Polish Dill Pickle Soup ♥ Plus Some Fun News!

Polish Dill Pickle Soup
Polish Dill Pickle Soup: It'll grab you!
Today's soup recipe: A potato soup like you've never imagined, completely potato-y but also pickle-y, dill pickle-y to be exact. The creamy-sharp combination takes you by surprise. "Oh that's good," you just might say. We did.

So yes, today there's a fun recipe but first, the reason why it's especially fun: it's featured in the weekly column that I'm writing for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the big local newspaper here in St. Louis. (Pinch me, yes, I'm really writing that!!! It's really true!)

The column is called 'Special Request' and is the Post's popular restaurant recipe request column. On Wednesdays, it appears in print in the paper's food section and online at stltoday.com. Each week, a new restaurant and a new recipe is featured. (Pinch me again. Really. DO.)

What does a proud home cook know about restaurant recipes? Well so far, the recipes that Post readers are requesting are far more humble than haute. The recipes from the first two columns are actually "very Alanna".

Today I'm sharing the oh-so-surprising recipe for Polish Dill Pickle Soup from The Fountain on Locust, a funky little restaurant here in St. Louis. We did the tasting (yes, they call this 'work') on a snowy-icy January night and the hot soup took us completely by surprise -- it's a potato soup, sure, but there's this definite and distinctive dill pickle flavor. Aiii, it's something special!

And last week on Kitchen Parade, I shared the recipe for this lovely three-ingredient raspberry dessert that I call Sugar-Free Raspberry Bliss from the Saint Louis Club. How pretty is THAT, eh?!!

So it's a great beginning to my Special Request tenure with these first two columns. Mary Billings, the woman whose huge shoes I shall attempt to fill, she wrote 501 columns. More fun ahead!

ST LOUISANS From now on, Special Request recipes will appear in the paper and online, not on Kitchen Parade and A Veggie Venture. But, should you choose to follow along, I will add the newest recipes to Delicious and am also collecting 15 years worth of recipes in an easy list at St. Louis Restaurant Recipes. Come along!

POLISH DILL PICKLE SOUP
from The Fountain on Locust

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Makes 6 cups

4 cups good chicken stock, Note to Vegetarians
1-1/2 pounds (675g) russet potatoes (see TIPS), peeled and diced small to yield 4 cups
3 – 4 Polish dill pickles, about 12 ounces (340g), puréed in a food processor
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup milk (skim is okay)
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt & pepper to taste
Additional dill pickle juice to taste, optional

Dried dill

Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven, adding the potatoes as they’re prepped. Once it comes to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are done. With an immersion blender, purée the mixture, leaving some visible chunks of potato.

Stir in the pickles and butter and simmer for another 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk the milk into the sour cream to thin. A quarter cup at a time, whisk about two cups of the hot soup into the sour cream-milk mixture, then return it all to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add dill pickle juice to taste. Bring back to temperature but don’t allow to boil.

To serve, transfer to bowls and sprinkle with dried dill. Can be made ahead, reheats beautifully but don’t allow to boil.

ALANNA'S TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
Russet potatoes are often called ‘baking’ potatoes or ‘Idaho potatoes’. They have rough skins and a mealy flesh that’s especially good in soups.

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MORE FAVORITE POTATO RECIPES
~ How to Roast Potatoes to Perfection ~
~ Slooow-Baked Potatoes ~
~ Best-Ever New Potatoes & Green Beans ~
~ more potato recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Lighter Mashed 'Potatoes' ~
~ Baked Chicken with Herb-Roasted Potatoes ~
~ Those Pink Potatoes ~
~ more potato recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column


© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2011


Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. My brother's fiancee talks about this soup all the time and I'm definitely curious to try it!

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  2. Try "No Chicken Broth" in the place of chicken stock. It's vegetarian and tastes very similar to real chicken broth.

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  3. I agree with Anonymous about the No-Chicken broth as a vegetarian substitute. The "Imagine" brand is available through Whole Foods (at least in St. Louis), and is quite good. Online both "Imagine" and "Better Than Bouillon" no-chicken base are available through Amazon (among other places).

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  4. Looks great. I love both potatoes and pickles.

    I'm so glad you have put in a print recipe button. Makes life so much easier.

    Keep up the great work. I've been a subscriber for some time and enjoy many of your recipes. And congrats on the food column. You are worthy.

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  5. Curious. I printed this because I am so intrigued. Completely intrigued. Must try this soon. Planning a trip to the city for some of the city stores that carry things I cannot get in my local grocery. Like "No Chicken Broth" if I like the ingredients.

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  6. I love your recipes & the fact that you put the old Wt. Watcher points & the new Points Plus. I'm still waffling over which plan I like. You encourage me to try new veggies recipes & especially like the "greens" & make them a part of my weekly diet even tho' my husband doesn't understand how or why I like them. Congrats on the positon at the Post Dispatch. Carol

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  7. I think my husband would love this, as he's obsessed with all things "pickled." I'll have to give it a try!

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  8. Alanna, I saw this recipe and realized I had all the ingredients at home so I made it for dinner tonight. I made two changes.

    First, I made it with half russet potatoes and half cauliflower. I had some cauliflower that needed to be used and it was a nice addition to the soup. It wasn't overpowering and didn't add too much of a brassica bite, the soup was still very creamy.

    I also used half the amount of pureed pickles by mistake! For some reason I remembered the recipe wrong. I thought it was good with the smaller amount of pickles, but I could see how using more would be good, too. I might puree a few more pickles to add to the leftovers and see how that goes tomorrow night.

    Thanks for sharing this recipe. Looking forward to more from your column!

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  9. My son loves pickles, so I'm excited to give this recipe a try. It's a combination I never would have considered on my own.

    I am also wondering... I've never seen Polish dill pickles. Are Kosher dills close enough?

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  10. Leisel ~ You might be surprised, I was. There were THREE kinds of Polish dill pickles in my local supermarket. But yes, the restaurant says that kosher pickles are fine, just avoid the huge ones that have such thick skins. I hope your son loves this!

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  11. I'm pretty sure my husband and I ordered this soup there and were told it was vegetarian. I guess the wait staff was misinformed, or didn't bother to actually check with the chef.

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  12. wow! thats great your writing for a column!

    I will be trying the dill pickle soup, sounds good actually!

    Good going veggie Queen!

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna