Well I am getting to the end of my recipe testing for the cookbook Flavours of Prince Edward Island: A Culinary Journey but I wanted to share a recipe with you for their Yukon Gold Potato and Bacon Soup.
First, you can not test PEI recipes without a dish focused on potatoes, right? It is what they are most famous for when it comes to food! Second, my grocery store never seems to have “Yukon Gold” so I went with just regular baking potatoes. Anyone can make this soup. It is an easy and flavourful recipe.
Heat 3 tbsp of butter in a large sauce pan and then add 1/2 lb of diced bacon. That is a ton of bacon so I only used four strips of turkey bacon (and it is a good thing I did!). Cook over medium heat until bacon is half-cooked.
Add 1 cup of chopped onions, 1/2 cup of chopped carrots and 1/2 cup of chopped celery and cook for five minutes.
Add five cups of peeled diced potatoes, yes, I said five cups!!! Then add 8 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil. I did not measure, I just added enough broth to cover the veggies.
Reduce heat ad add 1/2 tsp of dried sage. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender. I cooked mine for 15 minutes. Puree in a blender in small batches. Season with salt and pepper.
Now I thought I was smart by using my food mill instead! Because my potatoes were so starchy I was worried about the blender turning dinner into a goopey mess so I used my food mill instead. Which in turn strained out all the bacon! So… use a blender!
Top with lots of cheese, add a dollops of sour cream if you would like or stir in whipping cream. I choose low fat sour cream and sprinkled with chives.
On such a dark and miserable cold day in Nova Scotia, this was a very good soup. Filling and tasty. It would probably be a lot better with REAL bacon but I was making this for dinner for me and my husband who does not eat pork. Next time I might add some hot sauce or something to give it additional boost of flavour and heat, it has been damn cold in Nova Scotia!
I give this recipe four out of five wooden spoons.
Just the thing for a cold day!
Totally agree! It is also almost a meal, filling, inexpensive and pretty darn yummy.