Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <flavor><soup><potatoes>
Title: How to add flavor to potato soup (using minimally processed ingredients)?
Question: I've made my first potato soup and it has no taste.   Just to get an idea this is how I made it: chopped and onion and a carrot and place them with some oil to fry. After the onion got brown, I added the potatoes, water and salt and kept it cooking until the potatoes were done.  It tastes like ... just... boiled water.  How do I salvage the soup, preferably using minimally processed ingredients (for example, avoiding MSG)?

Answers:
sents: text: First, cook your potatoes in stock, not water.
text: I prefer chicken stock but you can use vegetable stock if you prefer.
text: Make sure you use only enough stock to barely cover the potatoes, and cook them with the lid off.
text: When the potatoes are done, add milk or cream until you achieve a nice, creamy consistency.
text: If necessary, you can thicken it by mashing some of the potatoes against the side of the pan.
text: You can also add some grated cheese.
text: I would use a hard cheese like Parmigiano or Romano.
text: Now just season to taste.
text: With a simple soup like potato, I would stick to salt and pepper only.
text: If you do use other spices, be careful because they will easily overwhelm the delicate flavor.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/7632/Carey Gregory
score: 8
sents: text: Some ingredients I like to include in potato soup: Cooked, chopped bacon Corn Shredded cheddar (or similarly mediumstrong cheese) Cabbage or broccoli
text: Any combination or all of the above can be added to potato soup.
text: The cheese, in particular will add an overall creamy flavor and texture.
text: (If you weren't concerned with the MSG and/or sodium, I'd suggest a couple of chicken boullion cubes, too.)
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/12565/Kristina Lopez
score: 8
sents: text: Seems to me that, aside from telling you to add ingredients (I am going to assume that you added salt prior to adding water to help sweat the ingredients), you may be missing the step of fully preparing your stock.
text: While browning your onions will have been effective; did you just add the carrots along with the water, did you give them an opportunity to sweat and brown as well?
text: Some considerations: Be sure that you allow the onions to fully brown.
text: This will ensure that they have expressed their fullest flavor Be sure that your carrots are being steamed (covering the pot with a lid is very helpful) and then cooking fully to create your stock If you added the carrots and the onions at the same time, but the onions are browning sooner than the carrots even get soft, add some water to the bottom of the pan to prevent the onions from burning, but to keep the carrots cooking (only add enough that onions float but carrots rest on bottom)
text: I would also add that roast
text: the potatoes might be helpful.
text: Also, you can alter the soup by pureeing some portion of the potatoes and adding it back to the pot.
text: In terms of a few additional ingredients: toasted sesame oil, fennel (whole, fresh), dill (whole, fresh)
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/15/mfg
score: 4
sents: text: Fresh herbs like parsley, rosemary or thyme will give your soup zing.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/2939/KimbaF
score: 3
sents: text: If you are after salvaging this pot of soup rather than starting over, some possibilities 1 a sprig of rosemary and some garlic that's been fried with a slick of olive oil 2 white pepper horseradish and sour cream 3 fresh snipped fennel green with baby peas and asparagus (primavera)
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/6638/Pat Sommer
score: 2
sents: text: I think you can cook your potatoes in water
text: it is not a problem
text: the question is how to make it fragrant even though you don`t have a stock base:first put some onions, 2 garlic cloves,3 celery leaves,small chopped carrot all of them with natural butter and let them cook for 5 minutes till they turn translucent take them to the mixer and ground then finely put them back in the pot and put 3 cups of water let them simmer for 5 minutes in another pan fry your potatoes just a little bit then add them to the simmering vegetable stock when the potatoes are 75% take them all to the mixer again and mix them then return back again to the pot here
text: you can add cream or cheddar cheese add your black or white pepper and salt if you want an oriental flavor add 1/2 tb of cumin
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/15297/ahmed hassan
score: 2
sents: text: The answers above are best if you're starting from scratch, but if you want to salvage this pot of soup a stock (or bouillon) cube or powder is your best bet.
text: It's processed but it should work.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/2391/vwiggins
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Cook your potatoes in stock rather than water next time, but if you want to rescue this one you can try one of the following: 1) a sprig of rosemary and some garlic fried in olive oil, 2) white pepper, horseradish and sour cream, 3) fresh fennel green with baby peas and asparagus, 4) garlic, celery leaves and carrot sauteed in natural butter, 5) cooked bacon, corn and shredded cheddar or 6) a stock or bouillon cube.
You should add a stock cube or some herbs. You can also add chopped bacon or grated cheese.