Cream of Celery Soup

I know...celery soup? What? That's what my husband thought anyway. I had some celery that needed used up quick. It wasn't just a couple sticks, it was almost a whole bunch. I remember seeing a Campbell's cream of celery soup, so I thought I'd try. I found this recipe on About.com via Google recipe search.  It was actually pretty good! My husband was very skeptical going into it, but this was his response: "I was pleasantly surprised." He took some to work for lunches too, so he must have liked it.

Cream of Celery Soup
 
    1 lb fresh celery or celery root
    1 medium Russet (or other starchy) potato
    2 Tbsp unsalted butter
    1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
    1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
    1/4 c. white wine vinegar mixed with 1/4 c. water and 1 Tbs. sugar(the original recipe called for 1/2 c. white wine)
    1 qt vegetable stock or chicken stock
    Kosher salt, to taste
    Ground white pepper, to taste
    I threw some cream of chicken soup in there because I wanted it a little thicker/creamier kind of as an after thought. If I had thought of it before, I would have made a roux and added it at the very end.

Cut celery into (roughly) same-sized pieces, about ½ inch to 1 inch thick, depending on diameter. Don't worry about precision — the soup is going to be puréed anyway. We just want the pieces to be of uniform size so that they cook evenly. Peel the potato and cut it into pieces about the same size as the celery.

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the butter over low-to-medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and celery and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is slightly translucent, stirring more or less continuously. Add the vinegar mixture and cook for another minute or two or until the wine seems to have reduced by about half.  Add the stock and the potato. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the celery and potatoes are soft enough that they can easily be pierced with a knife. Don't let them get mushy, though.

 Remove from heat and purée in a blender, working in batches if necessary. (Please vent the lid...you don't want to have celery soup all over your kitchen because the heat makes the lid pop off...It happened to me...I was venting the lid, but not enough)
   
Return puréed soup to pot and bring to a simmer again, adding more broth or stock to adjust the thickness if necessary. (This is where I would add the roux, if doing it again.)

Season to taste with Kosher salt and white pepper.

Garnish with a toasted crouton and serve right away.