Corn, Green Chile, and Potato Soup
I like to think of myself as adventurous in the kitchen. Apart from my recent cooking rut, I usually like to try a variety of new recipes, use new ingredients, come up with variations on old recipes. But there are some things that I always wind up making the same way, over and over again. Because they’re good, and good is good. Don’t fix what ain’t broke and all that. Potato soup was one of those for me.
Julia Child’s Potato Leek Soup has been a favorite for years. It’s improbably simple, and the flavor it beautiful. So when I’m craving potato soup, I make up a batch and I’m a happy camper. I haven’t felt the need to deviate, honestly. Not, that is, until I saw this recipe in Bon Appetempt (which, by the way, is wonderful) and thought, “Well, heck, that sounds good. I’ll do that.” And so I did. Seriously risky soup behavior, folks.
Good story, I know. But really, sometimes it is just that straightforward. Sometimes the best way out of a cooking rut is by finding something that sounds good to you and just doing it. Even if you are pretty sure you’re plenty happy with the potato soup recipe you already have. Even if you have already had soup 3 times this week. Even if your kid looks at the can of green chiles and screams, “Me no like ‘picy!” Sometimes you just have to give it a try.
I suppose I don’t have to tell you that this potato soup is very different from Julia’s understated French version. It’s the chunky to her smooth, the spicy to her subtle, the flamboyant to her simplicity. It’s a load-it-up-with-toppings kind of soup, which, incidentally, turns out to be my favorite kind of soup. It’s big on flavor, so it can handle it. (And no, it’s not too ‘picy.) The original recipe calls for a chipotle pepper instead of green chiles, but I really love green chiles, and I had them handy. For a bit of heat, I still used a small amount of ground chipotle, but even just a bit of cayenne would do the trick. This seems like one of those soups that takes very well to substitutions and such… a good-natured soup, as truly, most soups are. So it’s worth trying something new; you won’t be disappointed.
Corn, Green Chile, and Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 4 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into approx. 1" chunks
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 can fire-roasted, diced green chiles
- 1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle
- 3 cups corn, fresh or frozen
- 1 lime
- salt and pepper
- For topping:
- extra lime wedges, shredded cheddar, sliced green onion, and tortilla chips or strips
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat butter and olive oil until butter is melted. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, broth, and 1 teaspoon salt the the pot and bring to a simmer. Add in the green chiles and ground chipotle and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes so that they're broken up and some chunks remain. Add in the corn and simmer until it's heated through, another couple of minutes. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper. Add the juice of a lime, then serve immediately with your chosen toppings.