Many of you may be thinking that there has to be a typo somewhere in the title of this blog, but alas, no. I truly made Dill Pickle Soup, thanks to Noble Pig, which is a food blog and not my pen name. I saw the recipe on FB and I knew it was a must try for me. And although I got awkward questions about my pregnancy status and my sanity when I told friends and family what I was making for dinner, I knew this recipe and I were going to be best friends. If anyone needs confirmation, I am not pregnant and my mental state is strong...or well unchanged...still a little crazy, but that is my normal state of being.

So let me start by saying, I am friggin in love with this soup recipe!! You can taste the dill pickle and I love it. The soup is also creamy, comforting, hardy and just downright happy. Granted I am sure the salt content is extreme so if you are looking for a low-sodium recipe, just stay away. But seriously, this may be my favorite soup of the moment and as many of you know I eat a ton of soup!!

This soup does contain dill pickles and pickle brine and so at first you are a little confused when you have a pickle bite explode in your mouth and then you just start to embrace and celebrate the uniqueness of the experience. I love dill pickle soup!!



Now in case you wanted to know a few fun facts about pickles let me help:

• Cleopatra ate them because she believed they helped her stay beautiful. Well dang I must be friggin gorgeous!
• Pickles are supposedly mentioned in the Bible! Maybe Jesus turned water into wine and paired it with pickles? So, my wine and pickle pairing is not all that original or unique.
• During WWII 40% of pickles were commandeered to feed the soldiers.
• In Fiji, pickles are part of the courtship process. Men create pickle pits to prove they can afford a wife. Do you think "pickle pit" has multiple meanings? Asking for a friend.
  
  
  
  

To begin with, bring the broth, potato, butter and carrot to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add the chopped dill pickles and continue to boil. One of the many questions that was posed to me last night was whether or not the pickles were hot or cold....and they are hot...and it works!! Just go with it!!



In a bowl, combine sour cream, water and flour, making a paste. My one snafu with this recipe last night was when I got to this step and went to add the flour, only to discover that I had purchased a giant bag of cornmeal instead of flour. In my defense, the cornmeal bag was disguised as a flour bag....minus the fact that it said "corn meal" on the outside instead of flour. Details!! Or lack of attention to details on my part!! However, thankfully I have the worlds most amazing neighbors and they got a frantic text about borrowing flour and they came through for me...yet again.

Whisk the sour cream mixture into the soup and it is ok if some of the potatoes fall apart on you. For the record, it adds some additional thickness to the soup which just makes it more hardy and yummy.



Add the pickle juice, Old Bay seasoning, salt, cayenne and pepper. I went with the traditional Vlasic pickles for this recipe and I thought the flavor was great. However, there are very few pickles I have met that I didn't love so I might not be the best judge on the great pickle juice debate.  Cook for 5 minutes.

I obviously should have been a hand model.

I served mine with diced pickles on top because really even after snacking on pickles while cooking, making pickle soup with pickles and brine, I knew the soup needed a few more pickles.

Here is the actual recipe:

Ingredients

• 5-1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1-3/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 cups chopped carrots (smaller dice)
• 1 cup chopped dill pickles (smaller dice ~ about 3 large whole dills)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups dill pickle juice*
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Garnish (optional)

• sliced dill pickles
• fresh dill
• black pepper