POTATO SOUP

2 tablespoon butter

2 pounds potatoes (about 5 or 6 large), peeled and thinly sliced

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

4 cups milk

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 cup chicken stock

Sachet d’ épice:

½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

8 black peppercorns

2 blades mace or ½ teaspoon dried

6 parsley sprigs, tied together for easy retrieval

1 tablespoon of salt, if desired

½ cup canned evaporated milk

chives, snipped, to garnish

Melt butter in a medium (3-quart) saucepan until it foams. Drop in potatoes and onions, toss and stir to film the pieces with butter.

Lay a piece of foil on top of the vegetables and tuck it in around the edges to seal in the steam. This keeps the vegetables from drying out. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the vegetables to soften over low heat for about 10 minutes. Don’t let them brown or the flavor of the soup will be destroyed.

Remove the foil. Add milk, chicken stock, garlic, sachet and parsley. Bring to a simmer, partially cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

Discard the sachet and parsley. Puree the soup in a food processor. Reheat in a clean saucepan. Season with salt, if desired. Although the soup simmered with the black peppercorns in the sachet, it may need an additional sprinkling or two of pepper. Use white pepper, which will not show in the soup. The soup should be thick, the consistency of heavy cream. If too thick, thin with additional milk or chicken stock.

Pour a tablespoon of the evaporated milk into each heated soup bowl. Ladle in the soup. Sprinkle snippets of chives over the top. Crisp buttered toast goes well with Irish potato soup, as does Royal Hibernian soda bread.

Makes 6 servings.