Monte Villa Hotel Golden Potato Soup (2014 SLV Potato Festival) – Tom Seavers (Monte Villa Hotel)

Tom participate in the 2014 SLV Potato Festival’s Downtown Taste-Testing Tour with this recipe.

This easy potato soup is made with chicken stock, bacon, onion, celery and herbs with a finishing touch of a litte heavy cream for extra richness.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 lbs bacon, chopped
• 2 1/2  stocks of celery, diced
• 1 1/4  onion, chopped
• 3 3/4 cloves garlic, minced
• 10  potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 5 cups chicken stock, or enough to cover potatoes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/4 teaspoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups  heavy cream
• 1 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from the pan, and set aside. Drain off all but 1/4 cup of bacon grease.

In the bacon grease remaining in the pan, saute the celery and onion until onion bigins 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 poatoes. Cove and simmer until potatoes are tender.

In a seperate pan, melt the butter over medium heat. 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 half the soup and return to the pan. Adjust seasonings to taste.