Potato Chowder

Creamy Potato Chowder

 I love soup. Particularly creamy soup. Chowder of any kind will always be my first choice, if given one. I was planning to just make a potato leek soup. There are a gazillion recipes out there. I came up with my own, with some pretty great results. Here's some of what we need, (I forgot to get pics of the rest, but we'll carry on anyway).

Leeks are on the bottom left.

 6 slices bacon
1 large white onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
5 stalks celery with leaves, diced
3 leeks, sliced
1 bunch Swiss chard, tough ribs removed, chopped
1/4 cup flour 
4 cups (or so) sliced waxy potatoes. I used medium sized red ones. You could also use Yukon Golds.
3 Tbls white wine
1  32 ounce box chicken stock
1   32 ounce box beef stock
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup Idaho Spuds Potato bits (really)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary and 3 sprigs fresh thyme, tied in a bundle
2 generous Tbls sour cream
6 small green onions, sliced

Vegetarian version: No bacon. Use butter. No chicken or beef stock. Use vegetable. Vegans: Outta luck with this one.

How it's done:

Dice up the bacon and put it in a cold Dutch oven. Render it slowly on low heat. That what makes it crispy. While the bacon is cooking, prep your veg.

Remove crispy bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.

These are leeks. Chop off the tough green stems and use only the tender light green and white parts. Leeks are full of sand because they grow up through the sand. They must be cleaned thoroughly under cold water. See all that dirt? Not delish.

 

Now, throw all the carrots, onion, celery and leeks directly into the rendered bacon fat. All you fat haters out there, stick with me. This is a giant pot of soup with lots of really healthy stuff in it. Cook on 

medium heat until soft.

Add 1/4 cup flour and stir until the flour is no longer visible. Cook about 2 minutes to get the pasty taste out of the flour.

Now, add about 3 Tbls white wine to the pot. Scrape the sides and bottom down with a wooden spoon to get all the flavor goodness that's stuck to the sides of the pot.

 Pour in one box of chicken stock and one box of beef stock. Give it a good stir. Add the sliced potatoes to the pot. Bring it to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer.

I have no idea why this section is underlined. I have done all I know how to make this go away, to no avail.

Let's prep the chard. You could also use Kale, Arugula, or spinach. Use what you have. Don't have any? Leave it out.             

Cut the leaves off of the tough, fibrous center. Only a goat could chew through that. Lay the leaves flat on your cutting board and just stack them up, then chop away. No awards will be given for perfectly sized and matched pieces. Put the chard into the delicious smelling soup.

Give it stir, and just let it ride.

 Pour in 1 cup of heavy cream. 

 Add the Rosemary/thyme bundle. If you don't have fresh, use dried. Just make sure to finely mince the dried rosemary. Otherwise, it will feel like you're eating whole pine tree needles. Not delish.

 When the carrots and potatoes are tender, toss in the potato spuds. Stir it up. This will give the chowder a delicious potato taste, and give it a wonderful creamy texture. Who knew?

 When it's nice and creamy and thick, turn off the heat. Drop in a generous 2 Tbls sour cream. Full fat, lo fat, no fat. Doesn't matter. Gently stir in until melted.

Fish out the herb bundle.

Let's put this chowda' into a bowl and finish it off.

 Remember those crispy bacon pieces? Yep. Toss a few on top.

Sprinkle with some finely sliced green onions or chives. You could add a handful of cheddar or jack cheese. No one, except the fat haters, will judge you.

 And serve. Excellent by itself or paired with a Pannini sandwich for "soup and sammy" night . One tasty lunch or dinner for a cold night. Welcome snow!

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon

1 large white onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

5 stalks celery with leaves, diced

3 leeks, sliced

1 bunch Swiss chard, tough ribs removed, chopped

1/4 cup flour 

4 cups (or so) sliced waxy potatoes. I used medium sized red ones. You could also use Yukon Golds.

