Recipe - Lovage Potato And Buttermilk Soup

2 One half ounce Finely chopped onion
10 ounce Corsely grated raw potato
Fresh young lovage leaves
1 One fourth pt Chicken or vegetable stock
One half pt Buttermilk, more if desired

Put the onion into a heavybased saucepan. Add the stock and bring to
boiling point very slowly so the onion begins to soften a little.

Meanwhile coarsely chop a small handful (5 or so tablespoons) of lovage.
Add the potato and herbs to the pan and pour on One half pint buttermilk.
Increase the heat very slightly and bring the mixture to a bare simmer.
Stir vigorously all the while as the potato starch will thicken the soup,
which may stick to the pan base. Halfcover the pan and reduce heat as low
as possible once again. Cook very gently indeed, stirring occasionally,
until the potatoes are perfectly tender.

Whizz the contents of the pan to a smooth puree. Season with salt and
pepper and with extra lovage if you like. Whizz again and thin to taste
with a little more stock or buttermilk. Reheat gently or chill thoroughly
before serving, then garnish with a swirl of buttermilk and a small
flotilla of chopped fresh lovage.

Source: Philippa Davenport in "Country Living" (British), May 1988. Typed
for you by Karen Mintzias

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini