Monster Soup

In spite of all my hopes and plans, this is the one recipe that I was forced to use food coloring.  I tried using, what I had thought, the perfect ingredient for making this soup purple without using any coloring…  But, unfortunately, the purple potatoes not only did NOT make the soup purple, it turned it a horrible shade of brown, meaning I simply had to use coloring to make it a nice, purple shade.  So sad.

Monster Soup

Cut the onions, carrots, and celery into bite size pieces.  Wash and dice the potatoes, too.  Now, we know that I like my vegetables with their skins on, but if you feel so inclined, peel the carrots and potatoes.

In a nice pot heat the butter on medium until melted.  Add the carrots, onions, and celery and saute for 2 minutes, until the raw look is gone.  Add the potatoes and cook, stirring continuously, until the potatoes are “crisp tender”.  This means it’s still hard, but not raw.  This’ll take about 5-8 minutes.

Add all the vegetable broth and bring to a boil, raising the heat if needed.  Reduce the heat back to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are starting to soften up.  Then we want to add the milk and flour.  Now, a word of caution about the flour and milk – we want to make sure that the flour is COMPLETELY whisked into the milk before we add it to the soup.  If it’s not you’ll end up with lumpy bits of flour everywhere and it’ll be gross.  Allow everything to simmer for about 5 minutes.  By this time the potatoes should be getting softer.

You’ll need to be extra careful with this next part.  Take out 1/2 of the soup, using a heat-proof container.  Pour the soup into a blender in however many batches you need to make it fit, blend until smooth, and pour back into the remaining soup.  When half of the soup is blended, and all the soup is back together, add the heavy cream.  Stir and heat until hot and then taste for seasonings.  You may want to add the rest of the salt and pepper now…

Guys, now it’s time for the part that makes this Halloweeny, but also kinda weird.  Add all the food coloring.  It feels like a lot, I know, but it’ll make it the best color for Monster Soup – and make it not a weird shade of brown… I honestly thought pureeing purple potatoes would make the soup purple, not brown.  But I was wrong.  So if you don’t want to add Monster Extract to your soup, simply use russet potatoes to ensure that your soup is a nice, creamy white instead of a weird brown.

Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and fresh chives.  Also, if you’re using this at a Halloween party, serve it in a small cauldron for a great touch!

Link’s Monster Soup recipe:

• • Fresh Milk
  • Tabantha Wheat
  • Goat Butter
  • Monster Extract

Monster Soup

• Servings: 5-6
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Potato Soup with purple coloring for a lovely Halloween effect

Recipe adapted from Perfect Potato Soup by Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1 pound purple potatoes (or russet for a white soup instead of purple soup)
• 4 medium carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk (substitute almond milk to make this vegan)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (or more almond milk for a vegan recipe)
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon black pepper to taste
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon purple gel food coloring
• grated cheese, fresh chives, and sour cream to garnish

Directions

1. Cut the onions, carrots, and celery into bite size pieces. Peel, if you desire.
2. Wash and dice the potatoes, again, peeled if you desire.
3. Heat the butter on medium in a pot until melted.
4. Add the carrots, onions, and celery and saute for 2 minutes, until the raw look is gone.
5. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring continuously, until the potatoes are crisp tender, about 5-8 minutes.
6. Add all the vegetable broth, and the first amounts of salt, pepper, and paprika, and bring to a boil, raising the heat if needed.
7. Reduce the heat back to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes start to soften.
8. Whisk together the milk and flour until completely combined. Add to the soup and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the potatoes are nearly soft.
9. Using caution, remove 1/2 of the soup, using a heat-proof container. Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. You may need to blend in batches if your blender is small. Pour the blended soup back into the pot and stir to combine.
10. Add the heavy cream and stir and heat until lightly simmering.
11. Taste for seasonings, adding the remaining salt, pepper, and paprika if desired.
12. Add the first amount of the food coloring. Stir until completely combined and the soup begins to change. If a darker purple is desired, continue adding coloring until the color you’re looking for is achieved.
13. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and fresh chives.