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!

Final Celebration of Summer - Corn Chowder

Well, here it is - the final weekend of summer.  And what better way to send off our final weekend than with a recipe celebrating the bounty of fresh vegetables available at farmers markets.  And at the same time, marking the transition to my favorite season - Fall - with a hearty soup.  So what do we have?  A delicious recipe for corn chowder!

Here's what you'll need to make our corn chowder:

6 slices of bacon
4 ears of fresh corn
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 golden potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups of milk
2 cups of chicken stock
salt, pepper and thyme

My 4th potato is hiding behind the bacon

To prepare the corn, I shuck off the corn silk and most of the husks.  Then, I sort of re-wrap the husks back around the corn and let it soak in a pot of water for a half hour.  After that, the corn is ready for grilling (as opposed to boiled corn which sometimes loses its flavor).  All you have to do is grill the corn over a low flame for 15-20 minutes and then let it cool.  Then it's ready for the corn chowder!

Toasty corn!  As you can see, I like to light mine on fire (bottom right)

While your corn is cooling, put the 6 pieces of bacon in a large stock pot over medium high heat.  Cook the bacon until it's nice and crispy.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the bacon fat behind.  Crumble the bacon.  Add in the onions to saute for 10 min until translucent.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme (2 teaspoons is a good amount) until fragrant.

Yum, bacon-y onions

Then add the potatoes and chicken stock to the pot.  The stock should be just enough to cover the potatoes.  Simmer over medium high heat for about 15 min until the potatoes are tender. 

While the potatoes are simmering, slice the corn from the cob.  After the potatoes are done cooking and are tender, add the corn and the milk to the pot.  Allow the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes over low heat and flavors to blend.  Grab your potato masher and mash the potatoes and corn in the pot to make the base more creamy and release the corn juice (I mash around the pot ten times or so).  Add in the crumbled bacon and stir.

Ladle the soup in a bowl and add grated cheese (I like pepper jack to add some spice).  Serve with bread and enjoy your soup celebrating summer!

More please!