Potage Jackson, Canadian Army 1957

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Potage Jackson

Searching for a dish that was uniquely Canadian, I found this recipe with a somewhat unusual name in a Canadian Army Recipe Book. My further research on the origin of Potage Jackson turned up nothing. (Perhaps a Canadian reader or someone familiar with this recipe could contribute some input?)

 

What I find attractive about this dish is its utter simplicity, and I found this soup to be quite tasty. Potage Jackson is an easily prepared soup: once the vegetables are prepared, they're added to stock, simmered for an hour and pureed. I prefer to use an immersion blender ("stick blender") to puree it right in the pot. A carafe-type blender or a ricer would work just as well. 

 

With the passage of time, many armies expanded the variety of their menus beyond one-pot meals or a meal composed simply of a meat and a starch dish. Rather than being the basis of a meal, soups were more commonly prepared as a first course, preceding the entree. The Canadian Army manual recommended using soups to get a meal "off to a good start". Thick soups, such as this, would accompany a lighter meal. 

 

Potage Jackson Ingredients

 

Yield: 4 eight ounce servings

 

US                           Metric                        Ingredients

4 oz                         120 g                       onions

2 oz                         60 g                         celery

2 oz                         60g                          carrots

1 oz                         30 g                         turnips

8 oz                         230 g                       potatoes

2 fl oz                      60 ml                       canned peas

2 fl oz                  60 ml                       canned corn

10 fl oz                    300 ml                          stock

5 fl oz                      150 ml                          canned tomatoes

1 tsp                         5 ml                         salt

 

Procedure

 

1.      Cut the onions, celery, carrots, turnips, and potatoes into ¼ dice or smaller.

2.      Heat the stock; add all vegetables.

3.      Bring to a simmer and cook for one hour.

4.      Puree the soup.

5.      Add the tomatoes and salt. Cook for 10 minutes.

 

Garnish with chopped parsley or celery tops, or chopped crisp bacon.

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