Irish Cheddar & Whiskey Potato Soup

irish-cheddar-whiskey-potato-soup-saltwaterdaughters-featured

We’ll be celebrating our (partly) Irish heritage this weekend with this Irish Cheddar & Whiskey Potato Soup. It’s basically an Irish spin on a classic baked potato soup, and it’s perfect for a rainy weekend like the one we’re headed for.As proud members of the Duffy clan, we love to mark St. Patrick’s Day with good food as well as good craic (also commonly known as “a time” around these parts). Us Newfoundlanders, we borrow a lot of our food culture from the Irish. If you think about it, Jigg’s dinner is basically a spin off the Irish “bacon and cabbage”. And everybody loves a good tattie or a pot of stew… or soda bread… or tea buns… or Guinness…it’s all good. This year, we took inspiration from a couple of products from Ireland – Kerrygold Reserve Irish Cheddar, and my personal go-to bar standard, Jameson’s Irish Whiskey (sláinte!). Then we paired them with…well, potatoes! Because what’s more Irish than that? Sounded like a pretty good base for a potato soup to me!

This potato soup is actually super simple to make and probably only takes about a half hour if you are organized (I’m not, so it took me longer). The whiskey is sauteed with sweet onion to cook off the alcohol, which leaves a mild sweet flavour from the barley. This ended up pairing quite nicely with the reserve cheddar, which is bold but still smooth. We topped our bowls with some additional grated cheddar, charred green onion and a bit of crumbled bacon for contrast and texture. Basically, it’s all the comfort foods in one bowl. Yumm!! Those leftovers are gonna taste pretty good the morning after too…Let us know if you try this recipe – we always love to hear from you!! Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone! May the road rise up to meet you.

Irish Cheddar & Whiskey Potato Soup

Creamy and cheesy potato soup topped with crispy bacon and charred green onions.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 sweet onion diced
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup Irish Whiskey such as Jameson’s
  • 4 large potatoes peeled and diced
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 200 grams grated Irish Cheddar such as Kerrygold Reserve
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 2 cups milk
  • 4 scallions
  • 1/2 cup crumbled bacon for serving

Instructions
 

  • Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat.  Add butter and saute the onions until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes.   Add the whiskey and reduce to medium-low, cooking for several more minutes until the alcohol is cooked off.
  • Add the potatoes, salt, and water, and simmer until the potatoes are softened and beginning to break down, about 25 minutes.
  • Add the milk and bring up to a light simmer, but do not boil.   Remove half the soup and blend until smooth in a blender, or use an immersion blender to puree some but not all of the soup.   Return to the pot and add almost all the cheddar, reserving half a cup, and stir until cheese is melted and well combined.  Season to taste, thinning with water or milk if necessary.
  • To char the scallions, heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat.  Add the scallions whole, pressing down with a spatula to make contact with the pan.  Leave for 1-2 minutes until charred, flip and do the same with the other side, then remove from pan and slice.
  • Serve warm with reserved cheddar, scallions, and crumbled bacon on top.  Enjoy!!
Keyword cheddar, cheddar cheese, irish, potato, potato soup, soup, whiskey

The recipe is credited to Nicole and Katherine – The former owner of SaltwaterDaughter.com.