Golden potato goodness

I've never really been a fan of soup. I mean, grilled cheese and a bowl of Campbell's Tomato was a staple growing up, but as an adult, soup hasn't really made much of a regular appearance in my slowly expanding kitchen repertoire. However, after the mashed potato success at Thanksgiving this year, and after seeing all the yummy leftover ideas online, I thought I could maybe make a potato soup from the leftover potatoes. That didn't happen because, well, the potatoes were good so we just ate them. However, there was still a couple pounds left in the bag so I figured I'd give it a try. It's been approximately 9 years since I attempted making soup from scratch. Wow.

I tried the recipe Una Donna Dulce posted here. On a side note, someday I hope to learn how to take decent pictures. I like to blame the lameness of my photos on the really terrible lighting in the kitchen here, but who am I kidding, right?

Loaded Golden Potato Leek Soup
4 slices thick cut hickory smoked bacon
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 leeks - white and light green parts only, cleaned and sliced thin (I used regular old green onions since I wasn't making a trip to the store any time soon)
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning (I used whatever seasoning was in the cupboard, plus some basil and oregano to make it more "Italian")
1 Tbsp garlic powder (I also used a couple of pieces of garlic, minced)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2.5 - 3 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thin
8 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves (I had no bay leaves and can't remember what I used instead. I pretty much just used the spices I had in the cupboard as I apparently lack all the important ones!)
2 parmesan rinds (I'm not really clear on what, exactly, a parmesan rind is, but, taking an educated guess and working with what I had in the fridge, I just cut about 1/8" off the edges of my wedge and tossed it in - the edges, not the wedge)
1/2 cup eggnog (yes - eggnog! heavy cream would work too)(alas, I had neither so I used skim milk as that was all we had)
1/3 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

For serving;
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped scallions
sour cream
crumbled bacon

Fry bacon in the bottom of a large stockpot until crisp. Remove and save for topping. Add butter to bacon fat (I drained the bacon fat), then saute leeks until soft. Add seasonings and potatoes, then stock. Bring to a boil. Add bay leaves and rinds and simmer until potatoes are really soft and falling apart.

Remove bay leaves and rinds. Use a hand blender to blend to the desired consistency (I like it still a little chunky). (After blending, I added sliced carrots, celery, and mushrooms which I had sauteed with more onion and garlic)Bring back to a simmer just long enough that it gets really thick. Remove from heat, stir in eggnog, sour cream and season to taste.

I also mixed the bacon and stuff into the soup instead of putting it on top. If I had been thinking, I would have kept some out and actually garnished the soup but oh well.

This was the best soup I've EVER had. Period.