Sprouting Potato Soup

Mom was in the hospital for a couple of days last week which creates a time vacuum for the rest of us.  There are very sweet patients and there are impatient patients who are a tad demanding and difficult to deal with.  Mom falls into the latter category, consequently someone has to be with her around the clock.  Because My Beloved sister works and is in the most demanding part of her business year and could not be there beyond the first afternoon, Son2 and I split the "being there" time.  As a result of the time crunch, nothing here was cooked and all eating was just catching something on the fly.  We got her home at 9 pm Friday night and got her settled in for the night. Beloved Sister spent the night with her and we determined she could stay by herself while Beloved Sister worked Saturday to catch up and I went with TheHub to his cousin's funeral about an hour from town.  Finally last night I could begin a small bit of food rescue.

I tend to pull several things out of the freezer at one time with a somewhat loose idea of what I will prepare for dinner with each item.  I had 4 things defrosting in the meat drawer of the fridge for several days and they needed to be addressed.  Add potatoes that had sprouted eyes and a few other odds and ends in various stages of less than stellar shape and I guessed, correctly, that I would be doing some power cooking today.

The only recipe I am sharing today is the potato soup recipe.

                                                                Desperation Potato Soup

8 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
5 celery ribs, diced
1 tablespoon oil
1 quart chicken broth
1 teaspoon tarragon
1teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
3/4 cups half and half (or 1 cup milk)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup grated cheese





















Peel and dice the potatoes and set aside. Put the oil in a Dutch over or large pot and add the onions and the celery.  Cook until the vegetables are wilted, add the potatoes and stir them with the vegetables a couple of times before adding the chicken broth to the pot.  Add the tarragon, salt and pepper and cook until the potatoes are very soft.  Stir in the milk/half and half.  If the soup appears too thick add a little water.  In a small saute pan melt the butter and add the flour.  Cook, stirring constantly until it forms a soft paste.  Add it to the potatoes and stir util the broth thickens.  Stir in the grated cheese and stir to melt and thoroughly distribute the cheese.  Serve in a bowl and garnish with dill weed or chopped chives.  This makes a really tasty and very filling soup.  We each had a medium sized bowl  and are stuffed.  If you have some potatoes that need to be used quickly this is a great way to use them.

Now on to pot roast, chicken roll ups, sweet potato soup, peanut butter bread pudding, and chocolate pudding with strawberries. (Trying to use a gallon of milk that has about 2 days of "good" still in it)