Vegetable Stock and Shrimp Laksa

I'm officially hopeless. My name is Kate and I can't stop buying cookbooks. Here I am giving them away every week to reduce my collection and bring some sanity to my life, and I stumbled on a cookbook in a Marshall's Department Store, and bought it.

That place is the worst for me.

Problem 1: They tend to have a lot of very inexpensive cookbooks.

Problem 2: They tend to be by Paragon Publishing, which is a problem because

Problem 3: Paragon tends to recycle the same photos and recipes into new volumes and I don't notice until later, like when I'm giving away the cookbooks, how often I buy the same recipe, over and over again.

In my defense, this particular book was one I had not seen before, and even though its by Paragon, it had recipes I'd never seen before, and I loved the concept. It's called "1 Broth, 100 Soups" and in leafing through it, I immediately noted that I'd want to try more than 75% of them. That's a must buy. Plus, I find making stocks really calming and therapeutic, and the stock for each of the 100 recipes is a Vegetable Stock, which I have not made before.

I made the Basic Veggie Stock first (adapted, my own recipe follows) and then chose Shrimp Laksa for my first soup. I didn't have every ingredient on hand, but made some tasty substitutions and turned a very lovely bowl of soup. This time, I'm actually glad I broke my No New Cookbooks Rule.

MY VEGETABLE STOCK

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 container of Trader Joe's Mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery)
1 large potato, diced
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
1 cup white wine
Fresh Parsley
Sage Leaves
Garlic Clove

In a large stock pot, heat the oil, and add the mirepox, diced potato, and leek. Saute until soft, wilted, and barely beginning to color. Add the bay leaves, 1 crushed garlic clove, fresh parsley (a lot), fresh sage leaves (only a few), and the cup of white wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until liquid has reduced and all alcohol has burned off. Carry vegetables in stock pot to the tap and fill with cool water (I added at least 10 cups-- up to the handles of the pot). Bring stock to a rapid boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for 1-2 hours. Let stock cool, and then strain all vegetables out (at this point, my veggies were still recognizable, very soft, but I couldn't stand throwing them away. I fished out the bay leaves, and then threw the rest in a blender with a bit of stock and made a very pretty mustard yellow veggie puree, which I froze in ice cube trays so I can add the puree to soups and stews as a thickener). Portion the stock into baggies or freezer containers, and freeze for up to six months.

MAKING SOUPS
I'm really a soup alchemist and my Soup Esteem is well intact -- I make GREAT soup. In fact if I were going to open a restaurant, it would be a Soup Kitchen. Problem is, I use ingredient amounts as a suggestion and treat my kitchen like a laB without writing stuff down as I go along, so I often can't remember how to recreate really spectacular pots of soup I've made. Fortunately, I can always make something else just as good. This time, I took notes:

SHRIMP LAKSA

My Shrimp Laksa, adapted heavily from "1 Stock, 100 Soups":

Veggie Stock
Shrimp with tails on
Coconut Milk
Cashews
Trader Joe's Yellow Curry Sauce
Curry Powder
Thai Kitchen Fish Sauce
Siracha Chili Sauce
Rice Noodles
Brown Sugar
Salt and Pepper
Cilantro
Carrots
Scallions

In a large soup pot, bring veggie stock to a boil. Remove shrimp shells and tails. Set the shrimp meat aside, and first throw the shells and tails in the pot of stock and boil rapidly for several minutes to infuse the stock with shrimp flavor. Fish out and discard the shells and tails. Strain stock to be certain no shells remain. Stir in 1/2 to 1 cup of TJ's yellow curry sauce (if you have curry paste, that's preferable). Add curry powder to taste, and several glugs of Fish Sauce. Stir and simmer, stir and simmer. Add several glugs of Siracha Chili Sauce. Stir and simmer, stir and simmer. Grind up a big handful of cashews into a coarse powder (but don't make a paste). Add ground nuts and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1 cup of coconut milk to the stock. Whisk thoroughly to combine and simmer gently. Add the raw shrimp, and with the heat on low, simmer until the shrimp are pink, cooked, but still tender.

Meanwhile, boil water and pour over rice noodles. When saturated and "cooked", drain noodles and portion into bowls. Ladle the soup over each portion of noodles, and dress with slivered carrots, cilantro, and scallions. Dress with more siracha to taste.

