Colcannon Soup

From Allison Scott
Makes 2-3 quarts

Says Allison: I don’t usually cook directly from my Grandma Georgia’s recipes, but I have her sensibility from years of watching her in the kitchen. A self-described “poor, Irish woman,” she cooked seasonally not because it was trendy, but because our family shared a huge garden and she preserved, pickled, dried, and canned all of the summer’s produce so we could eat on the cheap all year. Winters and springs meant pickles on the table next to the salt and pepper shakers (summers and fall: young raw onions). I am not poor, but I am taking time off to raise our baby, which makes for a very lean grocery budget. Use what you have on hand. No shallots? Throw in a bunch of chives or scallions. No wine? Or only enough for one glass? Skip it. This soup doesn’t rely on meaty tricks like smoky pork fat or rich stock, but instead turns cheap ingredients into a hearty meal. Be generous with salt and pepper and pickles/pickle juice and it will taste great. Add bacon bits as a garnish if you’re into that sort of thing. Or leave out the butter and cream, capitalize on the starches in the potatoes, and you can feed a vegan.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons neutral oil
3 celery ribs, diced (reserve leaves)
1 small yellow or white onion, peeled & diced
2 leeks or shallots, cleaned & diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
splash white wine
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled & chopped
1 pound red potatoes, chopped
2 bunches kale or other hearty greens, chopped
splash heavy cream
salt and pepper
chopped dill
pickles & brine

Preparation

Heat butter and oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add celery, onion, and leeks and cook until tender and translucent, about 8 – 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 – 2 more minutes. Season with salt. Add a splash of white wine and cook off the alcohol.

Stir in the potatoes. Add water (or veggie or chicken stock if you’ve got it) to cover potatoes by 2 inches. Taste the liquid and season with salt. Turn heat up to high, bring to a boil, then turn back down to medium and simmer until potatoes are tender. Scoop out 2 cups of potatoes along with liquid, let cool slightly, and puree in a blender until smooth*.

Return pureed potatoes to the soup pot and stir in chopped greens & celery leaves. I like to leave the greens raw so they only wilt slightly from the heat and retain some texture, but you could also saute them along with the onion mix if you like them softer. Add cream, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve with chopped dill and pickle relish or chop whatever pickles you’ve got on hand.

*use an immersion blender for a few seconds instead if you’d like. Or even a potato masher. You just need to mash up some of the potatoes.

Allison Scott is a professional cook on hiatus to focus on pleasing the palate of one very particular customer: her son George. She’s helped lead the kitchens at Local Foods, Sunday Dinner Club, and Hoosier Mama Pie Company. She co-wrote the Hoosier Mama Book of Pie and her recipes have been featured in the Soup and Bread Cookbook and Chicago Tribune. Allison teaches cooking classes for kids and adults, volunteers for Pilot Light, and takes way too many pictures of her cats.