Bacon, potato and leek soup

In something I wrote about my childhood, I said it was filled with the aromas of Old Spice and Budweiser. If I had to make a list of the flavors of my childhood, potatoes would be at the top of my list and bacon would be an awfully close second. The potato which fed the ancestors of my family for so many seasons can be dressed up and dressed down, but this humble root which is so important to my roots, is best when it is celebrated.

When I was making this soup I could not find a recipe which filled all my potato soup boxes so I combined a bunch or recipes, and HAPPY ACCIDENT, it was awesome. Perhaps my soup was slightly heavy on the bacon but potatoes kind of ask for some decadent additions to dress them up in their Sunday best. Once in a while you have to go big on your bacon, to reward yourself for bringing home the proverbial bacon. This recipe makes a bunch of soup, and without the addition of cream (and not as much cheese as other recipes) it’s not quite heal food, but it is healthier than other recipes you might meet walking down the street. You could add more cheese, but pureeing the potatoes after they have completely cooked through means the soup is silky without additional cheese.

Turkey bacon is usually my jam but when I gave myself permission to use the real deal in this recipe, my palate had a private little party.. I would make it again, but only for people I like- it’s this good!

Ingredients

5-6 pieces of bacon

2 medium leeks

2-3 cloves of garlic, cleaned and diced

3 tbls of olive oil

tbls of butter

3 medium russert potatoes (actually russet potatoes, but well, we could use some Tim Russert about now, so I christened them Russert potatoes)

0.5 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I used my fav horseradish cheddar from my local key foods, but pick your own cheddaresque poison)

0.5 cup of milk

6 cups of chicken stock

Plan of Attack

Clean and chop the leeks; Clean and dice the garlic

Dice the bacon into sm pieces (I ended up adding 9 slices because my pieces were so tiny) and add them to the bottom of your stockpot. Cook until browned and aromatic. Add the butter and tbls of olive oil into the stockpot, moving it around to clean ht bottom of the pot from pieces of bacon and then add both the leeks and garlic. Cook them until they are aromatic and clear, for about 5-6 minutes on medium low heat.

Clean the potatoes, chop into bite sized pieces, and set aside.

Add the chicken stock, bring to a medium boil and then add the potatoes.

Cook the soup until the potatoes are soft and almost at breakdown. Add the cheese and stir so the cheese complete dissolves. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool. ***This would be the place where you add the milk*

When it is cool, use your hand blender (or traditional blender) to blend to blend most of the soup until smooth.

At this point, I cooked the soup on medium low to cook out some of the liquid, and then served covered in grated cheese. * I did not, this time, but in the future you could serve garnished with crispy bacon crumbles and green onions.