We've all been there: Almost empty jars of jam and homemade fruit butters lurk in the back of the refrigerator, because "I was saving the last bit for you." The roasted vegetables from last Sunday's farmers market haul no longer excite. The rotisserie chicken you grabbed from the grocery store looks as if a horde of angry vultures descended on it.
The carton of french fries you took home "because maybe they'll re-crisp in the oven" is getting pushed farther and farther back, out of sight and out of mind. Or, the worst, you open the refrigerator door and out tumbles half of a formerly juicy lemon, taking with it the tiny Polish teacup that was housing it, which promptly shatters on the floor.
This soup is the creamy, hearty solution to those leftover french fries, and it can use up what's left in cartons of cream or broth, too.
To create even more body, add a few dabs of cream cheese or handfuls of your favorite shredded cheese; to add tang, stir in a little yogurt or sour cream. Have a few roasted carrots or sweet potatoes? Toss 'em in. The recipe is adaptable.
Tami's French Fry Soup
9 ounces (about 3 1/2 packed cups) cooked french fries
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (may substitute no-salt-added chicken broth), or more as needed
Splash white wine OR malt vinegar
Splash heavy cream or milk, optional
Salt and ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons ketchup
A few dashes malt vinegar
Put the french fries in a medium saucepan and pour the broth over them. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low; cook, uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the french fries are quite soft. Remove from the heat.
Use an immersion (stick) blender to puree until smooth. Stir in the wine (or malt vinegar) and the cream or milk, if using. Taste, adding salt and pepper as needed (the amounts depend on how the fries were originally seasoned). If the consistency's too thick, stir in more broth.
If desired, stir together the ketchup (to taste) and enough malt vinegar to thin it out to the desired consistency.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Dot or drizzle each portion with the thinned ketchup; serve hot.
Makes 2 to 3 servings.
From Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, resident Tami Elder
Food on 11/18/2015