Best Soup/Stew In The World

[murd0c]

My buddy made this soup/stew for me in Feb and I have been bugging him for ages for it and he finally gave it to me. I toss in half a small ham, a package of spicy Italian sausages and a hunk of prosciutto I had smoked a couple months back. I mix in lots of cheddar cheese in the soup and serve it with cheddar on top as well.

I don't have any pictures right now but will be making it this weekend and I can't wait. It's rich and tasty and honestly the best soup/stew I have ever had, just takes ages my buddy cooks it for 5-7hrs in total.

1 lb bacon
5 lbs potatoes (Russet or Idaho Gold)
2 large white onions
5 stalks celery
2 bunchs green onions
5 carrots (or ~10 oz. bag of Julienne carrots)
12 chicken bullion cubes
3 ½ tsp salt
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 spoonfuls minced garlic
3 ½ tsp basil
1 tsp crushed red pepper
5 tsp Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce
1 stick butter
1 pint heavy whipping cream

Additional items and substitutes:
Cheese (sharp cheddar, longhorn, parmesan, i.e. cheese with character)
Chives
Sour Cream

Cut the bacon into 1” pieces. Fry the bacon in the stock pot until very crispy. Remove the bacon, and drain grease from stock pot (leave bacon “residue” in the pot). Peel the potatoes and cut into 1” cubes. Larger cubes will result in “chunkier” soup. Cut onions into fairly small chunks. Slice up green onions. Slice celery stalks. Julienne the carrots (if purchased whole). Put all in the pot, cover with water, and bring to a roiling boil.

Add the following: chicken bullion, salt, black pepper, minced garlic, basil, red pepper, and hot sauce.

Stir. Bring the soup to a rolling boil uncovered, then turn it down a bit to just a steady low boil, covered for 1.5-3 hrs. It does not have to be a heavy boil the whole time. Keep an eye on the soup, if it starts getting too thick, add some water right away and reduce it to a simmer. After boiling a few hours, it will thicken nicely. If short on time, the soup can be thickened by adding flour (flavor will not be as full though). Reduce the heat to a simmer.

Stir in the bacon, butter, and whipping cream. Let simmer for ~1/2 hour. Serve with bread/butter, and favorite local brew.

Chicken stock (~4-8 cups stock; water to cover) may be substituted for bullion. Ham or 2 to 3 smoked ham hocks may be substituted for bacon. Up to 2 lbs of bacon has been used. Cheese may be added or used as topping.

[WolfGang]

Sounds good but fatty lol

I love fennel soup so light, creamy and tasty

[Vansterdam]

[November]

Sounds good, but 12 bouillon cubes? Ugh! Ive never seen Frank's in a stew... ought to be interesting.

Got pics?

[murd0c]

That's the original recipe my buddy had so I have to find out the exact little changes he made becuase I know he doesn't use 12 bouillon cubes. I think I have frozen chicken stock in my freezer so I'm just going to use that if it's still there. The Frank's actually works really nice in the stew I was very surprised.

I will see if I can find some pics from the last time he made it.

[EndLeSS8]

1 stick of butter........

[Great68]

That recipe sounds big enough to feed 30 people.

[murd0c]

It can honestly feed an army but it's perfect to make and freeze. I made tons toss it in the freezer and if I'm to lazy to cook warm it up and it really hits the spot.

[Ronin]

Prosciutto in soup?!

You mean sliced thin and put on top at the last second right? Because cooking prosciutto should be punishable by death.

[murd0c]

yes some sliced ontop but in the soup as well. I smoked 30lbs my self in Nov and I have ton's left so I have been trying it in different dishes. It's a tad bit salty but still very good.

[westopher]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Because cooking prosciutto should be punishable by death.

Are you kidding me? Saltimbocca, prosciutto on pizza, prosciutto wrapped sole, theres many applications where its cooked, and awesome. Come on now.

[Vansterdam]

Hook some up

[murd0c]

It's time to get started, I'm tempted to use 3lbs of bacon so we shall see

[murd0c]

Here she is with everything in the pot, I added the spicy Italian sausage and Ham already so it absorbs into the soup.

[bluejays]

That's a lot of soup

[J____]

best soup: crab meat and fish maw soup

[murd0c]

After 5hrs this is the final product. And wow it's so fricken good and tasty!!! I ended up using half a brick of butter and 500ml of whipping cream

[impulseX]