ham and potato soup
Here’s a wonderful love story for Valentine’s Day. After weeks of chocolate recipes, I decided to offer up my favorite soup for this important day. The origin of Stone Soup is all about love – wrapped in potatoes, carrots, and onions. Let me explain.
"onions will give the stones flavor"
"I have a few potatoes we could add"
Ken and I attended a Stone Soup Supper Sunday evening. (Say that with a lisp!) Stone Soup suppers are a great potluck tradition in our church and various members host them each winter. Everyone brings part of the meal, which always includes appetizers, two soups, hearty breads and a yummy dessert. (See yesterday’s blog about the Cheesecake Brownies.)
"carrots would be a nice addition of color"
Before we eat, we gather together and reenact the story which tells about three hungry Russian soldiers who enter a village and start searching for food. No one will give them anything, so they get a pot and some water and start searching for “just the right stones.” They build a fire in the center of the town and start making their “soup.”
"ham will flavor all those potatoes"
The soldiers invite townspeople to taste the soup who then suggest additions of salt, carrots, onions, potatoes, meat, etc. As each townsperson runs back to his/her home to grab an item to add to the soup, the meal becomes not only more flavorful, but also more congenial as they all share the soup in the end. Each townsperson starts with an attitude that they have “only enough” for themselves, but when they pool their resources, all are fed a delicious meal with more variety than any one of them would have had alone.
my tip: blend some of the potatoes and onions
Sounds like a great story of “love.” Perfect for St. Valentine’s Day.
I’ve been making my own variety of stone soup for years, only I call it Ham and Potato Soup. (And I leave out the stones.) I change the vegetables depending on what I have on hand, but the basic recipe is below.
First a tip – If you like a thicker soup broth, but don’t want to add flour or a canned cream soup, you’ll love this idea. Boil the potatoes, celery and onions until they’re almost cooked. Scoop about half of the vegetables into a blender. Add about ½ cup of milk (or more) and blend for 30 seconds or until the vegetables are now broth. Pour into the soup. You can use this tip for many different soups. Let’s start at the beginning.
add green or red peppers if you like
Ingredients for Ham and Potato Soup
4-5 medium sized potatoes
1 pound carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped – red pepper is very pretty as well
1 ½ – 2 pounds cubed ham (or turkey ham)
1/2 cup milk (or Silk or Almond Milk)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
lets play ball
Optional – add left over vegetables you may have – peas, corn, red pepper, green beans.
Directions
• Fill a large kettle about half full of water
• Add the potatoes, celery, onions and garlic and cook until almost done.
• Scoop half the vegetables into a blender.
• Add ½ cup, or more, of milk and blend until vegetables are pureed. Pour back into the kettle of soup.
• Add the rest of the vegetables, the bullion, salt and herbs.
• Simmer on low to let the flavors blend.
• Serve with hearty whole grain bread.
Ham and Potato soup is very versatile. It will fill you up and is so good for you. It’s also gluten free and low in fat. And that’s a great recipe for your heart.