Pork Hominy Stew

I am so lame for making this post.

This Pork Hominy Stew is the best thing I've made all year. A stew of hominy, leftover shredded pork, tomato, an entire bottle of Dark Ale, carrots, onions, a bunch of salsa from Trader Joe's, cilantro and garlic up the wazoo. It was actually very easy, and I can probably never duplicate it exactly because I was just pitching stuff from the fridge into the pot, and this is what I got. Absolutely fantastic. I'm sorry it's almost gone!

I also came to a realization with this soup. While I detest drinking beer and ale (yuck, I don't want to drink anything that requires me to acquire a taste for it), I LOVE cooking with it. Why is that? Why do I love beer and ale based entrees, but dislike it as a beverage? Dunno.

And why is this post lame? Because while I did take notes, I don't have a recipe for you yet. I shouldn't proclaim this to the best thing I've made all year, and then just make you sit here and look at it, but, that's exactly what I'm doing so I can organize my photo uploads.

I'm good at soup, always have been. When I get off my ass, I'll type up the recipe as close as possible, for future generations.

Use it up points:

Off the charts, it was a frenzy of pitching things in from the fridge and pantry.

Barefoot Bloggers: Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

This month's first Barefoot Blogger's Challenge is Ina Garten's Mexican Chicken Soup, as selected by Judy's Gross Eats. Her eats don't appear at all gross to me, so note to self, ask her later why she has that blog name. Surely there is a family story in there.

A pox on canned soup. Soup is probably the easiest and most satisfying thing you can create at home. It lets you play alchemist and for whatever reason (probably due to the poxed canned soup), guests, friends and family are always impressed by a big pot of homemade soup. My speciality is braised collard greens and bacon in ale. I guarantee, it will cure what ails you.

I expected to really love this month's recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers, but honestly, I just didn't. It wasn't complicated. It wasn't nasty. It wasn't terrible. It was fair. It just wasn't great.

I suppose this is best judged by one simple fact. My mother and I sat down to the finished soup, each ate a bowl, pronounced it fine, and then put the rest in a container in the fridge, and never touched it again. We never once said "Ooh, let's finish that soup." A week later, it was down the drain.

The woman who taught me to make good soup is my mother. Her soups are legendary. She was having soup and bread night, as a dinner party, long before it was ever popular. "A soup party? Really?" This was in the 1970s.

If my mother and I, soup maker and her apprentice, never once gave the soup another thought, it just wasn't interesting enough to blow our skirts up.

Now, if anyone at all can get the recipe for the White Chicken Chili with Cilantro Cream, served at La Brea Cafe in some Macy's stores in California, THAT blows my skirt up. I'd love to recreate that "soup."

About this challenge: The Barefoot Bloggers join forces and cook or bake recipes by Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten each month, chosen in order by members, and present them for discussion on two Thursdays each month. Hungry? Please join us at the table!

Barefoot Bloggers: Mushroom Soup with Cream

I was looking forward to making this month's Barefoot Bloggers selection. It's Ina Garten's Cream of Mushroom Soup, selected by Chelle of Brown Eyed Baker.

I'm a big fan of most anything with mushrooms -- except thick, cloying, canned cream of mushroom soup. I confess I've used a can or two in my time, to thicken a post-Thanksgiving Turkey and Stuffing Casserole, but to eat as a soup? Pass.

This was my first time actually making mushroom soup, and at a glance, I knew I'd scale back on the diary (copious amounts of heavy cream and half and half) for the obvious reason -- to reduce the fat -- and for another reason. My boyfriend loves anything with mushrooms, but nothing creamy or fatty. He's forever lamenting how few restaurants make a broth based mushroom soup.

I am a well-known soup alchemist -- I add dibs and dabs of lots of things until it's just right (the result of which is that I seldom duplicate a pot of soup). Still, I followed the recipe fairly closely, with the following exceptions:

In Step One, making the mushroom broth, I used half water, and half homemade chicken stock. I just felt it needed more flavor than plain water and mushrooms. Once the veggies (mushroom cap stems, carrots, and shallots) were fully cooked, I did strain the broth, but I pureed the veggies with the broth in blender cup, until it was a thick applesauce consistency, and very golden in color from the carrots. This went back into the soup.

