by Lynn Grisard Fullman
[Kairos Kafe, 515 University Blvd., www.kairoskatering.com, 251-3101.]
The most delicious potato soup I have had in the last 40 years is the one at Kairos Kafe," wrote Cosette Stephenson of Mountain Brook.
"It is really wonderful," the note continued, ending, "Can you get that recipe?"
Asked for his formula, Kairos Kafe's chef/owner James K. Jones responded with his usual good cheer.
"It amazes me how much people like this soup because it is so simple," he confessed, explaining that he devised the recipe soon after the restaurant opened when he "needed something to do with the leftover Lenora's Company Potatoes."
The recipe "just worked great, people loved it and I didn't have to throw anything away," he said, adding that the soup lends itself to a wide range of variations.
"Sometimes the simplest dishes are the best dishes, and this one always hits the spot, especially in the winter," he said, explaining that the restaurant, which is located in the former Ollie's Barbecue building, serves a different soup each week.
He did, however, commit to serving the soup today and for the next two weeks.
A bonus with the recipe, he noted, is that "the possibilities are endless" for creating variations.
For instance, he suggested creating potato-bacon soup by adding 1 cup cooked, chopped bacon, or making potato-corn chowder by adding 1 cup yellow corn, 1 cup white corn and 1 cup sweet creamed corn.
Other possibilities that Jones has stirred up are:
Potato-cheese soup (add 2 cups cheddar cheese); loaded potato soup (add 1 cup cheese, 1 cup bacon, 1/2 cup of chopped fresh chives, and a dollop of sour cream); broccoli-potato soup (add 2 cups boiled broccoli, reserve about half a cup of the water you cooked the broccoli in and add it and 1 cup cheese).
To make pumpkin soup, he suggested adding one can of pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie mix), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
Open four years, the restaurant (whose name in Greek means God's special moment) serves lunch Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Jones also caters.
Is there some special dish that you've tasted in a Birmingham-area restaurant that you'd like to try to duplicate? Send your request to: Food Detective, The Birmingham News, P.O. Box 2553, Birmingham, AL 35202; fax Food Detective, 325-2494 or e-mail
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