THOUP!!!! Potato and Leek with Prosciutto

I have to admit, I've never been a huge fan of soup. I couldn't even tell you why. I had a relatively normal childhood that frequently included eating classics like tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle with soda crackers. As I got older, Moms switched it up to more grown up tastes with a very memorable homemade beef and barley soup, and turkey soup always after holidays. Somewhere along the way though, I just sort of gave up on soup. I never ordered the soup du jour at restaurants, you couldn't find me buying cans of Campbell's at the grocery store, and I'd be hard-pressed to make a soup from scratch at home.

I do recall a time in university when one of my bests came down with a terrible bout of the "itis", and I decided to make some homemade chicken noodle from a whole bird we had in the fridge. At the time it seemed like an appropriate remedy to help a brotha out. It turned out to be the best damn soup any of us had experienced up until that point. Even after that, I still wasn't too stoked on soup for some reason. Until a few weeks ago, it had been a long time since soup hit my lips. Miss Jones whipped up a concoction from some fresh market veggies while I was at work. She just cooked up some onions and garlic, threw in chopped up veggies, some chicken broth, a bold dash of chili powder, and a scoop quinoa, simmered, and then POW! She had fashioned some goodness and inspiration in the form of a warm, spicy, simple and flavourful bowl party. But seriously, what is there not to like about soup? There are so many different varieties and people have been eating it before history remembers. I bet the cavemen made some pretty badass saber-tooth consommé.

I encourage you to shift your view of soup from a condensed liquid in a can to a medium for culinary creativity. Start with some classics, then add your personal twists, throwing in whatever ingredients you love or might have kicking around the fridge. I made some simple Potato and Leek soup, and threw in some prosciutto that needed some love. You could easily use bacon or pancetta, which might even pack even more flavour when it is cooked up then simmered.

You will need:
- A few strips of bacon or prosciutto, sliced, or a handful or two of cubed pancetta
- 2 large leeks, sliced thinly
- About a pound of potatoes, cubed (about two big handfuls of baby potatoes or 2-3 large potatoes like yukon golds)
- 2 cups of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup milk

- Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

- 1/2 cup sharp/extra old cheddar cheese, crumbled or grated

Throw the cut up bacon-like meat in a cold stock pot (big ass sauce pan, usually has two handles), turn your burner to medium heat. Get your bacon cooking so the meat starts to brown and the fat starts to render and melt away.

Once, your bacon is looking sexy and starting to crisp, throw the cleaned and sliced leeks right into the pan. You want to get the leeks softened a bit and to mingle with tasty bacon flavour. Don't drain the fat, much of the flavour is derived from the drippings.

Once the leeks are starting to smell real nice, throw in the potatoes and give them a good stir, let those cook for a few more minutes. Then stir in the stock, throw in a few pinches of sea salt, and a couple grinds of fresh pepper. Put a lid on that shit, turn the heat down to a simmer and let the flavours party together for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Mix in the milk and turn the heat back up if you'd like, but don't bring it to a boil!. 

If you want a smooth, creamy soup, blend it for a few seconds with a hand blender or rock it old-school with a chunky steeze. Obviously, as it is a soup, serve it in bowls, with a dollop or swirl of sour cream if you got it, and a generous amount of cheese on top. Throw some fresh chives or parsley on top for a little extra sumfin-sumfin. Makes for a good starter in a small portion, or a hearty meal with a chunk of nice bread. Note that I don't have a pic of the finished product as I was too hungry to take photos and the soup too delicious. Make it for yourself, it's super simple, and very delectable. If you're of the vegetarian variety, omit the bacon and saute the leeks in a hunk of butter for flavour, also use vegetable stock. Or make an exception in your ethical choices for things as tasty as bacon. F'real.