Soup | Irish American Mom

Traditional Irish Potato Soup

March 12, 2016 by Irish American Mom 50 Comments

Irish potato soup uses simple ingredients, which in years gone by were easily available in rural Irish kitchens. When I say this soup is easy to make, I really mean it. There are only seven ingredients – potato, onion, butter, stock, cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

My recipe today is for a very traditional Irish potato soup. You may be more familiar with an Irish potato and leek soup. But many Irish housewives skipped the leeks and made a simple potato soup whenever the cupboard was relatively bare.

Butter and cream were consistently available on dairy farms, and if potatoes were not homegrown, a “four stone bag of potatoes” was always on the shopping list.

And so here’s my recipe for a traditional Irish potato soup.

Ingredients for Traditional Irish Potato Soup:

1 large onion
3 medium potatoes
2 ounces of butter
4 cups of chicken stock
1/2 cup of cream
salt and pepper to season
parsley to garnish (optional)

Cooking Directions for Potato Soup:

The first step is to prepare the vegetables.

Peel and dice the onion into small pieces. Peel the potatoes and dice them into pieces about 1/4 inch cubed. You don’t have to be precise, since the soup is eventually puréed.

Melt the butter in a large soup pot and toss in the diced onions. Cook for about a minute.

Add the potatoes and mix well to coat with butter. Cover the pot and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes over medium heat. Shake the pot every few minutes to ensure the vegetables don’t stick. Do not brown the onions.

You can learn more about sweating vegetables in my soup making tips post.

Add the chicken stock and bring to boiling point. Lower the heat and simmer the soup for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

If you wish you can use vegetable stock for this soup to create a vegetarian soup. It’s also gluten free, since no flour is used to thicken this soup.

Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool, before using an immersion blender to purée it. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can whizz it in batches in a blender or liquidizer.

Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Reheat the soup to serve.

I like a good sprinkling of pepper on this soup, and a little bit of parsley is a lovely garnish.

I hope you enjoy this easy soup. It has a very creamy texture, and is not a gritty potato soup. Brown bread is the perfect accompaniment to a good bowl of Irish soup.

Printable Potato Soup Recipe For American Readers:

Here’s the printable recipe using American cup measurements.

Yum

Traditional Irish Potato Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion
3 medium potatoes
2 ounces of butter
4 cups of chicken stock
1/2 cup of cream
salt and pepper to season
parsley to garnish

Instructions

Peel and dice the onion and potatoes.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
Add the onion and cook for one minute coating completely in butter.
Add the potatoes and toss well with the onion and melted butter.
Cover the saucepan and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes, shaking the pot every few minutes to prevent sticking.
Pour in the stock and simmer the soup for 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
Turn off the heat and allow to cool, Purée the soup using a hand held blender or in batches in a blender.
Add the cream and mix well together.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Reheat to serve, and garnish with a swirl of cream and parsley.

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Printable Potato Soup Recipe for Irish Readers:

Here’s the printable recipe for those readers who use either the imperial system or the metric system for measuring ingredients.

Traditional Irish Potato Soup

Print recipe

Serves	6
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	50 minutes
Meal type	Soup
Misc	Serve Hot
Region	Irish

Traditional Irish potato soup uses simple ingredients - onion, potato, stock, butter, cream, and salt and pepper to season.

Ingredients

1 Large onion (peeled and chopped)
3 Medium potatoes (400 grams or 15 ounces)
2oz butter
1 and 1/2 pint chicken stock (800 mls)
4fl oz cream (125 mls)
salt and pepper (to taste)
parsley (to garnish)

Directions

Step 1	Peel and dice the onion and potatoes.
Step 2	Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
Step 3	Add the onion and cook for one minute coating completely in butter.
Step 4	Add the potatoes and toss well with the onion and melted butter.
Step 5	Cover the saucepan and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes, shaking the pot every few minutes to prevent sticking.
Step 6	Pour in the stock and simmer the soup for 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
Step 7	Turn off the heat and allow to cool, Purée the soup using a hand held blender or in batches in a blender.
Step 8	Add the cream and mix well together.
Step 9	Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 10	Reheat to serve, and garnish with a swirl of cream and parsley.

Happy soup making to all!

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht!

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Parsnip and Apple Soup

October 12, 2014 by Irish American Mom 7 Comments

Parsnips and apples, with a hint of curry, compliment each other perfectly in this creamy soup.