3 Tbls white wine

1  32 ounce box chicken stock

1   32 ounce box beef stock

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup Idaho Spuds Potato bits (really)

3 sprigs fresh rosemary and 3 sprigs fresh thyme, tied in a bundle

2 generous Tbls sour cream

6 small green onions, sliced

Vegetarian version: No bacon. Use butter. No chicken or beef stock. Use vegetable.

Method:

1. Dice up the bacon and put it in a cold Dutch oven. Render it slowly on low heat.
2. Remove crispy bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.
3. Put carrots, onion, celery and leeks directly into the rendered bacon fat. 
4. Add 1/4 cup flour and stir until the flour is no longer visible. Cook about 2 minutes to get the pasty taste out of the flour.
5. pour 3 Tbls white wine into the pot. Scrape the sides and bottom down with a wooden spoon.
6. Pour in one box of chicken stock and one box of beef stock. 
7. Add the Rosemary/thyme bundle.
8. Add the sliced potatoes to the pot. Bring it to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer.
9. Put the chopped chard into the soup.
10. Pour in 1 cup of heavy cream.
11. When the carrots and potatoes are tender,add the potato spuds.
12. Turn off the heat. Drop in a generous 2 Tbls sour cream Gently stir in until melted.
13. Fish out the herb bundle.
14. Ladle into soup bowls. Top with bacon pieces and finely sliced green onions or chives.

Beef Stock

Beef Stock

Home made beef stock is easy to make, and adds wonderful flavor and richness to soups, stews, sauces, gravies, and pasta. It takes a while to get it done, but if you're hanging out at home on a snowy day, make your house smell wonderful, and enjoy the beautiful, savory stock for weeks to come.

 Get yourself some meaty bones, (the more marrow, the better), a roaster, and some veg for flavor. Let's get started. Here's what you need:

About 8 pounds beef bones (I found a rack of beef ribs for .99 cents/pound. Cut them into individual ribs, then chop them in half to expose the marrow).

5 carrots

5 celery stalks

2 large onions

2 leeks, white and light green parts only

1 large head garlic, halved horizontally

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 Tbls olive oil

6 stems fresh thyme

6 stems fresh parsley

4 bay leaves

2 Tbls whole peppercorns

2 Tbls Kosher salt

1/2 cup red wine (for deglazing)

Water

Chop (or have the butcher cut) the bones to expose as much marrow as possible.

Put the bones in a large roaster. Throw in the washed, but not peeled, and roughly chopped veg. Smear the tomato paste over the meat or veg, and drizzle the whole pan with some olive oil. Season with Kosher salt. 

Put the roaster into a 425 degree (F) oven for one hour. Remove from the oven and turn the bones and veg over with a spatula, scraping up all the bits stuck to the bottom. If the bones are not deeply brown, put back into the oven for another 30-60 minutes.

Put the roasted ingredients into the biggest stock pot you have, at least 8 quarts. Cover with water, and place on the stove over medium high heat. Add the bay leaves and herbs. bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer. Put the roaster on the stove top. Add the wine and scrape up all the bits of flavor stuck to the pan. Add it to the stock pot. Walk away. For at least 6 hours, and up to 18. Add more water as needed to keep the ingredients covered, and the pot full.

Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer. Smash the veg with a big fork, spoon, or spatula to get out as much liquid as possible. Discard all solids.

Cool overnight. The fat will have risen to the top and solidified. Scoop it off and discard.

Now, line a fine mesh strainer with a layer of paper towels or cheesecloth. Pour the liquid through to clarify. Taste. Stock will be very concentrated. Remind yourself to dilute when using. I write notes to myself on the bag.

Pour the stock into quart size containers, cover, and freeze. I use zip top bags so I can freeze the flat in my freezer,

Keep some stock in the freezer to make quick, velvety, rich, French Onion Soup. Stay tuned. And, please, please, make the French Onion Soup. I'll post that later this week, after you've made your stock.