Recipe: Cold weather potato chowder with caraway cheese

Food & Entertaining - Recipes

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By: Betty Rosbottom

This chowder, which is prepared traditionally with bacon, onions, and potatoes that are simmered in a mixture of stock and milk, is enriched with a final addition of grated Havarti cheese studded with caraway seeds. The buttery cheese blends beautifully with all the ingredients plus it adds an extra hint of creaminess to the soup’s texture.

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Ingredients
4 slices (4 ounces) bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1 pound red-skin potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
1 cup (4 ounces) Havarti cheese with caraway seeds, coarsely grated
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives for garnish

Sauté bacon in a large, heavy pot set over medium heat until browned and crisp, for 3 to 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour out and discard all but 2 tablespoons bacon drippings.
Add onion and celery to the bacon drippings in the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, for 4 to 5 minutes. Add diced potatoes and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add chicken stock and milk to pot and bring mixture to a simmer. Cook soup at a simmer until the potatoes are tender, for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not let soup come to a boil. (Soup can be prepared to this point 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat over low heat and proceed with recipe.)

When ready to serve, add the cheese, a little at a time, to the hot soup, stirring until melted after each addition. In a small bowl, mix the butter and flour with a fork to make a paste. Whisk this mixture into the soup, a little at a time, and cook until completely blended, for 1 to 2 minutes. Taste soup and season with salt, as needed, and with freshly ground pepper.

To serve, ladle soup into 4 bowls and sprinkle each serving with chopped bacon and chives.

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Start to finish: 30 to 35 minutes

Make Ahead: Partially

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From Sunday Soup: A Year's Worth of Mouth-Watering, Easy-To-Make Recipes. Published by Chronicle Books. Copyright © 2008 by Betty Rosbottom. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Chronicle Books.

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