Loaded Potato Chowder
The temperatures up here in western PA have been fairly mild all things considered. Then I looked at the forecast for this weekend. It's time for an amazing soup!
Honestly This is the projected forecast!
Yikes! I don't get too concerned with cold weather but I am not ready for this. It looks like a good time to put my first actual recipe on here.
One important note about my recipes, unless I'm baking I rarely measure anything. I taste as I go and adjust seasonings. But here is what you will need:
Bacon
Celery
Spanish Onion
Fresh Dill
Gold Potatoes
Heavy Cream
Chicken Stock
Frozen Sweet Corn
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Fresh Chives
Having said that let's get into a bowl of absolute comfort. There is much more to this potato soup than a normal potato soup. We definitely build a strong flavor base with bacon to begin with and then we add some sweet in with corn to add to the depth of flavor. I love this soup because a bowl of this with some good bread is all you need. It's a soup we build flavor in right from the beginning. Let's dive into this!
Every good dish start with bacon right? This dish is no different. I use half a pack of bacon because we are going to use this bacon in three different ways.
The first way is to create a flavor base for the soup. This will be the fat we use to sweat down our vegetables.
The second way we will be using this is to add back into the soup at a later point and continue to add flavor.
The third way is for a garnish and a bit of a texture difference for the soup.
We want to cut it into small strips or what they are commonly referred to as lardons. Then place your strips into the soup pot cold and put the heat on medium low. We want to slowly render the fat out and make the bacon crispy. If you set the temperature too high it will burn and not crisp.
Once the bacon is cooked remove with a slotted spoon. We want as much of the bacon grease in the pan as possible. Then place your strips onto a paper towel to soak up any grease.
Now that we have some flavor in the pot let's turn the heat up to medium high and get our vegetables going. I use two large pieces of celery and about a half of a Spanish onion.
Throw these in and let them sweat down until the onions are translucent. Now you do have hot bacon grease in there so you may want to watch at first but you should be good to go. The next ingredient is sweet corn. I always wait until my onions and celery are cooked down before I throw the corn in. The corn doesn't need to cook like those do. Also I still want to try and preserve some texture with the corn.
After we have our vegetables in we want to make a quick roux if you will. It will give us a base for the soup and help it thicken up to where we want it. Now this isn't how you traditionally start a roux but we are focused on flavor. To the pan you will want to add equal parts butter and flour. I am usually going with half a stick of butter. That's usually about 1/4 of a cup which is how much flour you will need.
Keep mixing everything around with a whisk or spoon until everything is fully incorporated.
Once it is reduce the heat to medium and then we are going to go in with our heavy cream.
Between the roux and the heavy cream we are making a nice thick base for the soup. Now here is a where I can show that I don't measure. I cover everything with heavy cream. So you are looking at about two cups of heavy cream maybe more to get your pot covered. I mix this and let it come to a simmer and then I add the same amount of chicken stock to the pot.
Again this is adding flavor and depth to our soup. You can add whatever type of chicken stock you would like. I always use better than bouillon. I make a separate pot and add what I need. If you are wondering what type of stock you can use, you can check out one of my previous blog posts here to help you decide:
Once you have that let's add some more flavor and a fresh pop of herbs to the soup.
Once you have all of this in let's get the soup to a nice simmer, put the lid on and walk away for about 20-25 minutes. We want the soup to cook for a bit so that the flavor can build. You can go longer if you'd like, but this should be enough time to let you know where you are at with your soup.
After we let it simmer, lets take the lid off and add two more things. Add a generous amount of shredded cheddar cheese. I would say about half a cup should do. Obviously cheese is amazing but this will also help to continue to thicken our soup. At this time I also add in some smoked paprika. I just think it works so well in this soup.
This is also where you would want to taste for seasoning. One thing to remember about potatoes is they soak up a lot of flavor.
*Quick Tip, if you are making a soup and find that you have added too much salt. You can add some raw peeled potatoes to absorb some of that salt!
Every time you season, stir it in well and give it a minute or two before you taste again.
Once your satisfied with the flavor, let's dish up and make this a truly loaded potato soup! Add some more shredded cheddar, put a bit of sour cream on top, sprinkle some of the bacon you have left over the bowl, and add some fresh diced chives.
This is a soup you can't go wrong with on a cold day, or any day really. It's a meal in soup form.
If you want to see exactly how I made it check the link to my TikTok channel below to see how it all comes together 👇
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