Recipe: Hoop Soup Snoop Group Potato Soup

Yes, that is the real name for this recipe. And yes, it does come from my Dr. Seuss cookbook. Are any of you really surprised that I have a Dr. Seuss cookbook? I didn't think so. Bonus points to anyone who can correctly identify which Dr. Seuss book this recipe come from though!

I've been on a bit of a Dr. Seuss roll lately. I actually wrote my own Dr.Seuss-ish story at work the other day in honor of Bike to Work Week. And when I discovered that one of my coworkers had never read a Dr. Seuss story, I brought some to work for him to read. Naturally, he loves them. :P

Yesterday when I was trying to come up for something to make for dinner, I knew I had to make something special. Why? Because I GOT NEW POTS!!! My parents gave me this absolutely amazing set of pots and pans for my grad gift, and they arrived this week! Due to a whole bunch of different factors, last night was the firs time I had a chance to cook with them, so I wanted to make a dish truly worthy of them. And where else could I turn but to my handy dandy Dr. Seuss Cookbook?

Anyways, the first test of my new cookware turned out to be a smashing success! Not only are my pots beautiful, but they heat up super fast and super evenly. Oh, and the soup was delicious. That too. :P

Really nothing could be simpler than this recipe, or more comforting on a cold it's-supposed-to-be-summer-but-it's-raining sort of day.

But before we get to the recipe, first you have to admire my pots! Okay, I know that's just a pot lid, but still, look how shiny!!

Anyways, your first step is to chop up some potatoes and an onion and throw them in a pot with some water. Like so:

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until the potatoes are nice and soft and mashable (about 20 minutes).

Next, drain the potatoes and mash them with a potato masher, like so:

If you left the skins on your potatoes like I did (even though the recipe says to peel them), then your mashed potatoes will probably end up slightly chunkier. But that's okay. A few lumps never hurt anybody.

Slowly add the milk to the potatoes, stirring as you do so. Put the pot back on medium heat and keep stirring until it's all blended. For a smoother, thicker soup, scoop out some of the bigger chunks of potatoes and quickly blend them your Magic Bullet (or regular blender. That will work too), then pour the puree back into the pot.

Now comes the seasoning part. The recipe honestly doesn't call for much in the way of seasonings, but I find potato soup tends towards the bland side of things, so I like to spice things up. I use lots of fresh ground black pepper, a very healthy dose of seasoning salt (yum!), and some chili pepper flakes, just for good measure. Don't be afraid to be very liberal with the seasonings. After all, who wants a tasteless soup?

Once you've reached your preferred level of flavour and the soup is hot all the way through, ladle it into some bowls and top with croutons, cheese, bacon and green onions. Mmmmmmmm.

Here's the full recipe!

Ingredients:
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into several pieces
1/4 chopped onion
6 cups water
2 tsp salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
4 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup croutons
1/2 cup minced green onion

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, onion, and water and 1 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot saucepan. Mash them with a potato masher.

3. Stir the milk into the mashed potatoes and return to medium heat, stirring until the soup is well blended and hot, about 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

4. Put the cheese, bacon, croutons, and green onion in separate small bowls to accompany the soup.

Makes 4 servings.