This webpage seems destined to become a recipe repository for things I like to cook. Why fight the power?
Winter Vegetable Soup
adapted from the
New Basics Cookbook (Rosso & Lukins)
(it's my favorite cookbook!)
serves 4-6
total time: about an hour, plus lots of chopping.
special eqiupment: blender or food processor
4 slices bacon, cut into 1" pieces
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups finely diced leeks (white part and 1" into green) (3-4 thin leeks)
2 cups finely diced onions (about 2 onions)
1 cups finely diced celery
1.5 teaspoon dried tarragon
.5 teaspoon dried thyme
salt & pepper, to taste
4 cups chicken broth (I like Swanson)
2.5 cups (or more) peeled, diced potatoes (about 4 potatoes)
10-16 oz spinach, rinsed, stemmed, and cut into 1/8 inch slivers
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
0. In a large soup pot, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and eat it or save it for use in step 6.
1. Add the butter to the bacon fat in the pot. (mmm.) When the butter has melted, add the leeks, onions, and celery. Add about 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt. Cover and cook over low heat, intermittantly stirring, for about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook 5-10 more minutes to brown onions/leeks. The more patience you have, the more of those yummy browned-onion flavors you'll get. If the veggies start to burn at all, proceed to the next step.
2. Add the spices and stir for a minute, then add the chicken broth and potatoes. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender but not mushy, 15-20 minutes.
3. Add *half* of the spinach and simmer 1 minute more.
4. Remove the soup from the heat. Puree half the soup in a blender or food processor (careful blending hot liquids!) and return the blended stuff to the soup pot.
5. Return the pot to low heat. Add the remaining spinach and the cream. Heat through, stirring well, but do not boil. Adjust the seasonings. (Really. Seriously. Taste the soup and add some salt. Taste it again and maybe add more salt. Add some pepper. Taste it again. Repeat until you think it can't get any yummier. If you're really scared, take a little soup in a cup and add more salt to that to see if it's too salty. Too much salt is certainly a bad thing, but too little salt and you won't bring out all the other great flavors. You'll probably add at least another teaspoon, depending on you salty your stock and bacon were.)
* Note: You should taste the soup before you add the cream, too, so you can see what adding cream does to soups. It's neat to see how the flavor changes.
6. If you didn't eat all the bacon already, crumble it up and put some of the bacon on top of the soup as a pretty (and tasty) garnish. If you did eat the bacon, I don't blame you. it's good in the soup, though. :)
