_ 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 Cups chopped leaks (some greens)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon dried Thyme leaves
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
1 ½ Cups chopped Carrots
1 ½ Cups chopped Celery
6 Cups chicken and/or sausage broth
8 oz dry lentils
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
½ pound Kielbasa, cubed
½ pound chorizo sausage, cubed (use more hot sausage if desired or all kielbasa for a more mild flavor)

Put cubed meat into a sauce pan with enough water to cover the meat. Bring to a boil and turn to a simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove meat and set aside. Skim fat off of broth. Set broth aside. Measure stock and add enough chicken stock to make 6 Cups of stock.

Heat oil in large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté leeks, garlic, salt, thyme, pepper and cumin until leaks are softened. Stir in Carrots and Celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add combined stock, lentils and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 50 minutes or until lentils are tender. Add sausage and simmer 10 more minutes. Serve with Parmesan cheese or hot sauce if desired.

Servings: 6

This delicious soup is one of Gove Hill's most requested recipes . It is a variation on a Oyster corn chowder that Bill Clark learned in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Bill Clark- Gove Hill Retreat Center
Makes about 5 servings

Ingredients:
½ cup diced carrots
½ cup diced onion
½ cup diced celery
¼ tsp fine diced garlic
½ cup diced potatoes cooked “al dente”
½ pound diced cooked smoked sausage OR Keilbasa
6 oz. frozen corn
1 cup chicken OR other light stock
1 cup Milk
2 cups stock from sausage
Thyme leaves (1 to 2 tsp)
Cracked black pepper

Method:

                              1). Take the diced sausage, and simmer in about 2 cups of water for 15 minutes or so, and save the broth ( I like  to cook the sausage the day before, and cool so it is easier to skim off the fat). Separate the stock from sausage

                              2) Saute the onion, celery, and carrot “(Miripoix)” in a sauce pan with about 2 TB of margarine until tender with thyme leaves (To Taste) Then add about 2 TB of flour to vegetable  mixture and stir in. Add the diced sausage next.

                              3) Combine the milk and chicken stock with the sausage broth, and cook the frozen (or fresh) corn until tender. After cooking corn blend it lightly to break down the corn some. An immersion blender works well for blending.

                              4) Now add the hot stock to the vegetable rouix and whisk in. (DO Not Boil) Bring mixture to simmer. When soup thickens, you may need to add a bit of light cream or evaporated milk to get it to best consistency. You can hold it in a double boiler or crock pot till you are ready to serve. Add potatoes near serving as they will otherwise be too soft.

                              4) Finish seasoning with cracked black pepper, chopped parsley, and salt to taste.