John’s Wetls - creamy bacon and potato chowder

Last week we had Naomi Hallett’s 70th birthday bash. Her brother Don and his wife Maree and the rest of the family organised a great week of celebrations around Bounty Day. Cumulating in a big get-together in Don and Maree’s Tampalii culture shed.

As usual on Norfolk we all pitched in to help for the wetl’s (food). I was asked to bring soup to warm everyone on a cool winters night.

I thought a nice thick creamy bacon and potato chowder would be just the thing.

Anyway we had a great night and the soup proved to be very popular with a number of people asking for the recipe.

So here is myse recipe for John’s creamy bacon and potato chowder that serves six to eight salan (people).

Ingredients: Eight to 10 potatoes medium size peeled; two onions diced finely; two rashers bacon finely chopped; one tablespoon chicken stock powder; two tablespoon flour; six cups hot water; two cups cream; a tablespoon butter; a tablespoon oil; juice of one orange.

Cut your potatoes into small cubes – the only complaint I would make about the soup the other night was that the cubes were a bit big, so you want cubes about a centimetre in size.

Sauté onions and bacon in the butter and oil until the onions are translucent and just starting to brown. Add flour. Stir with a wooden spoon for four to five minutes and then slowly add half the hot water bit by bit, stirring constantly.

Mix in the potatoes, chicken stock, stir, then add remaining water and simmer for 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Stir in cream, season with salt and pepper if needed. Squeeze in orange juice.

Serve in bowls with nice crusty bread and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

Hope yorlyi enjoy it. And thank you Don and Maree for a fun night and happy birthday Naomi.

See yorlyi morla. John.