Sausage & Potato Soup

One good thing about fall arriving in Central Kentucky is that I get to pull out all my soup recipes.  I really enjoy creating soup recipes as it never ceases to amaze me how tossing a few things in a pot of stock can make such an amazing meal.  Chili, Chicken soup with pasta, Italian Sausage Bean soup, Chicken Marsala soup, Roasted Garlic soup, Cauliflower soup, Broccoli Cheddar soup.  Then there are all the ones who never get named of which there are SO many.  I am forever tossing stuff in a pot to make soup and in doing so have learned a few things along the way that will kick up your soup making skills.

One of the first things I came to appreciate was the use of stock or broth instead of plain water.  I would have to say I always exchange out water for broth or stock.  When the fluid in the soup is about half the volume why would you not want to pump as much flavor in to it?  By using stock or broth you can accomplish it with no extra trouble on your part.

The second thing I discovered was adding a bit of wine to deglaze your stock pot  of all the lovely fond stuck to the bottom of the pot. I use a good white for chicken, vegetable and pork  for beef and lamb I use a good red.

Thirdly use more spice than you think you will need, here is where the wheels can really come off the wagon in that there is a large amount of fluid which has to be flavored so you will need more spices or herbs than usual.  The one seasoning you will want to use with restraint is salt as there will be salt in the stock/broth and you do not want to over do it.

This recipe is super simple takes about 20ish minutes to prep and about 40ish minutes to cook.

Sausage Potato Soup

3 large Russet Potatoes (cubed)

8 Cheddar Sausages (Hillshire Farms; sliced into rounds or quarters)

4 cloves garlic (finely minced)

1 Ts Fresh ground Pepper

5 slices Applewood bacon (diced)

1 Onion (Diced)

2 Qts Chicken Stock

1 1/2 c Celery hearts (fine chop including leaves)

12-18 White Mushrooms (quartered, stems removed)

1 sm container Creme Fraiche

Optional

3/4 c White Wine

OK toss your bacon into a large stock pot and render down remove to a paper towel to drain.  In the same pot toss in the onions, celery, mushrooms allow to sweat down until onions are translucent then add in the finely minced garlic and pepper, allow the onions to get a little color then toss in the white wine and reduce by half if you are using it to deglaze the pan if not use some of the stock.  Add back in the bacon as well as the sausage and potatoes along with the remaining stock.

Everyone in the pool…

Allow to boil uncovered for about 30-40 minutes stirring often so that it does not scorch on the bottom.  You want the liquid to reduce by about 1/3rd.  Right before you are ready to serve stir in your Creme Fraiche.  Serve with a crusty sour dough bread or Rye.

For such little work this is a mighty tasty soup!

Now go play with your food.

WikiJan