Watercress, Celery and Potato Soup, with sausage & mustard dip

November 15, 2022

Soup

1. Sautee two bunches of watercress stems (reserve the leaves) and 4 stalks of celery, sliced (including green tops) in EVOO, until almost soft. Cook for about 10mn over low-med flame. Add a little kosher salt.

2. Cut up 2 medium yukon gold potatoes in 1/2-1 inch pieces, keeping skins on. This is where a lot of the nutrients are. (Wash well first with a veggie scrub-brush.)

3. Add 3 cups homemade chicken stock and the potatoes. Turn up heat to bring to a low boil.

4. In a dry skillet, toast some whole coriander, caraway seeds and black peppercorn. Crush in a brick and mortar and add to soup. Also add some fresh chopped thyme and oregano leaves if you have them on hand (or use dried oregano and thyme, if you don't have fresh.) Start with about 1/2-1 tsp of eachdried spice and 2 tsp of fresh...and then add more to your liking.

5. Cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 15mn.

6. While cooking, set aside 12 small watercress leaves for garnish, and chop the remaining leaves.

7. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup, then add 7.5 oz (or less) of creme fraiche. Stir until well combined and heated through.

8. Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped watercress leaves. Serve in four bowls and top each with three whole watercress leaves.

Fennel Sausage On the Side

I like to cut some kielbasa or fennel sausages diagonally and saute them until browned nicely on the outside and just cooked through on the inside. I did this tonight while the soup was cooking. I also make a mustard dip to dunk each bite of sausage into.

Mustard Dip for Sausage

Mix the following:

1/4 cup homemade mayo, see below (or you can use store-bought)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp prepared horseradish, see below (or you can use store-bought)

Salt & pepper to taste

Prepared Horseradish

1 whole horseradish root

1 cup filtered water

2 tsp kosher salt (Red Diamond)

2 tbsp white vinegar

Process: In a food processor, grate the horseradish root. Let it rest for 1-2 mn. Add salt and vinegar. Set aside what you need for this recipe and pour the remaining prepared horseradish into sections of an ice-cube tray. Put in freezer overnight, then empty the cubes into a labeled freezer-safe Ziploc bag. This generally lasts about 6 months in my house. When you can find the horseradish root in season, you may want to make 2 batches at once. It's only a seasonal item in most grocery stores.

Homemade Mayo

Makes about 1 cup

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp red wine vinegar (you can make your own, with red wine! See this blog entry)

2 tsp Dijon mustard (or 1 tsp if you don't love mustard)

3/4 cup really good EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

In a small food processor, blend all ingredients except for oil. Then slowly add oil, drip by drip until it begins to emulsify, then you can drizzle it in a little faster.