized color. He boils russet potatoes in chicken stock or water until soft, blends them in the blender until smooth, then puts the mixture through a chinois “for that lovely, smooth, silky texture without pieces.” Then he pan-fries a spicy sausage such as andouille until it turns a little brown, dices it and folds it into the soup, seasons with salt and pepper and finishes with chopped cilantro. For added color and intrigue, he adds a little of the browned oil from the sausage back into the soup mixture.

Susan Goss, chef/co-owner of Chicago’s
West Town Tavern, insists that russets are
the best for potato soup. She boils them
in water with salt and such aromatics
as thyme and bay leaves, then drains
and mixes with a hand blender, never a
food processor, “lest they turn into glue.”
Then she may add cream or vegetable or
chicken stock. For chunkiness, she will add
cooked waxy potato pieces, which hold
their shape better. These could be red fin,
Yukon gold or rose potatoes. If the waxy
potatoes are small enough, she doesn’t
even peel them, preferring the rustic
texture of the peels.

Latin soul. “I’m always looking for different styles and varieties—everything from Russian bananas to rose fins,” he says. “German butterballs are nice, as are red thumbs and Yukon golds.” He also likes to work with blue/purple potatoes.

Nearly any potato variety is fair game for potato soup in Randy Zweiban’s mind. He is chef/owner of Province in Chicago, with a focus on Modern American cuisine with

This Cajun Shrimp Potato Chowder combines cubed red potatoes, red bell peppers, shrimp and spinach. It gets much of its flavoring from onions, garlic powder, dry mustard and paprika.

But one thing he is settled on. Rather than boil the potatoes first, he confits them in oil with the skin on and peels them later. “Roasting or confiting them is a much better way to start than boiling or simmering. You keep a lot more starch, richness and more of that real potato flavor,” he says. Additionally, it gives them a creamy texture and allows them to all cook through evenly and consistently. Zweiban purées the potatoes with other ingredients, which could be vegetable stock and roasted garlic. In the fall, he usually adds a variety of tubers, such as carrots or parsnips from local farms.