The pairing of parsnips with apples intensifies their sweetness, with an added underlying warmth from the curry powder, making this soup truly satisfying.

I love curry flavor, like many Irish people. A teaspoon of mild curry powder, a hint of ginger and black pepper create a mildly spicy flavor level, but rest assured, this isn’t an overly hot soup, merely one that tantalizes the taste buds.

Heavy rain and blustery winds are always a reminder the season for hats, scarves and gloves is just around the corner. But as the colder days of winter beckon, there’s always comfort to be found in the kitchen.

The right soup is perfect comfort food. There is something reassuring about holding a mug of warm soup, blowing gently to cool it before it works its magic, warming the heart.

Parsnip and apple soup is smooth and creamy, and for me is certainly one of the best comforting soups in my recipe box.

Parsnips appear to be far less popular in America than they are in Ireland. They are a staple on most Irish dinner menus, and I remember eating them at least once a week when I was a kid in Ireland.

And so, I decided why not make a parsnip soup…. or for some crazy reason, my brain keeps saying parsnip snoup.

Anyway, here’s my recipe …..

Ingredients:

2 oz butter
2 shallots
3 large parsnips
1 medium apple (Granny Smith or a cooking apple if you’re in Ireland)
1 medium potato (or 2 small potatoes)
1 to 2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and plenty pepper to season

Directions:

This is a very simple soup. Start by peeling and chopping the shallots into slices. Peel and dice the potatoes and parsnips into 1 inch pieces.

The first step involves sweating the vegetables. If you need to learn more about the technique of sweating vegetables, check out my post on soup making tips.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chopped shallots, parsnips and potato.

I use shallots rather than an onion, since their flavor is a little milder, but if you can’t get your hands on shallots, one onion will work just fine.

For this soup in particular I like to add the spices before sweating the vegetables. This helps deepen the spicy flavors in the finished soup.

So, stir in the curry powder and ginger and mix the vegetables so they are completely coated in the spices.

Cover the pan and sweat the vegetables over medium heat for 10 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent sticking, but avoid lifting the lid and allowing the trapped steam escape.

Add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

I like to add a good dash of pepper to this soup, but seasoning is a very personal step in any recipe. For my palate, pepper seems to compliment the flavor of the parsnips.

Next, add the chopped apple and simmer the soup for a further 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly.

I love how the apple pieces just bob and bounce on the surface of the soup.

Purée the soup until the texture is completely smooth using an immersion blender or in batches using a liquidizer or blender.

Add the cream to the soup and mix through. Reheat gently, without boiling, before serving.

And there, you have it – a simple soup made with a favorite Irish vegetable. I love to serve this soup with curried parsnip chips as a garnish – they’re simply delicious.

Here’s my printable recipe:

Parsnip and Apple Soup

Print recipe

Serves	6
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	50 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 10 minutes
Meal type	Soup

Parsnips and apples, with a hint of curry, compliment each other perfectly in this creamy soup. The pairing of parsnips with apples intensifies their sweetness, with an added underlying warmth from the curry powder, making this soup truly satisfying.

Ingredients

2oz butter
2 shallots
3 parsnips
1 apple (Granny Smith or a cooking apple)
1 potato (1 medium or 2 small)
1 teaspoon curry powder (add extra for increased spiciness)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper to season

Directions

Step 1	Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chopped shallots, parsnips and potato.
Step 2	Stir in the curry powder and ground ginger. Cover the pan and sweat the vegetables over medium heat for 10 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent sticking, but avoid lifting the lid and allowing the trapped steam escape.
Step 3	Add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4	Add the chopped apple and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Step 5	Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly. Purée until smooth using an immersion blender or in batches using a liquidizer or blender.
Step 6	Add the cream to the soup and mix through. Reheat gently, without boiling, before serving.

Wishing you all happy soup making during these chilly days of fall and winter.

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

P.S. My Irish shamrock soup bowl was made by Colm De Ris, an Irish potter.

Rutabaga And Carrot Soup

September 24, 2014 by Irish American Mom 22 Comments

Rutabagas and carrots make a comforting, slightly sweet soup. The combination of deep orange carrots and pale yellow rutabaga flesh, produces an amber colored soup, just perfect for fall.

And so, to kick off my soup making recipes for this autumn season, I thought it might be a good idea to start with a simple, easy-to-make soup, using the rutabaga, a vegetable I believe is not fully appreciated in America.

Firstly, let’s name this soup correctly……

Is it rutabaga and carrot soup?

