Smoky Potato Soup with Blue Cheese & Bacon
Well, it appears winter isn't going anywhere, so we might as well make more soup.
This potato soup is what we're all craving in what feels like the 6th month of winter. Just when you think you might be crawling out from the hole, another day of winter weather, another polar vortex, another early sunset, another freeze/thaw, another night on the couch by 8pm scrolling through an endless list of things to watch while proclaiming there's nothing to watch. Hell, we even tried to go on vacation somewhere warm, and all we did was bring some unseasonably cold weather to Austin, TX for the exact duration of our stay. At least there was beer.
And soup. There's always soup.
This potato soup kinda created itself on a Saturday afternoon when I, struck with a horrible cold, was hungry for something but just wasn't sure what. I checked the pantry and the fridge and decided maybe a creamy potato soup with a little smoky kick would be just the thing I needed. Fresh off my #cook90, I was armed with insistence that I put all the things in my pantry to good use. I found one lonely leek in my produce drawer and a bag of yukon golds that looked like they probably needed some attention. A little bacon in the freezer and some blue cheese in the drawer and what I ended up with was a delicious, creamy, smoky, spicy soup that even as the sun was setting at 6:30pm and we still couldn't decide what to watch and there was surprise snow in the forecast, at least there was soup.
Smoky Potato Soup with Blue Cheese & Bacon
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, cut into 3/4(ish) inch pieces
3 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 leek, white and light green parts only, cut into 1/4 inch slices
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 C flour
2 C chicken stock
2 C water
kosher salt
black pepper
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 C blue cheese, crumbled
Method
In a large heavy bottomed pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove cooked bacon and set aside in small bowl. In remaining bacon fat, add leeks and cook until softened. Once leeks are starting to brown, add garlic, cumin, paprika and chipotle powder and cook for about 30 seconds until things start smelling good.
Sprinkle flour over leek mixture and use a wooden spoon to cook until vegetables are coated. Slowly add broth and whisk into flour mixture until smooth. Once broth is mixed in, add water and potatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook potatoes with a low simmer for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. I like to pull one of the bigger pieces out and smash it on my cutting board with a fork, but you can also slide a fork in and out of the piece.
Once potatoes are tender, transfer mixture to blender and blend until smooth (alternately, you can use an immersion blender and keep some potato chunks in the soup). Return to pot and season with salt, pepper, and sherry vinegar to taste.
Garnish with blue cheese and bacon pieces and serve!