Potato Soup

Here is another recipe which is a mixture of couple of recipes and my additions.  Tips can guide you for a much simpler, yet delicious soup.

Ingredients:

• 2 russet potatoes 
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 branches of celery
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4 1/2 cups of home-made chicken stock
• 3  tablespoons of sour cream
• Salt and black pepper to taste

for Beşamel Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 cup of milk

Directions:

1. Peel and wash the potatoes and onions, and cut them into four.  Cook them in the pressure cooker for  7-9 minutes with the stock, garlic, celery, salt and pepper (or cook in a regular pot until soft enough to puree). 
2. When it’s cooked, liquify it with a hand blender while it is still in the cooker.
3. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until you smell the flour or it is brown.  Slowly stir in milk and keep stirring constantly until it thickens and does not have any lumps. 
4. Add this sauce and the sour cream into the pressure cooker and mix them in.
5. Cook for couple of minutes.

Tips:

1. If you don’t want to add extra calories or do not have time to make beşamel sauce, just don’t do it.  I tasted it both before and after adding the sauce and both tasted good.  However, if you want a creamy soup and end up with a runny mixture after blending, beşamel sauce helps to thicken it.
2. You can skip sour cream if you wish.
3. If you want a creamier soup, simply use more potatoes or add beşamel sauce. 
4. You can use any kind of potatoes you like.
5. If you don’t like too much stock flavor or do not have it available, you can do half water and half chicken/beef broth or stock.
6. Add more spices as you like. 
7. By the way, you can use beşamel sauce for any soup you want.