Bacon, Leek and Tomato Soup (BLT)

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When a rabbit hunter gets a new gun, I’ll bet he or she is as excited as a kid on Christmas morning to go bunny blasting with it.

It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while I get something new to use in the kitchen and I literally get frantic with excitement to take it home and put it to use. This happened to me last week. I have been looking for a great soup pot for a long time now. My stock pots and dutch oven are to big and sauce pans to small for my typical batch of soup. Sunday night I found one at Williams-Sonoma. It was a bit pricey so, after much contemplation, I passed. My excuse was waiting for cooler weather, which is better for soup making.

I woke up Friday morning to rainy and cool fall weather. By 5 o’clock, I had the new pot and was ready to make my first batch of soup with it.

For this recipe, I make bacon, leek and tomato, or BLT soup. The recipe is delicious and the new pot is a great addition to my kitchen equipment stash.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I let my dog out the morning I bought the pot and it was the first time in months that it was actually cold outside. It was a fall day in August during the summer of record high heat. It was very surreal. As soon as I soaked it in I thought about making soup, going to Williams-Sonoma and getting the pot I had passed on just a few days earlier. The weather was my excuse and that had changed!

When I got to Williams-Sonoma the sales associate came right over. She was a total vixen, I knew I had made the right decision to get the soup pot. Not only was I getting new kitchen equipment, I was being waited on by a Williams-Sonoma calender girl. I told her what I wanted and she went to the back to get it. It didn’t take long for Babraham Lincoln to return with the pot in hand. She must have sensed my vulnerability, because she somehow managed to get my to buy some soup base AND sign up for a Williams-Sonoma credit card. I didn’t care though, I really couldn’t wait to cook with the new pot, I was drunk with culinary excitement.

When I first started this recipe I wasn’t sure If I would be able to fit everything in the pot. I had a temporary moment of regret, but that was just a slight panic. The pot was absolutely perfect for a 4-serving batch of soup. My big pots were never right because the soup wouldn’t even fill the pot a quarter of the way. It doesn't effect taste, it just seemed as though I was hauling a couch with an 18 wheeler when all I really needed was a van. Honestly, I am going to use the new pot quite a bit, because I make lots of chilis and stews and like soup, the pots and sauce pans are not quite right for making a batch that serves four.

If you make a lot of soups, stews or chilis you should look into buying Calphalon's 4-quart soup pot. It’s awesome!

Eat well, cook often ...