In Step Two, sauteing the mushrooms with butter, flour, white wine and leeks -- I was out of leeks and used shallots.

In Step Three, simmering the soup and adding the dairy, I thickened with the pureed vegetables as described above, and added probably 1/3 cup of heavy cream, at best. Nothing more was needed, and it was still very rich, buttery, and creamy. I used the thyme, but skipped the parsley.

Finally, as far as seasonings, mushrooms are just notorious for soaking up spices and needing extra seasoning and salt. I kept salting and peppering this soup but didn't hit that "note" it needed until I switched to liberal shakes of my house-made Schezwan Pepper Salt. That was the ticket!

This was a very delicious soup!

About this challenge: The Barefoot Bloggers join forces and cook or bake recipes by Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten each month, chosen in order by members, and present them for discussion on two Thursdays each month. Hungry? Please join us at the table!

Rotisserie Chicken Stock

I am mighty pleased with myself, with just a very basic chicken stock! I was reading a cookbook this week which pointed out something so obvious, it really never occurred to me:

"Every time you buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, eat the chicken and throw away the carcass, you've just thrown away a pot of chicken stock."

I've never made my own stock even though I know it isn't terribly complicated just because I didn't feel like playing with an entire chicken. But I've thrown away plenty of rotisserie chicken carcasses before, and the recipe was dead bang simple. It never occurred to me to use one, other than a turkey carcass every November.

So, with a Safeway grocery store rotisserie chicken sacrificed for the cause, here is my pot of stock waiting to cool, and be divided into one quart freezer bags.

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN STOCK

1 rotisserie chicken
1 onion
1 handful of carrots
1 handful of celery
1 garlic glove
Handful of herbs as you like
Whole Peppercorns

Strip the chicken of all the meat you wish to eat, leaving the skin, bones, and meat you don't want (I don't like dark meat, for instance), intact.

Put the entire carcass into a large stock pot and fill up with as much water as the pot will hold, and covering the carcass.

Throw in a handful of celery stalks with leaves intact, a handful of carrots (I only had shredded, so I added a cup of shredded), a whole onion cut in half, several tablespoons of various herbs, whatever is complimentary or you have on hand, 1 large elephant garlic clove, and about 10 peppercorns.

Bring to a rapid boil, then reduce heat, keep the pot covered, and simmer for 2 hours. As the liquid reduces during that 2 hours, replace with more water to keep the level up. For the second two hours, remove the lid, and let the stock reduce by half or until it reached a rich, dark golden color. Remove any fat or scum which floats to the surface (I had none, really).

Strain the whole pot into a large pan to remove bones, skin, veggies, meat. Then strain again through a smaller mesh strainer, as many times as you like, to get the broth clear.

I picked out a lot of meat from that pile you see and just nibbled on it, but most of the meat had been removed prior to the stock making.

It was really easy, really rich, really delicious, and so much better than ANY canned stock I've ever purchased.

Now I just need to make room for a bunch of bags of stock in my freezer. I think I'll be eating sugar free popsicles all night.

Pumpkin Black Bean and Lentil Soup

Absolutely delicious. Let's get that out there right now. I'm pleased with myself.

In Northern California we're in that in-between period of Spring where you'll venture out one day in your linen dress and sunglasses and embrace the sun, and the next day in a head scarf and warm jacket, leaning into the wind. Today is one of the chilly days and I wanted a pot of soup (although I'm one of those who can appreciate a pot of soup year round, and I love soup for breakfast).

I wanted black bean soup, and went hunting for a quick and easy recipe. I browsed several ideas and then landed on an interesting flavor combo for pumpkin black bean soup on Blackberries and Lobster. That blog, in turn, got the inspiration from Smitten Kitchen. I ran with the flavor idea, and only when I finished, and came to collect the links for this post, did I even realize that one of my last minute inspirations -- adding sherry -- was already on Smitten Kitchen's recipe.

I think this not-sweet flavor marriage of pumpkin and vegetables is just outstanding. I'll be happily eating this for the next several days because try as I might, I just cannot make a small batch of soup. I become this crazy soup alchemist, stirring, adding, tasting, experimenting, until I have a full cauldren. For that same reason, sharing my scratch soup recipes can be difficult. I don't measure, I season to taste, I add things at random. Anyone who loves making soup and reads foodie blogs will appreciate that soup is a very personal thing and is fully customizable -- just take the ideas, if you like them, and run with it.

