The other Mystic

As the City Market winds down for the year, I am loading up on acorn squash, which your Mom loves to eat when we have pasta, and whatever other winter vegetables are left. Despite Cassie's transgressions, I am still buying plenty of potatoes, which are her favorite.

Last winter we were looking for a new kind of soup to make and we found this one, which combines potatoes with another one of Cassie's favorite things—cheese. Of course she loved it and after that hardly a week went by when Cassie didn't request potato-cheese soup for dinner (along with potato pasta).

Here is the soup served in one of a pair of artisan-made bowls your Mom and I picked up during one of our two trips to Mystic, Connecticut, in November 1990 and November 1991, to run the Tarzan Brown Run, a 5.5 mile race along the Mystic River. We really enjoyed our trips to Mystic, which are some of the best memories I have of our three years in Connecticut. And the town was a harbinger of good things to come when we adopted our own Mystic many years later.

Potato-Cheese Soup

Adapted from Food and Wine

Time: ~45 minutes

I've left the ingredients from the original recipe intact. Most of the flavor comes from cooking the onion in bacon fat and then sprinkling the crispy fried bacon bits over the soup when serving. Without the bacon it's pretty bland, so to make this vegetarian you have to come up with another way to infuse some extra flavor in the cooking liquid. I've done it by putting a teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base or two cubes of Edward & Sons Low Sodium Not-Chick'n Natural Bouillon Cubes in with the potatoes and water. It's salty though, so adjust the seasoning accordingly.

¼ pound sliced bacon, sliced in half lengthwise, then crosswise into ½-inch pieces (see note)
Olive oil, if needed
1 large onion, diced
3 pounds baking potatoes (such as russets), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4½ cups (1,036 grams) water
1 teaspoon kosher salt (see note)
6 ounces high-quality cheddar cheese, grated on the large holes of a box grater (about 1½ cups grated); for the richest color, use a yellow cheese
2 tablespoons snipped chives, or scallion tops sliced on the bias

  1. In a large stockpot over medium heat, fry the bacon until it's crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pieces to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the yummy bacon fat. If you don't have 2 tablespoons, add enough olive oil to make up the difference. If you're making this without bacon, just use 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
    2. Place the pot back over medium-low heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, 6 or 7 minutes. You want the onions to be soft, but not browned at all.
    3. Stir in the potatoes, water, and salt (add your other flavoring now if you're making this vegetarian), and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. The potatoes are tender when the tip of a paring knife goes through the potato easily without any resistance in the middle. Don't cook them to mush, though. You want some chunks that hold together in the final soup.
    4. Reduce the heat to low. Puree half of the soup. This is most easily done right in the pot with an immersion blender or a potato masher. You can also remove half the soup from the pot and puree it (carefully) in a blender or food processor, then return it to the pot. For a chunkier soup, you can just break up some of the potatoes with the back of a wooden spoon.
    5.  Add the cheese and stir until it's melted smooth. Taste and adjust for salt. Serve promptly topped with the bacon bits and chives or scallions. Serves 4 to 6.