Makes 6 ample servings
- 6 oz trimmed meaty bacon ends, chopped into ½ inch chunks (see notes)
- 1 lb of onion, medium dice
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- at least 1 quart of low sodium chicken broth (see notes)
- 2 lb potatoes (red or yukon gold recommended), unpeeled, cut into ¾ inch dice
- 2 lb yellow corn kernels (frozen is fine)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
Method
- Fry the bacon ends over medium high heat until almost crispy. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions, stirring occasionally. The goal is absorb all that delicious bacon fond into the onions.
When the onions have colored, add the chopped garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Now add the chicken broth, slowly, to deglaze the pan of any fond that the onions haven’t absorbed. Add the diced potatoes, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to simmer, and cook until the potato cubes are fork-soft.
Add corn kernels, even if they’re frozen, and cook till softened. Add thyme, then the cream, slowly, so it doesn’t curdle. Give it another five minutes, add chopped egg and serve.
Notes
- You have a whole lot of flexibility with this recipe. This is an ideal last minute snow day soup because it comes together quickly, and you should have most of the ingredients in your fridge and freezer. Missing something? Substitute!
The important thing here is that you want very little bacon fat, so little that you don’t need to drain it off. You want 6oz of meat. 6oz of bacon slices may end up being 50% meat and 50% fat, not what you want for this recipe.↩
The quality of your chicken broth makes a huge difference here. We always have some in the freezer from roasted chicken bones, Thanksgiving turkey, chicken backs, or even the dregs from cheap supermarket roasts. These will be much better than canned broth, but even canned broth will make a fine soup. Feel free to stretch the soup by adding more broth. We won’t tell.↩
And why is it called
Dang! Soup ? Because one of our original testers, knowing full well that the soup was made only of basics from the fridge said, “Dang! This soup is amazing!” Suggestions
- What else have you got in you freezer? How about some shrimp, maybe with some Bay seasoning? Sausage? With or without some Cajun seasoning? Chicken carcass sitting in the fridge that no-one wants? Go ahead, chuck that meat in! Hey, how about some chunks of celery? However, it needs none of these. It is a wonderful soup just as presented.
