Grandma McQuown's Potato Soup

[FraidKnot]

4-5 medium white potatoes
1 finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. black pepper
salt as needed (to taste)
4 c. chicken stock or broth
water to cover
2-3 slices bacon, fried (not too crisp)

Bring stock and water to a boil and add onion, potatoes and other seasonings. Boil about 20 minutes then stir in cooked crumbled bacon. Stir in rivlets and cook about 10 minutes.

Rivlets:

3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg

Blend ingredients together until mixture is moist but crumbly. Drop into bubbling hot soup. Cook about 10 minutes.

The soup is credited to Lena Ruffner McQuown, who was born in Germany around 1910 but raised in Pennysylvania Dutch country in the U.S. I finally managed to re-create this soup that my father remembers so fondly from his childhood.

Fraidy

[CharlieD]

Water to cover what?

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by CharlieD

Water to cover what?

The potatoes and onions in the pot with the broth.

[FraidKnot]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

The potatoes and onions in the pot with the broth.

Exactly. You want enough water and broth to cover the potatoes. Turns out to be about 8 cups of liquid all together.

Fraidy

[Constance]

The soup sounds wonderful, Fraidy. I love old family recipes.

I've seen rivlets mentioned in my Grandma White's old Amish cookbook. Do they kind of dissolve in the soup, or are they like tiny dumplings?

[CharlieD]

I see, thank you. My wife have been asking me to make potato soup for a while now. I should .

Let me asl you about the "Rivlets" though. Can you eleborate a bit, maybe more detailed description of how you make them, please.

[FraidKnot]

Originally Posted by Constance

The soup sounds wonderful, Fraidy. I love old family recipes.

I've seen rivlets mentioned in my Grandma White's old Amish cookbook. Do they kind of dissolve in the soup, or are they like tiny dumplings?

They are grainy dumplings. They don't dissolve but they help to thicken and add body to the soup. Keep in mind Grandma Mac was making this during the Depression in the 1930s to feed 3 boys and a girl so stretching the soup was everything. She rarely had chicken broth or stock to add to the soup. That's my addition.

Fraidy

[FraidKnot]

Originally Posted by CharlieD

I see, thank you. My wife have been asking me to make potato soup for a while now. I should .

Let me asl you about the "Rivlets" though. Can you eleborate a bit, maybe more detailed description of how you make them, please.

Well, it's pretty simple. You just mix together the salt, flour and egg until you have fine crumbs and drop them into bubbly hot soup. Not sure how to get more descriptive than that!

Fraidy

[Aria]

Fraidy, What a wonderful addition to my Recipe Files. These "types" that have been in families are treasures. Thank you. Will be making this Soup very soon.

[home cook]

I come from a house where my mother cooked every day to dinner soups. My favorite was chicken soup with dumplings. Now that I'm 35 and cook a lot of complicated dishes but I still like a good old fashioned soup with dumplings. Thank you for grate recipe.

[Uncle Bob]

This is a MUST DO recipe!!!

Thanks fraidy!!!!!!

[TexanFrench]

I assume the potatoes are cut up in some fashion, not whole, otherwise they would probably take longer to cook than this recipe allows for. Is that right?

The rivlets sound wonderful. With the weather we've been having in Central Texas lately, soup is wanted every day!

[MasterChefPierre]

Originally Posted by CharlieD

I see, thank you. My wife have been asking me to make potato soup for a while now. I should .

Let me asl you about the "Rivlets" though. Can you eleborate a bit, maybe more detailed description of how you make them, please.

Rivlets are basically an egg noodle. You add flour, salt, pepper and egg to a container and 'cut' the mixture with a knife to aggregate the noodles into lump-like formations, shake off the extra flour and add the crude noodles/dumplings into the broth to cook the noodles and thicken the broth.