Soup, Soup, Glorious Soup!

It could be the weather, it could be the season, it could be a minor mineral imbalance.

Whatever it is, I've been craving potato soup for a couple of weeks now, even buying potatoes on two occasions with the specific intent of preparing it. The first batch ended up chopped and roasted with olive oil and rosemary on my recent roast chicken spree. The second ended up waiting patiently in the fridge until this evening, when rain, cold and the meteorologist's promise of a "wintry mix" (more like a wishful mix in these parts) prompted me to embark on project potage.

I made some more chicken stock just a couple of days ago and it, along with half an onion, a couple of stalks of celery and a bit of bacon desperately in need of use, was loitering in the fridge just waiting for its chance to dive into a giant pot of creamy potato soup, so I finally had everything I needed to make the thick, creamy, ever-so-slightly chunky potato soup I'd envisioned.

Working from the basic potato soup ingredients (onion, water, stock, milk, potatoes), I've come up with the following recipe - it's another work in process (like the Chicken/Whie Bean Soup I posted recently) - but it's simple, simple, simple - not to mention tasty, filling and a great opportunity to hit the local farmer's market!

As it turns out, this is definitely another one of those great make-ahead-and-freeze dishes - perfect for those nights when you get home from work and it's already dark and you are far too knackered to cook but your only other alternatives are Chinese takeout, pizza delivery or a tasteless frozen dinner that's been in the freezer since two boyfriends ago.

And by the way, some crusty bread from the bakery would make a nice addition, but given the carb count on this (and its thick, filling consistency), you certainly won't miss it if your mind is already on bikini season and you opt to pass. Or if you recently heard a news report suggesting that the average person gains between five and THIRTEEN pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's - in which case you may want to skip the soup entirely and just enjoy the celery on its own.

Note: It looks like there are a lot of ingredients for this, but they're all basics so you shouldn't have to go on a major shopping spree to get the stuff you need. And if you do, well, you'll find these are all "must-have's" for later!

What You Need:

• 8-10 small-medium yellow potatoes, diced (try organic Yukon Gold)
• 8-10 rashers of market bacon, chopped into squares
  
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1/4 cup celery, sliced
  
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup skim Mayfield milk
• salt
• 1-2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. celery salt
• 1 tbsp. whole black pepper
• fresh ground black pepper
• 2 whole bay leaves
  

What You Do:

1. Go ahead and peel & dice your potatoes, chop the onion and celery and cube the bacon slices.
2. Place the diced potatoes into a stockpot or deep saucepan.
   
3. Cook the bacon in a skillet and place it into the pot with the potatoes. Do NOT drain off the fat - you need it to soften the onion.
4. Soften the onion and celery together in the bacon grease -- you'll know they're done when they become transclucent.
5. Add the onion and celery to the bacon and potato in the stockpot, then pour in one cup of chicken stock and three cups of water. Bring to a boil.
6. Simmer the potato mixture until the potatoes are fully cooked and the liquid is reduced by half to three quarters depending on how thick you want your soup.
7. Add celery salt, salt, ground and whole black pepper and bay leaves while mixture is simmering.
8. Stir in the milk.
   
9. Pour a small amount of the reduced mixture into a food processor or blender (liquidiser) and blend until smooth. Pour the blended mixture into a bowl. If you want a chunkier soup, reserve some of the potato pieces in the stockpot.
10. When you've blended all of the soup, return it to the stockpot on medium heat and stir in cheese and cloves. Add more milk to loosen the mixture or small quantities of corn starch to thicken it depending on what you prefer. You can also add more seasoning to taste.