Foodie Sunday: Soup for Supper!

By Beth I love soup for supper! In fact, I've never met anyone who doesn't enjoy a steaming bowl of great soup, along with some good bread and a salad on a cold winters night! Last nights inspiration came from a wedge of Rogue Creamery's "Smoky Blue" that was leftover from our Winter Solstice party and a bottle of Tawny port that I hadn't yet put away! Add a bit a bacon, some potatoes and a generous ladleful of cream and you have a very elegant soup that you'll definitely want seconds of. I've added a description from IGourmet for the Rogue Creamery blue. It's guaranteed to make you want to run out and buy the biggest chunk of it that you can afford! Trust me, it's worth it! The fragrance alone is incredible but the cheese is buttery and delicious .  So far I've melted it on hamburgers and pork chops,  crumbled it into salads, made this soup and served it with pears, grapes, apples and crusty bread.  Rogue Creamery smoky "Oregon Blue" can be found at any great cheese  counter near you! Don't buy it just on my recommendation though…Ask for a taste. Your senses will begin to dance…I promise! "Rogue Creamery's "Oregon Blue" was the first blue cheese ever made on the west coast and they thought it only fitting that this cheese become the first blue cheese ever smoked. The result is magic! "Oregon Blue" is a classic Roquefort style blue cheese that is cold smoked 16 hours with Oregon Hazelnut shells. The smoking process releases a sweet creamy Smokey flavor that balances both the sharp blue flavor and sweet creamy flavor of the 100% natural full cream sustainable milk from Bonanza View Dairy." This soup recipe is very simple. Just saute a cup of chopped onion, some fresh sage and about a cup and a half of diced, naturally raised bacon with a half a stick of butter in a stockpot until gently browned. Add 3 cups of diced yukon gold potatoes and 6 cups of good chicken broth and let the whole thing simmer for about 20 minutes. Then add about a tablespoon of fresh thyme,  2 and a half cups of crumbled blue cheese, for this I used a combination of the smoked blue and some stilton. Stir that in (it melts easily) and add a pint of heavy cream. (I said this was delicious but I didn't say it was low cal!) Let the whole thing just simmer nicely for about 10 minutes and then add about 2 shot glasses of port and give it one or two turns with an immersion blender ! This last step isn't necessary, but I like my soup a bit creamier! Last but not least,  I  added some chopped green onion and grated fresh apple for a pretty garnish. A twist of a pepper grinder makes it piquant, but you probably won't need any salt! I served this last night as a main course with a simple salad of fresh pear and red onion dressed with a French apple cider vinegar and a bit of garlic oil and of course, lots of crusty good bread!  A glass of "Angry Orchard" or any other  hard cider is the perfect compliment for this soup, or a white wine that's a tad sweeter, perhaps a viognier ?  There is some of it leftover so tonight I will probably serve it as a first course with a pear and pecan puree  and a tiny bit of shredded organic ham for the garnish alongside the chicken that I'll set to roasting in the oven very soon! So tell me. What are your favorite soups  to keep you warm on a cold winters day?