Austrian Cream Cheese Soup

I love food blogging - one of the best parts is that people are always sharing their favorite recipes with me. A few weeks ago in church, my longtime friends Debbie and Steve gave me this recipe for Austrian cream cheese soup that they adored at The Fireside restaurant in Rapid City, South Dakota. They're avid bikers who hit up that restaurant when they would go to the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally.

While I haven't been to the Sturgis bike rally and have yet to own my first motorcycle (sad face), I have the most wonderful memories of South Dakota. I traveled across the entire state on a teen service trip to help the Lakota Native Americans one summer. In big cargo vans, the leaders and teens were amazed at the variety of scenery across the state as we traveled the Badlands, the Black Hills, and through Mount Rushmore. Every hour it seemed the world changed. Grasslands like green flowing oceans, white dusty canyons, and the dark spruce-covered mountains of the black hills stunned us all.

In the Black Hills, I shared one of the most beautiful experiences of my life with my younger daughter Jenn. All the teens paired off for what the leaders called a "trust walk". One teen was blindfolded, and followed the directions of the other teen along a path up the side of a mountain. We gathered at a plateau at the top. The guides took off the teens' blindfolds, and they took in all that was around them: the rank of wooded hills in breathtaking display at sunset in oranges, yellows and greens. Jenn whispered to me that she felt God touching her soul. My soul was moved, too.

The Fireside restaurant in Sturgis is now closed, but this recipe, based on a traditional Viennese cream cheese soup, lives in my friends' memories and mine. We cut down on the fat by trading the 4 egg yolks for 3 whole eggs, and by using low-fat cream cheese, yogurt, and fat-free chicken broth. It's still creamy and delicious, but a bit more heart-healthy.

Ingredients

6 leeks
6 celery stalks
1/3 cup butter
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
8 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 8-oz package low-fat cream cheese, softened
8 oz. plain low-fat yogurt
3 eggs, whipped
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup chives, snipped

Instructions

Trim the tough outer leaves and the roots off the leeks, and cut the stalks into quarters. Wash out the leaves well - dirt is often trapped between them. Dice the celery and cut the leeks into 1" segments. 

Melt the butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the celery and leeks until tender. Stir in the flour, pepper, nutmeg, and half the broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer.

Blend the rest of the broth with the eggs, cream cheese and yogurt. Stir the mixture into the soup and let it heat up without boiling, so that the cheese and eggs do not become grainy.

Serve topped with shredded cheese and chives.

Serves 6-8.