Swede and carrot?

Turnip and carrot? or….

Neeps and carrot soup?

Well, the answer depends on where you live, in the world, and since most of my readers are living in America, I’m naming it “rutabaga and carrot” soup.

“Rutabaga” is the common American and Canadian term for this yellow root we plan to turn into soup. The name comes from the Swedish word Rotabagge, which apparently means “root bag”. This vegetable has also been called “yellow turnip” on the western shores of the Atlantic.

In other parts of the English speaking world, “swede” is the preferred term, because it is in fact a Swedish turnip. The name swede, for short, was adopted in England, where a true turnip has whiter flesh, and is about the size of a tennis ball. But for some strange reason the English swede and the American rutabaga is always referred to as a turnip in Ireland.

Now to confuse matters further, said vegetable is sometimes referred to as “neeps” in Scotland. Like the Irish, Scottish people call the swede a turnip, and neeps is a derivation of the term “new turnips”. So when you’re throwing together some “neeps and haggis” reach for a rutabaga, not those wee things English people and Americans call turnips.

A Little Irish Turnip History:

The turnip features prominently in the annals of Irish history during the time of the Great Hunger (1845-1850).

“They were to the starving ones supposed to be a “God-send,”

and were eaten with great avidity, both cooked and raw.”

from Annals Of The Famine In Ireland – Chapter VI (2)

1851 by Asenath Nicholson

Fire was a scarce commodity for many of the poor during these hungry years, since they were too weak to cut and harvest turf. Therefore, they cooked only the turnip greens, while the tuber was eaten raw.

But turnips were not as nutritious as the potato, and had to be eaten in great bulk to sustain life. However, those who were sick and dying were offered turnips to eat ……

…….”not because of its nutrition, but because of the absence of it,

not having sufficient to injure the weakest body.”

from Annals Of The Famine In Ireland – Chapter VI (2)

1851 by Asenath Nicholson

During the famine years, growing turnips was advocated as an alternative to potatoes, and ever since the lowly vegetable has been cultivated extensively in Ireland.

Turnips – The Original Jack-O-Lanterns

Originally Jack-O-Lanterns were created in Ireland and Scotland by chiseling out a turnip or rutabaga, and placing hot embers or coals inside. The light represented the souls of the dead, and was used to ward off “Stingy Jack,” a notorious fellow who made a deal with the devil.

When the Irish came across the waters to the United States they started to make Jack O’Lanterns at Halloween, replacing the Irish turnip with the more plentiful American pumpkin. Artistically inclined carvers started to create faces on larger pumpkins, which were far easier to pulp than the old rock-hard turnips of their homeland.

And finally, after all that rambling, here’s my soup recipe ….

Ingredients for Rutabaga and Carrot Soup:

2 tablespoons of butter
1 medium rutabaga diced
2 large carrots sliced
1 onion, chopped
6 cups of chicken stock
black pepper
salt to season
1/4 cup of fresh whipping cream (optional)

Peeling and chopping a rutabaga is simpler than it might seem. My step-by-step rutabaga handling instructions can be found here.

Melt the butter in the bottom of a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the carrots, turnips and onion, stirring them well to completely coat them in butter.

Cover the pot and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes to soften them. Shake the pan every 3 minutes to prevent any sticking, but resist the temptation to lift the lid. Trapping the steam in the pot is key to building up a good vegetable sweat.

Add the stock and season well with salt and pepper. I like plenty of freshly ground black pepper in this soup.

Bring the soup to boiling point, lower the heat. then cover the pot and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are nice and tender.

Turn the heat off and let the soup cool a little before blending it.

I use my hand held blender to blitz the vegetables, but a regular stand-up blender can also be used. Complete the process in batches if using a regular blender.

And finally, add the cream. This step is optional, but I love the extra depth of flavor cream lends to this soup. You can add the cream in the pot and blitz the soup again, or do as I do, and add a spoon of cream to each bowl before serving.

Here’s the printable recipe:

Rutabaga and Carrot Soup

Print recipe

Serves	10
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	45 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 5 minutes
Meal type	Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 Medium rutabaga (diced)
2 Large carrots
1 Large onion (chopped)
6 cups chicken stock
black pepper
salt

Optional

1/4 cup whipping cream

Directions

Step 1	Melt the butter in the bottom of a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the carrots, turnips and onion, stirring them well to completely coat them in butter.
Step 2	Cover the pot and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes to soften them.
Step 3	Add the stock and season well with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to boiling point, lower the heat, then cover the pot and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes.
Step 4	Turn the heat off and let the soup cool a little before blending it.
Step 5	Add the cream and stir into the soup. Serve warm.

