Potato Soup for One (or Two)

Potato soup is one of my comfort foods. It has minimal ingredients: potatoes, onions, water, butter and milk, plus salt and pepper. It's ready in 45 minutes or less and it puts a smile on my face and reminds me of Mom. What can be better than  that? At the end of this article I will give the variation for Cheese Soup with Kielbasa, another comfort food.

First of all I don't know what sort of potato soup I make. My college roommate once said if you thicken your soup, it's French. Since neither she nor I did, she said I made German potato soup. (She was a good German-Irish girl.) I'm not sure about that. Mom and her Mom were of Welsh descent. I guess I'll be cautious and tell you all that I make KANSAS Potato Soup.

Potatoes to cover the bottom of a 1 quart pan

You will need a 1 quart sauce pan. This is the smallest pan in a set.

2-3 peeled, cubed potatoes (enough to cover the bottom of the pan, as shown.)

Water to cover the potatoes well

1/4-1/2 medium onion, diced. 

1 Tbs. butter

1/4 medium onion diced

1 quart milk

salt and pepper to taste

Place potatoes in saucepan. Add onions. Bring to a boil. Boil 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender when poked with a fork. Remember science class when the teacher said the more sides an object has, the faster it cooks? You can get your potatoes to cook faster if you cut them smaller. If you cut them into 1/2" cubes, you might be able to omit the mashing step.

After potatoes are tender, carefully drain liquid from potatoes, leaving about 1/2" of liquid in bottom of pan. I like to save potato water for other recipes. It contains soluble nutrients from the potatoes. You can use potato water in bread making, soup making or anywhere you add water to a recipe.

Mashing potatoes

Milk being added to potatoes

Mash the potatoes coarsely. You want a few larger chunks to spoon up with your soup. Return to heat. Add about 1 quart of milk. You don't want to overfill the pan. Top with 1 Tbs. butter and season to taste. 

Bring to simmer, heating milk 3-4 minutes until it is comfortably warm to eat.

Kansas Potato Soup

Ladle into bowls. Yeilds: 2 servings.

CHEESE SOUP WITH KIELBASA

Prepare potatoes and bring to boil. 

Add 1/4 cup diced celery with onions.

Dice about 3 inches (1/2 cup) of Kielbasa for later use.

Hold 1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese for later use.

Cook potatoes until tender. Drain. Return to stove and add milk. Season with a few drops of Worchestershire Sauce and a pinch of dry mustard as well as salt and pepper. Add kielbasa. Once milk has come to a simmer, stir in butter and shredded cheese. Stir well until cheese is dissolved. Yield: 2 bowls