PUMPKIN, BLACK BEAN, LENTIL SOUP

• 1 - container of Trader Joe's Mirepoix (about 1 cup each of chopped celery, onion, and carrot)
• 1 - 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed free of bean goo
• 1 - 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
• 1 - 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 pouch of Trader Joe's Beluga Lentils (about 1 cup)
• 1 large can or box of broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
• garlic
• olive oil
• cooked bacon
• Penzey's spices a-plenty (I used loads of cumin, smokey blends, green blends, and finally, some roasted schezwan pepper salt of my own blend)

Coat the bottom of the stock pan with a quick swirl of olive oil. Add the entire container of mirepoix, or, 1 cup each of chopped celery, onion, and carrot (assuring the carrot is a small dice). Add several garlic cloves, chopped cooked bacon (I used three slices of pre-cooked, cold bacon, snipped with scissors into small bits), a good handful of spices (I used loads of cumin and several blends from Penzey's) and saute all until the onion is tender, the bacon has rendered a little fat, but the garlic has not browned.

Add the can of tomatoes, stir, and bring just to a simmer.
Add the drained black beans, stir, and bring back to a simmer.
Add the can of pumpkin puree, stir, and bring back to a simmer.

Using a stick blender, gently pulse about half of the veggies in the pan. I like some texture, so I wanted some pureed until they were pulpy, but left most of intact.

Begin to add some stock to cover the veggies, and bring back to a simmer. Continue to add stock in increments until the flavor and texture is as you like it.

Add 1 cup of fully cooked lentils. I used tiny black "Beluga Lentils" which are from Trader Joe's and fully cooked.

Simmer the soup, adding or adjusting spices as you do so. Taste about a thousand times because you can't believe how tasty this combination is.

Finally, to finish, add a healthy splash (perhaps a 1/3 of cup for me) of California Sherry.

Serve as you wish, topped with croutons, or served with cornbread, or even a dollop of sour cream would be lovely. This was a really low-fat soup, combined a few SuperFoods (I'm trying to consume several each day, in this case lentils and pumpkin), was a snap to make, and, most of all was economical -- my canned items came from the dollar store (the stock, the pumpkin, the tomatoes, and the bleans).

Slurp away.

Potato, Sausage and Spinach Soup

I love stumbling on blogs with witty names by witty people. I found a soup recipe which appealed to me, from someone in the health care industry who shared my confusion: Why are so many hospital workplace cafeterias devoid of healthy food?

The subject was blogged by Glenna at "A Fridge Full of Food and Nothing to Eat" (Hah! Isn't that witty? I identify with this because I'm a grocery whore) over a year ago. She vowed to start brown-bagging it to assure she had better food choices during the day (I wonder how she's doing with that). I've been a master of the bento lunch, myself, for nearly two years now, and my love of home cooked and packed lunches has not decreased. If anything, I love it even more. I'm healthier, spend less (when I reigned in the bento lunch box purchase mania, that is), and, when I *do* dine out at noon, it's a infrequent treat rather than a chore.

Enter Glenna's recipe for Red Potato, Sausage and Kale soup. I recognized that I had most of the ingredients on hand, I love soup for lunch, and it was healthy. I adapted it to suit the ingredients I had on hand, and a few preferences, and it's a winner -- both versions, I'm sure.

Let's get to boiling some soup...

First, I sauteed about 1/3 of a ring of low fat Turkey Keilbasa in a deep stock pan, with a bit of olive oil, and a thinly shaved red onion. I know the sausage is fully cooked, but I need some brown bits and edges to convince myself it's worthy of eating.

Now we've got a nice browned bottom and the sausage is crispy on some pieces. Perfect. I tossed in a few diced garlic cloves, and some celery and celery leaves.

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due. Before I came to loathe Rachael Ray, I saw an episode of her loathesome show where she was making one of her 30 minute recipes with an annoying hybrid name: "Stoop" or some bullshit like that. She caught my attention when she said "Don't toss out your celery greens, they have loads of flavor so keep 'em in." This is hardly unique to RR (or any good cook, even), but she was the first of the chefs I saw performing this trick, and mentioning it, and I've done it ever since. That ends any props I give to She Who Has Millions But Apparently Cannot Find or Afford a Decent Bra for Crap's Sake.

