BLT&P Soup

I found this recipe on a whim one day last week while checking out Rachel Ray's website. After reading the ingredients, I was entrigued. It is such a simple recipe as well. So easy, I think I remember most of it still. I wish I had a picture of how it came out (it looks just as great as it tastes and smells) because the website didn't have anything, but I'm including the link anyways. BLT&P

Here's the recipe as well, with a little bit of adjustment to the preparation. For some reason, the layout was a little screwy on the website:

Ingredients
Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
6 slices lean, smoky, good-quality bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
3 small ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, finely chopped
2 small to medium carrots
3 leeks trimmed of rough tops and roots
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
3 medium starchy potatoes, such as Idaho, peeled
2 quarts chicken stock
1 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, drained
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Crusty bread, for dunking and mopping

Preparation
Heat a medium soup pot or deep sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of EVOO and the bacon. Cook bacon until brown and crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve.
Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of remaining fat. Add the chopped celery. Take peeled carrots and lay flat on cutting board. Hold each carrot at root end and use the vegetable peeler to make long, thin strips of the carrot. Chop the thin slices into small carrot bits or carrot chips, 1/2 inch wide. Add the chips to celery and stir.
Cut leeks lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch half moons. Place dirty slices into colander and run under rushing cold water, separating all the layers to wash away all the trapped grit. When the leeks are separated and clean, shake off water and add to celery and carrots. Stir veggies together, add a bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. While the leeks cook to wilt, 3-4 minutes, slice the potatoes by cutting each potato into thirds across. Stand each third potato upright and thinly slice it. The pieces will look like raw potato chips.

Add stock to vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add potatoes and tomatoes. Cook 8-10 minutes until potatoes are tender and starting to break up a bit. Add bacon and parsley and stir. Adjust seasonings. Serve immediately.

The result was fabulous! I think, due in part to the canned tomatoes Michele gave to Adam and I in our house warming basket (chock full of other goodies as well). I decided last night (while I was getting ready for bed) that I'd rank the BLT&P soup as #3 on my list of favorite soups. #1 being my mother's DEEEEELISH Potato Soup (by the way, Mom, if you're reading this, I'd appreciate a copy of that recipe. I know that you claim that there aren't specific directions, but you should definitely put something in writing for me! PLEASE! We have a whole sack of potatoes, and they need a home....in my belly). #2 is the Homemade Vegetable Soup that Grandma Brinkman used to make while she was still with us. It was different every time she made it, but it was all dependent on what was available in her garden. Grandpa Brinkman knows I love it so much, that he would make it and invite me down for dinner. His attempts at Grandma's soup were yummy as well, but shhhh, don't tell him that Grandma's still rated supreme to his!

Speaking of Grandpa, I'm including one of my FAVORITE pictures. It's of Grandpa (or as everyone else calls him, Flick), Josette, Dad and myself. I think it was taken in early 2005, shortly after we found out that Dad was sick. But enough sappyness. Try the soup, you won't be disappointed!