Jaxon's Potato Green Chile Soup

If you have ever spent time in El Paso and never made it to Jaxon's for this soup, you are missing out, man! It's one of those dishes that ranks up there with Chico's Tacos in El Chuco. Maybe that's just me...but if you have been to Jaxon's, and you've ordered this soup, you know what heaven tastes like.



I bought a cookbook just to get this recipe, and later found out I wasn't the only one. On page 59 of Seasoned with Sun by The Junior League of El Paso, just after the directions for "Maxon's Green Chile Chowder" are the words: We know people who will buy this book for this recipe alone. I'm in good company!



Start with 1/2 of a fresh jalapeno, seeded and minced. You'll also need 1/4 cup fresh green chile, roasted, peeled and finely chopped. If you're like me and prefer the stuff that doesn't come from a can, that means about 4 green chiles. Next, chop up one onion, 2 pounds of potatoes (peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes).



Next, bring everything to boil in 4 cups of chicken stock. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt just before it comes to a boil.



After about 20 minutes, the potatoes should be tender and ready to drain. Pour everything into a large collander with a cup at the bottom. You want to save about 3 cups of the cooking liquid.



Divide half of your cooked potatoes, onion, and chile.



Mash the other half.



While your potatoes wait patiently, we're going to make the soup base. Start by melting 1/4 cup of butter over medium high heat.



Next, add 1/4 cup of flour.



Stir all of this together until it bubbles and makes what the Cajuns call a "blonde roux".



Remember that reserved cooking liquid we saved?



Just pour it into the roux. Raise the heat a little and stir it with a wire whisk until it thickens.



Next, pour 3 cups of milk into the thickened base. If you're feeling particularly frugal with your fat count, you can use 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1 1/2 cups of half-n-half for a positively velvety, FATTENING soup. But this isn't a dieter's blog, so we're ok. Just run to Montana and back and you're good!



Now pour the base into the mashed potato mixture, and add in the reserved cubed potato mixture. Pay no attention to the fact that this photo is out of focus and crappy.



Turn off the heat and stir everything together. You can let it simmer for awhile, but cooking it any longer will break down the cubed potatoes and you'll end up with Potato Soup For Seniors. You get the idea.

After you ladel the soup into bowls, you can top it off with cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, or (my personal favorite, like Jaxon's does it) tortilla chips. DELISH!

If you want to cut-and-paste the recipe without all those out-of-focus shots, here you go:

1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup fresh long green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and finely chopped.
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups of milk
shredded cheddar cheese and tortilla chips for garnish

Combine first 6 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Melt margarine over low heat; add flour and blend. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes to make a blonde roux. Strain liquid from potato, chile and onion mixture and reserve 3 cups cooking liquid. Mash 1/2 potato, chile and onion mixture. Reserve other half. Stir reserved cooking liquid into roux. Raise heat, stirring with a wire whisk until thickened. Add milk to thickened liquid and continue to stir until it comes to a simmer. Turn off heat. Add mashed potato, chile and onion mixture. Stir in and blend well. Add reserved cubed potatoes, chile and onion. Serve with cheese and/or tortillas on top.