Next, I added 2 quarts of low sodium chicken broth and brought that up to a rapid boil. I added quite a few (measure? I dunno. More than a few but not a whole bunch -- perhaps 2 cpus) rough chunked small red potatoes, and additional herbs. I love thyme and it grows with abundance in my garden, so I added fresh thyme and rosemary. The aroma began to waft, the stock was a deep brown (all that browned sausage no doubt) and it was already tasting pretty good.

After the potatoes were cooked most of the way, but were still firm to the tooth, I added one cup of fat-free half and half. I know, I know ... "There is no such thing as fat-free cream." I know. But I must admit, I'm consistently surprised with how "okay" fat free half and half is. You know why? Because they got the texture right. It doesn't taste fake to me, doesn't have a weird gelatinous texture like some fat free dairy products have, and tastes pretty okay when it isn't consumed by itself, or as a primary ingredient. I wouldn't, for example, pour it over berries, but a few tablespoons is just fine for pan drippings, soup, a protein shake, and similar recipes. In goes a cup of fat free half and half, with a quick stir.

After that simmered for approximately 30 minutes to further soften the potatoes. I began to deviate from Glenna's recipe pretty substantially here ... because I love mushrooms in my soup. I added an 8oz container of button mushrooms, cut in half, and, more thyme and a few hard shakes of Penzey's Salt Free Mural of Flavor. I'm a recent convert to Penzey's Spice Blends. Boy that stuff is good, isn't it?

At this point, I was readying my greens (in this case, baby spinach) to add, and started thinking about bacon going so well with spinach. Hmmm, don't I have two cold pieces of ready-cooked bacon in the fridge, taking up space? Yes, I do. So, I quickly decided to snip two pieces of cooked bacon into the brew.

After that addition, I knew I'd be adding SuperFood spinach, so I decided to add another SuperFood to the brew. I read some articles recently about Dr. Pratt's 17 super foods, and a recommendation to try and eat at least 10 of those per day. There were a few articles posted by nutritionists who decried Dr. Pratt's SuperFoods Rx plan, one going so far as to say "There is so much wrong with his plan I don't know where to begin." Hmm. Isn't that your job, to know where to begin? Ms. Nutritionist? How can you argue with yogurt, salmon, yams, blueberries? He isn't saying to eat nothing but 17 foods. He's saying to try and enrich your diet with these 17 SuperFoods. So I'm going to give it a try, starting with adding a big hunk of yam, sliced thinly so that it could quickly cook with the rest of the soup, because I added it far too late in the game to otherwise catch up with the big chunks of red potato.

Next I tossed in the contents of an 8oz bag of SuperFood baby spinach. Glenna calls for Kale, which is also a SuperFood, but I had baby spinach on hand, which I purchased to try and get in the habit of using it in place of lettuce in salads and on sandwiches. Ordinarily, I'm an iceberg lettuce girl through and through. What my dad liked, we ate.

That wilts down fairly quickly, obviously, so once the spinach is soft and tender, your soup is ready.

Mmmm. Delicious!

Red Potato, Spinach, and Sausage Soup

• 1 link of turkey keilbasa, sliced
• 1 small to medium onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 stalk of celery and leaves
• 2 cups of rough chopped red potatoes
• 1/2 of a medium yam, chopped
• Seasonings to your taste
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 cup fat-free half and half
• 8 oz mushrooms
• 8 oz spinach leaves

Saute keilbasa and onion until well browned. Add garlic clove, celery and leaves, and seasonings to your taste, just until combined and aromatic. Pour in 2 quarts of chicken broth and bring to a boil, and add yam and potatoes. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are soft but not falling apart. Stir in half and half, and simmer for another 20-30 minutes, until somewhat thickened and reduced. Adjust seasonings as you go, to your taste. Near serving time, add mushrooms and spinach leaves. When wilted and cooked, serve.

Verdict: Fantastic

Skill: Moderate

Repeat: Most definately

Shout Out: To my beloved, for getting me a proper digital camera. I love you dearly for tolerating this silly hobby of mine.

Collard Green and Turkey Soup

Another adaptation of one my favorites. I can make it from memory, anymore. Very adaptable to your favorite protein. I've often wondered how it would taste with grilled shrimp.