This soup is a tribute to the humble rutabaga. I love it’s uniquely sweet and peppery flavors.

Happy soup making!

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht leat!

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Slow Cooker or Crockpot Chicken Stock

September 15, 2014 by Irish American Mom 6 Comments

Chicken stock lends a robust flavor to all kinds of soups, and can be made inexpensively using the left-over carcass from a roast chicken. Many chicken stock recipes involve simmering a whole chicken, but growing up in Ireland we always used left-over “skeletons” for our stocks.

“Waste not, want not” was the motto of my childhood days, and no chicken carcass was cast into the rubbish bin before it yielded the nutritional goodness buried within its bones.

When I was young, stock simmering was done on the stove top in a large pot. Since coming to America I’ve discovered the wonders of a crock pot for creating delicious stock, and for cooking soups and stews.

When stock is slowly simmering over an open flame or electric burner, I never feel safe leaving the house. One of the glories of a crock pot is the ability to set it and forget it.

My roast chicken left overs spend a day in my crock pot before finally being discarded.

And so, to kick off my soup making recipe season, I thought the best place to start is with a good basic chicken stock.

Here’s my recipe for slow cooker chicken stock.

Ingredients:

1 large chicken carcass
1 onion cut in quarters
2 carrots cut in 2 inch chunks
1 celery stick, sliced
10 black peppercorns
6 to 8 parsley stalks
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
10 cups cold water
pinch of salt

Cooking Directions:

Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a large slow cooker. I use a 5-quart size. Make sure the water level is at least 1/2″ below the top of the bowl.

Set the crock pot on low. It will slowly heat. Allow the stock to simmer for 8 to 10 hours. If the liquid level goes down as the stock cooks, top it up with more water after 4 hours of cooking.

Turn the heat off and allow the stock to cool slightly before passing it through a fine strainer. I remove the larger bones and vegetable pieces before straining the stock. Discard the left-over vegetables and chicken bones.

Refrigerate the stock for up to 3 to 4 days before using or freeze it for up to 3 months.

And there you have it – simple, easy-to-make, budget-friendly chicken stock using this girl’s best kitchen friend, her crock pot.

As I share more and more of my soup recipes in the coming months, I’ll link back to this basic recipe whenever I recommend chicken stock for a particular soup.

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Soup Making Tips For Fall Or Autumn

September 5, 2014 by Irish American Mom 20 Comments

Once Labor Day has passed, and fall is in the air, it’s time to start thinking about soup. There’s nothing like a bowl of chunky, satisfying soup on a nippy day, to warm the cockles of your heart.

Soups come in all colors, textures, and tastes. In fact, I think it’s safe to say there’s probably a soup to to suit every palate.

In Ireland, we describe a chunky soup by saying:

“There’s eating and drinking in that.”

Remember, in this case, the word “eating” is usually pronounced in a manner similar to “eightin”, as in the number 8.

But whether you prefer drinking a clear, soothing broth, or eating a thick, substantial stew, I’m quite certain there is an Irish soup for you.

In the next few weeks and months I plan to share some of my favorite soup and stew recipes.

I know some people feel a recipe is unnecessary for concocting a perfect soup, sticking to the motto:

“You can’t go wrong with soup.”

Truthfully, you can and you can’t go wrong with soup. For some all-in-the-pot, mix-it-all-together kind of soups, they taste delicious no matter what. But on the other hand, you can go very, very wrong with more delicate, puréed soups, that require the perfectly flavored stock, the right amount of seasoning, or a dash of cream or milk to add depth, and an underlying richness.

To prepare for the “soup making season” I thought a post on some basic tips for soup success is in order.

1. Fresh is Best:

Any soup is only as good as the ingredients used to make it, and with that in mind, my motto is “fresh is best”. Fresh vegetables and good quality stock are keys to tasty soup.

Now don’t think I’m not known for opening a bag of frozen peas for a quick soup. I do use frozen vegetables frequently, since they are flash frozen at peak freshness, but I tend to steer clear of canned ingredients in my soups. The canning process adds way too much sodium for my taste buds.

