Soup Season

Soup season is upon us - cool, fall weather perfect for enjoying a warm soup with bread, cheese and a glass of wine for dinner.  So I've decided to share one of my favorite soup recipes - Potato Leek Soup.  This version uses bacon (of course there is meat in the recipe, would you expect any thing less from moi?) and heavy cream -- just in case you needed some fat content.  

To give credit where credit is due, my recipe is adapted based on this recipe for Creamy Potato Leek Soup II on Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients
8 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into big chunks
4 cups chicken stock
2 leeks, sliced and chopped
1 pound of bacon
1 cup of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste


Preparation 
1. Peel and dice potatoes in large chunks
2. Place potatoes in a pot with the chicken stock, boil potatoes until tender (about 20 minutes)

I like bigger potato chunks so that when they cook and break apart you still have some good sized potatoes

3. While the potatoes are cooking, dice bacon and cook in a large skillet until browned (dicing the bacon makes it cook faster)

Yumm... bacon!  You can leave this out if you are vegetarian

4.  While the bacon is cooking, slice and chop the leeks

Cut the white and green parts

5.  When the bacon is nice and crispy, remove bacon with slotted spoon.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.  Add the leeks to the bacon drippings and cook over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes.

Stir often!

6.  At this point, your potatoes should be done.  Check for tenderness.  Then grab your potato masher (or a fork) and break about 1/2 the potatoes in the pot to create a creamy texture in your soup.

Masher + Potatoes = Creamy Soup Base

7.  Add the leeks and bacon to the pot with the potatoes and chicken stock.  Stir and then pour in 1 cup of heavy cream.

Delicious cream

8. Let the soup warm over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the flavors blend.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
 
9. Serve immediately!  Or you can cool and freeze to enjoy later.

Big chunks and little chunks!