What I’m thinking about is making some. My way is very simple in keeping with my philosophy that eating is a communal thing and making a meal should be also. Thus I prefer to make most dishes very simply and have flavorings and garnishes and condiments available for everyone to flavor their meal to their preferences, thus “bringing them into the kitchen with me” so to speak. So my potato soup is simple, cook the potatoes, mash them, add milk and mix until you have soup. A little salt, a little pepper and there you go.
What I was thinking of was maybe making some squash and potato soup. Prepare the potatoes, prepare the (acorn) squash, mash them together add milk and mix until you have soup, a little salt, a little pepper and there you go.
Has anyone done this before? Whats the ratio of potato to squash? Is this even a good idea or am I nuts (yeah yeah I know, but lets please stick to the topic of potato and squash soup)
For my time, as long as you are talking a puree of potato soup, not chunks,The boxed flakes for mashed potatos, while making a sad mash, makes a pretty good potato soup base in millionth of the effort. If it was me I would work with the squash as an actual ingredient, then mix in flakes and appropriate liquid to hydrate bit by bit until a ratio you like is reached.
Fair enough, Beside, I just noticed your location. Being in Idaho, you most likely have a nice supply of fresh, locally sourced, spuds available. Go out and pick’em right off the tree you can I’ll bet.
I loved rainy school days when I was in grammar school. That’s because I knew that when I got home, there’d be a huge kettle of potato soup (with HAM!) on the stove. And that wasn’t for dinner, it was our after-school snack/warm-up.
Thinking back on it, I regret never having gotten her recipe. Maybe my little sister has it.
I question your premise! IME, soup is best when the flavors get a chance to meld. (I’m sure that Alton Brown or someone has conclusive research to show that this is a myth, those sonsabitches, but until I see the research I stand by this claim). The slow simmer with herbs and aromatics is what makes soup so delicious. Creating a bare-bones base, and asking folks to add the flavors individually, misses the point of soup. The flavors won’t get a chance to meld.
Potato soup isn’t my jam, but my older kid likes it. When we make it, the mashing is the very last step, after the potatoes simmer into softness in the flavored broth.
I would start with bacon. Then saute onions in the bacon grease. Then add the liquid/potato’s/ veggies.
I don’t buy bacon often, but when I do I make potato soup.
Also, when potato’s are on sale I bake a bunch. Scoop out the flesh and freeze it for soup later. Use the skins to make tater-skins with cheese and more bacon!
What you are describing sounds like runny mashed potatoes. It needs some sort of flavoring. I second adding leeks. I would also add a couple bay leaves and grate some fresh nutmeg. Roasted garlic is another option.
My wife just made some potato & leek soup last night. It’s one of my favorites. The other favorite is potato and mushroom soup. Broth is the key ingredient in both to add richness and flavor. Both are served creamy, as opposed to rustic/chunky. Add a generous grind of black pepper and/or drizzle of olive oil to finish. Fresh chives or dill if you have it. Good grilled or toasted bread to go with. My mouth is watering as I write this.
It’ll work fine. If you Google, you’ll see there are a gazillion recipes with both potato and squash together. I tend to prefer this type of soup with the potato and squash in chunks, but creamy style is fine. Here’s a recipe that looks particularly good to me. I also think ginger/nutmeg with cream would also work very nice. Or you can even do coconut milk and curry-type spices. It can go a lot of different ways, but, yes, the whole idea of combining them is sound and perfectly common.
Potato and leek is wonderful. I top soups like that with parmesan, or pretty much any cheese available. I don’t recall having mushrooms in any potato soup but it sounds good since I like cream of mushroom (the real soup, but I did like the canned stuff when I was a kid).
I do use flakes for potato soup, they’re just crushed dehydrated potatoes and they concentrate the potato flavor in an easy way to control. When I have the patience I’ll finely dice some whole potatoes to put in for texture but I don’t want any large chunks.