Dill is one of my favorite herbs. I wanted to make a soup that featured it, and came up with this soup. The bacon and potatoes are perfect complements to the dill. I added onions to give the soup a bit more depth. I am always amazed how a few simple ingredients came come together and make something wonderful. This soup definitely does that.

dill, bacon, and potato soup

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of dill, rinsed and roughly chopped with large stems removed, about 1 cup in total
• 4-5 slices of thick cut bacon
• 2-3 butter potatoes, peeled and chopped into a 1 inch dice
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 6 cups chicken stock
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add bacon. Cook, stirring infrequently, until crisped. Remove with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 2 tbsp of grease.
3. Turn down the heat to medium, and add onion to bacon grease, and cook, stirring frequentely, until they are mostly translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Add stock and potatoes to onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to bring the soup to a simmer. Add cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper and stir.
5. Simmer until the potatoes are just fork tender, about 10-15 minutes. You don’t want too cook too long or they will start to fall apart.
6. Add cooked bacon, and dill. Simmer for a minute or so.
7. Taste, and adjust seasonings levels if needed.

I like this soup served with oyster crackers or crushed up saltines.