2. A good stock:

Stock dictates the underlying flavor and ultimate taste of each and every soup. Choosing between vegetable based stock, chicken, beef or fish stock is the most important decision for any soup.

I often use store bought stock, but truly they don’t come close to the flavor of a good home-made stock. Recently, I have been paying quite a bit of attention to food labels and try to steer clear of any ingredients I can’t pronounce. Some cheaper stocks are full of preservatives, and are laden with salt. Organic stocks are twice the price, but worth it for flavor and goodness. However, the budget friendly decision is to make homemade stock.

In the coming days and weeks I’ll share my stock making tips with a few basic stock recipes. With a crockpot you can simmer a good stock even while you’re out and about.

3. Herbs and spices:

Herbs and spices can lift a soup from ordinary to extraordinary. They’re my soup pot heroes. They add flavor, working away busily spreading their magic in the pot. Fresh or dried herbs work well, but the general rule for dried herbs is to use one third of the quantity of fresh.

4. Make sure the vegetables do the sweating, not you!

Many soup recipes start out be telling you to ‘sweat’ the vegetables. The term does sound a little gross for those not used to culinary lingo, but to tell you the truth, it’s a very accurate description of what is going on in the soup pot.

When “sweating” vegetables, they are gently cooked in a tiny bit of fat, to get their juices to leak out, and to release their inner flavors. You get their juices flowing, so to speak.

To promote this process, the pot is covered to trap steam, which helps soften the veggies. It’s important to keep the steam trapped in, so lifting the lid is not recommended. Instead, lift the whole pot and give the veggies a good, old shake to stop them sticking.

This “sweating” usually takes about 10 minutes. The ingredients shouldn’t be browned or caramelized, but slightly pale after their time in the pot sauna.

5. Simmer, don’t boil:

Simmering is vital for good soup. When vegetables are boiled they end up tumbling all over the pot, hitting off the sides, damaging their texture and spilling all their flavor into the stock. So simmer, to avoid somersaulting peas and carrots.

Similarly, when reheating a soup it’s important to simmer without boiling. This is especially true for soups with added cream. When the cream boils it separates and creates a fatty film on top of the soup. So, my rule of thumb is, gentle heat for luscious soup.

6. In praise of hand held blenders:

In my granny’s day smooth soups were achieved by mushing and sieving the cooked vegetables. No such work for today’s cook. Liquidisers or blenders do a fine job of puréeing soup, but ladeling the liquid in batches is slow, not to mind the risk of splattering hot liquid all over the place if the jug is overfilled.

My best soup-making friend is my hand-held blender. I take great satisfaction in blitzing a soup with a quick dunk of its all-powerful blades. There’s nothing like a quick whizz with a hand held blender for a perfectly textured soup. I highly recommend one of these gadgets.

And so there you have it! A few good soup-making tips, to whet your appetites for some delicious soups over the coming months. As I type this blog post, a tasty chicken stock is simmering away in my crock pot. I’ll share my recipe in the next few days.

Stay tuned for plenty of stock and soup recipes in my upcoming recipe posts.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ingredients for Traditional Irish Potato Soup:

Cooking Directions for Potato Soup:

Printable Potato Soup Recipe For American Readers:

Printable Potato Soup Recipe for Irish Readers:

Traditional Irish Potato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Slán agus beannacht!

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ingredients:

Directions:

Parsnip and Apple Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Firstly, let’s name this soup correctly……

Is it rutabaga and carrot soup?

Swede and carrot?

Turnip and carrot? or….

Neeps and carrot soup?

A Little Irish Turnip History:

“They were to the starving ones supposed to be a “God-send,”

and were eaten with great avidity, both cooked and raw.”

from Annals Of The Famine In Ireland – Chapter VI (2)

1851 by Asenath Nicholson

…….”not because of its nutrition, but because of the absence of it,

not having sufficient to injure the weakest body.”

from Annals Of The Famine In Ireland – Chapter VI (2)

1851 by Asenath Nicholson

Turnips – The Original Jack-O-Lanterns

Ingredients for Rutabaga and Carrot Soup:

Rutabaga and Carrot Soup

Ingredients

Optional

Directions

Slán agus beannacht leat!

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ingredients:

Cooking Directions:

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

“There’s eating and drinking in that.”

“You can’t go wrong with soup.”

1. Fresh is Best:

2. A good stock:

3. Herbs and spices:

4. Make sure the vegetables do the sweating, not you!

5. Simmer, don’t boil:

6. In praise of hand held blenders:

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