Spicy Potato Soup

A friend at work brought this really yummy spicy chowder and I wanted to make it at home. Problem was, I didn't get to the store to to get all the ingredients so I improvised. I'll give you the "real" recipe another time but this one is a tasty substitute.

And, did I mention that it's EASY and it meets my crockpot rule of at least 8 hours!!

What you'll need:

10-12 Potatoes peeled
1 Leek chopped
1 Medium Onion diced
2 stalks Celery diced
Handful of carrots diced
1 Can Fiesta Cheese Soup
4 C Vegetable Broth ~ or chicken Broth
1 t Salt
1/2 t Pepper
1 t Dillweed
1 t Curry ~ you could maybe leave this out, I was going for curry flavor and when that didn't work for me, I went another direction. I only mention this because I used it.

Put all this in the crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours

1 heaping t Chipolte Pepper
1 C Frozen Corn
12 oz can Evaporated Milk

Mash your potatoes and add these things in the last 1/2 hour of cooking just to heat it through.

Here's the potatoes.

This is the carrots and celery. I said to "chop" them. Here is a simple rule I use when cooking, ask yourself "what size feels comfortable in my mouth". If you like bigger carrots, cut them bigger, just know that they might be a little crunchier when the soup is finished.

A leek looks like a BIG green onion. This is what it looks like when you cut most of the green off.

I cut it in half and proceeded to chop it. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll just use my kitchen shears to cut it into pieces directly into the crockpot.

Here's the onion, peeled and cut in half for easy chopping. If you run it under cold water, it keeps the tears to a minimum. The onion will break down as it cooks but if you want it minced really fine, I recommend the food processor.

If you are saying that you don't like onions, well onion really gives this soup the flavor, I promise you won't notice the onion when it's cooked. A friend of mine who "hates" onion is none the wiser;)

Peel your potatoes and chop in various sizes. You can be exact if you want to but I find that if you use different size cuts, you get a better texture. I don't like completely "creamy" potato soup but if you do, make sure your potatoes are more uniformly cut.

The old fashioned masher comes into play after the potatoes are soft. Use this directly in the crockpot to mash the large chunks. If you like a creamier soup, you could use one of those hand held beaters. As I said, I'm not a fan of creamy potato soup and I also don't play with too many gadgets in the kitchen;)