Ultimate Potato Soup

Can you tell the weather has gotten cold here?!  It's a week of soups and slow cooker meals for us.  There is nothing better than coming home to dinner hot and done after a long day at work. This is a little different than the one I posted several years ago that I got at the winery in Temecula, and it's actually our go to for potato soup!  I typically double this recipe for our family of 6.


Ingredients:

• 1 lb bacon, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 c chicken stock, or enough to cover potatoes
• 3 TBS butter
• 1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1 c heavy cream
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 3 tsp chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pan, and set aside. Drain off all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease.
2. In the bacon grease remaining in the pan, saute the celery and onion until onion begins to turn clear. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cubed potatoes, and toss to coat. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Return the bacon to the pan, and add enough chicken stock to just cover the potatoes. Cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender.
3. In a separate pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream, tarragon and cilantro. Bring the cream mixture to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir the cream mixture into the potato mixture. Puree about 1/2 the soup, and return to the pan. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Nothing is better on a cold day then a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup!  I usually use the left over chicken from a rotisserie chicken to make mine.  I love the flavor that it adds to the broth.  I have a rotisserie at home, so that makes it easy.  If you don't, and you don't want to spend the money on a pre-cooked one, you can certainly buy a whole chicken and add seasonings to it while it's cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 c chopped celery
• 1/4 c chopped carrots
• 1/4 c chopped onion
• 1/4 c butter
• 8 oz egg noodles
• 12 cups water
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 TBS dried parsley

Directions

1. In a skillet, saute the celery and onions.  Set aside
2. In a large stock pot, add the chicken to the 12 c water (or more - the water should completely cover the chicken) and boil until the meat is falling off the bone.  If you are using a whole, uncooked chicken**, make sure to remove the gizzards before boiling.
3. De-bone the chicken, leaving the meat and broth in the stock pot.
4. Add carrots, onions, celery, marjoram, black pepper, bay leaf, and parsley. You may find that you need to add more water to your stock if your chicken boiled down too much.  Simmer for 30 minutes. You may want to skim the skin off at this point as well if you missed some in the de-boning.  
5. Add noodles, and simmer for 10 more minutes.

**For an uncooked chicken, you will want to season your broth while cooking the chicken.  I typically add some kosher salt, garlic pepper, and quartered onion.  I do not leave the onion remains in the soup, since I have them sauteed with the celery, but it makes the broth taste better.