SMOKEY COLLARD GREEN SOUP

1 large bag of cut and cleaned mixed greens(1)
1 large carton or can of low sodium chicken broth (at least one quart)
1 large bottle of Ale or Beer(2)
1 onion
3 slices of bacon
garlic
olive oil
vinegar(3)
sea salt
cayenne pepper or similar seasonings(4)
Fully cooked rotisserie turkey breast or chicken, quantity to your taste

Notes:

(1) I typically use one large bag of Trader Joe's Southern Blend, but for this recipe, I used Cut N Clean Country Greens (collard, mustard, turnip) from a grocery store. You could use all of one kind if you like, but I like a blend.
(2) I used a large 550 ml bottle of Samuel Smith Lager Beer from Trader Joe's
(3) I used Trader Joe's White Balsamic, but any vinegar will work.
(4) I ordinarily use cayenne pepper, but today I used Penzey's Northern Blend, which was so good, I may use it from now on.

In a large stock pot, make a swirl over most of the bottom with extra virgin olive oil. Heat and add one finely diced or shredded onion, several garlic cloves, a dash of sea salt, 3 slices of bacon, cut up, and your choice of spice seasonings. Saute until beginning to brown, and add sliced, fully cooked chicken or turkey. Continue to saute until all the ingredients are soft, browned, and aromatic. To the pot, add one full can or carton (1 quart at least) of chicken broth, and 1 bottle of ale or beer, and bring to a boil. When at a rolling boil, add one bag of cleaned and cut up country greens. Press greens into boiling mixture and dunk until they wilt and are covered with liquid. Put a lid on it, reduce heat, and let simmer for one hour or more, until greens are fully tender. Splash with vinegar to bring out the balance of the dish (not much is required and you won't taste it). You may want to adjust by adding more water or broth to keep the liquid level up, but I like the condensed, reduced version for flavor.

Slurp it up with a spoon, being sure to have soft bread or cornbread to sop up my favorite part -- the pot likker.

Verdict: Always delicious. My sister calls it my signature dish.
Skill: Not much, really. I don't even cut up my own greens.
Repeat: It's frequently on the menu in my house.

Blarney Stone Creamy Potato Soup

I make a pot of soup, homemade from start to finish, more frequently than any other thing in the kitchen -- so often, I have repeats and won't bother boring everyone with my various soup nights. I bookmark soup recipes often. I collect soup cookbooks (and every other kind).

One thing I've learned over the years: There are very, VERY few canned soups or soup mixes worth eating. For those rare occasions when I do buy ready made soup, it's so easy to doctor up with fresh herbs, added chicken broth, some fried sage. Not that it's much of a concern: Homemade soup is so easy.

It was surprising, then, as I was trolling the aisles of my natural foods co-op, looking for something simple and fast, that I glanced at a package of soup and thought: That sounds and looks good. I'm buying it.

It was a package of Fantastic World Foods New Simmer Soups, in Blarney Stone Creamy Potato flavor. I had a vision of sitting down to a bowl of simmered potato soup, just like my mother used to make, with a slice of warm bread and butter ready to sop (just in case the potato soup wasn't carby enough). Potato soup, done right, is one of the few soups I don't make because a) I don't have the confidence mine will be as good as hers and b) the time and labor in peeling all those potatoes. No thanks (do I need potato peeling mitts? Hmm).

As it cooked, I quickly sauteed a bit of sage and pancetta, to top the potato soup. ::Ding:: It's ready! Doctor it with the sage mixture (which was already smelling heavenly), and dig in.

Why did I think this package of soup could compare to Mom's Potato Soup?

Because I'm an idiot.

This stuff was awful. Plain and simple. Starchy and false tasting. Riddled with too many herbs (if that's possible) which were false tasting. Tiny bits of potatoes which, after reconstituting, were no bigger than dried onion flakes (despite the large hunks of potatoes in the photograph). A waste of my time and good milk.

Fortunately, my ONLY smart move with this purchase, was that as I began to make the soup, I saw that it required 7-1/2 cups of milk, whisked into the mix. Wha--?! How much?! No way, not on a trial soup. I measured out 1/2 of the package and mixed in 3 cups of milk, instead.

Good thing. I wasted 3 cups of milk. Sorry about that, milk.

Verdict: This stuff went right down the drain.
Skill: None, including purchase decision making
Repeat: Not even for money