Macon (or Bacon) Leek and Sweet Potato Soup [Dairy free, Gluten free, Grain free, Dairy free]

I am definitely a soup lover!  Having tried a few good and delicious tasting soups recently that I have blogged and a list of these may be found here within the soup recipe, it seemed good to try out an adaptation of a bacon, leek and potato soup, which I found in a food magazine, that looked appealingly delicious. 

Armed with the alternate ingredients and raiding my mom's vegetable supplies, my air-travelled fresh stock, as well as the contents of my at-moms-home-ingredient-stash that I keep readily stocked for my regular stay overs, I attempted this soup with great gusto.  Mindful that most of my family including mom,  abstain from eating pork and will not allow it into their homes, I used macon to replace the bacon and it proved every bit as good, if not better, than including bacon and added the taste factor to round off this dish.  Sweet potato as a thickener worked well in this soup, and slow sautéed and cooked with the other ingredients, provided a gorgeous silky texture.  This adapted recipe also calls for coconut cream, which I omitted as after blending, the amazing taste without the coconut cream sold me on the decision to omit it.

Served very warm is the only option for full-bodied, nutritious enjoyment of this soup.  You may have this as a starter or as your main meal if you're looking for something decidedly amazing in a soup, as in the other soups that I have blogged.  The pictures of this amazing soup are a try-out of a new lens for my old camera that we purchased a few months ago and had forgotten about!

Ingredients

1 1/2  - 2 tbslp ghee, grass-fed butter or olive oil
2-5 leeks, white stem portion, sliced
1-2 sticks celery, leaves removed, sliced
1 clove fresh garlic, finely chopped
200g bacon or macon , sugar and emulsifier free
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in same sized portions
2-3 cups chicken stock, preferably home made, sugar and preservative free
1/2 cup coconut cream
Himalayan or Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Chives (chopped) and crispy bacon or macon "croutons" to garnish

Here's How

• Melt the fat of your choice in a large non-stick pot over medium stove-top heat.
• Add the celery, garlic, leeks, then the bacon or macon.  Cover the pot with its' lid and cook until the vegetable is soft, stirring occasionally.  This takes about 15 minutes.

• Add the sweet potatoes and the chicken stock and bring to a boil, the simmer on lower stove-top heat for about 20 minutes.

• Once the potatoes are soft, remove the pot from the stove-top and set aside to cool for a few minutes. (At this stage the sweet potatoes will have softened and added thickness to the soup - you may want to season and eat it in it's chunky form!)

• Now pour half the amount of the soup into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.  Add the blended soup back into the pot and blend the other half, exactly the same procedure as the first batch.

• Return the blended soup back to the stove top in the same pot, and reheat.
• Add the coconut cream if preferred, and season with the salt and black pepper, mix well to combine the coconut cream and seasoning.

Serve warm with chopped chives and / or crispy fried bacon or macon for garnishing