Have to try this

[labradors]

When I was in the store the other day I saw something new that sounded interesting, but I didn't buy it due to the amount of sodium in it and since it was something processed. Even so, I'm now thinking of buying it ONCE so I can try it and, if it's as good as it sounds, so I can try to duplicate it.

What was it? A pre-packaged Cheddar Chipotle Soup made by Vigo. They had a few other flavours, as well, but that was the only one that interested me enough for me to consider copying it.

Have any of you ever tried that soup (or any of the other ones in that line)? If so, what did you think? I'll probably pick it up Monday to give it a try.

[cjs]

Boy, does that sound good - did you see this??

POTATO AND CHIPOTLE SOUP
Yield: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and quartered (or 4 cups mashed Idaho potatoes)
• 1 medium Spanish onion, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 ounces canned chipotle chiles with adobo sauce
• 4 cups chicken stock or water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 cup grated smoked Cheddar cheese, plus additional for garnish
• Kosher salt, to taste
• White pepper, to taste
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped red onion
• 1 lime
• 1 cup Crispy Shoestring Potatoes (recipe follows)


DIRECTIONS:

In a large pan of salted water, cook potatoes in 140ºF water for 20 minutes, then bring to a boil until potatoes are soft. Drain.

In a sauté pan over high heat, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil for 1 minute; add chipotle chiles and adobo sauce; lower heat to medium; continue cooking until onions are soft and translucent, 2 to 4 minutes.

Combine potatoes, stock or water, cream, cumin and coriander in large saucepan. Bring to gentle boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes. Turn off heat; let cool about 5 minutes.

Purée with immersion blender until smooth, gradually adding cheese. Season to taste with kosher salt and white pepper.

Prepare Crispy Shoestring Potatoes: Using a mandolin, cut potatoes into shoestrings. Pat dry. Deep-fry in 350ºF peanut oil until crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Drain; set on paper towel. Sprinkle with salt; reserve.

In small bowl, mix together bell peppers, cilantro and onion. Squeeze lime over; mix in juice. Season to taste with salt.

Per portion: Garnish each bowl of soup with 1 to 2 tablespoons pepper mixture, 1 tablespoon cheese and 1/4 cup Crispy Shoestring Potatoes.

Crispy Shoestring Potatoes
Ingredients:
• 2 medium unpeeled Idaho® potatoes, scrubbed
• Peanut oil for deep-frying, as needed
• Kosher salt, to taste

---

Yum!

[labradors]

Thanks, Jean!

Hadn't really started looking, yet, since I haven't tasted the soup, yet, but that recipe sounds wonderful. The only difficulty is going to be getting the smoked cheddar, but that was going to be a challenge, anyway, since there is exactly ONE good cheddar, here: Cabot, and it's not smoked. I may have to improvise.

[luvnit]

Nice on both counts. I like Vigo products, but you are correct about the sodium Rob. Nice recipe Jean... Yummmmm!

[cjs]

Labs, I know you're a purist, but don't know if you're a 100% one... how about trying just the tiniest drop of liquid smoke to the soup? I've added it to dishes and it works nicely.

[labradors]

Thanks, Jean.

I'm not a purist for this kind of thing since it doesn't purport to be an authentic national dish or well-defined, classic recipe.

As far as I know, one supermarket here DOES carry Liquid Smoke (and even Kitchen Bouquet), but it's been at least two years since I noticed it.

Great idea!

[Old Bay]

The recipe looks wonderful!! In the search for smoke, I've added pimenton (Spanish paprika) to get a little smoke without adding a lot of flavor --I'll have to give liquid smoke a try--always been afraid of it, but if you say so--I'll try anything you say!!

[cjs]

Bill, it is a natural product, so I've never been afraid to use it.

[labradors]

Tried the packaged version of the soup tonight, and it was delicious. It's a powdered mix that you add to six cups of boiling water then simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.

At first, I thought there was a problem during the cooking and that lumps were developing, but it turned out that, unlike the recipe that Jean posted, this soup had very finely diced potatoes in it and wasn't a smooth, puréed soup. Actually, I liked the way the potatoes came out, but really had envisioned this without the chunks. Other than that, I have two different impressions of this soup.

The first is that I am certain that I will like Jean's recipe even better, but this was very much worth trying and has provided a good baseline. The chipotle flavour is very subtle, and I suggest waiting 3-5 minutes after cooking before eating it, since that allows the chipotle flavour to come through better.

The second is that I'll need to buy another bag of it for an experiment. Where I think this packaged, cheddar-chipotle soup will really shine is to make it with seven cups of heavy cream, instead of six cups of water, then purée it and use it as the sauce for macaroni and cheese, or even for broccoli, etc. I really think that would be fabulous, and I'll be trying that AND Jean's recipe in the next couple of days.

[cjs]

" make it with seven cups of heavy cream, instead of six cups of water,' - you don't think maybe a 50/50 cream/water might be the place to start??? 'Course, I didn't see the consistency...