Grace's Favorite (Tomato Bisque with Chicken and Rice) Soup

I didn’t have a name for this soup, and it is Grace’s favorite, so it seemed obvious.  I was battling a cold and wanted soup, so Chris called The Ivory Restaurant in Deep River to see what soup was on the menu.  Ernan, the chef, said he would make something for me, and he came up with this soup.  I took a stab at my own version.

Ingredients:

4 strips bacon, cut in ½ pieces
2 Tbs butter
2 medium sweet onions, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 Tbs dried savory (oregano will work if you don't have savory)
6 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced (or 1/2 28 ounce can crushed tomatos)
4 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
½ cup heavy cream
2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded
2 cups cooked basmati rice (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste 

• At the bottom of a large Dutch oven, render the bacon until it is crisp, then remove from the pan to paper towels and reserve
• Add the butter, and when it is melted and bubbly, add the garlic and allow to cook in the butter until it becomes fragrant, but don’t let it start to brown.
• Add in the onions and the celery and stir to get the garlic off the bottom of the pan. 
• When the onions and celery start to become translucent, add the carrots and sauté another five minutes.   
• Season with savory, salt & pepper at this stage, and allow to sauté for another minute.
• Add the tomatoes and about 2 cups of the stock, bring the mixture up to a boil and allow the carrots to cook through until they are soft.   Using an immersion blender (I wouldn’t be without one.  They are far less messy than trying to do this with a food processor or a blender, but you can if you want to.), puree the mixture until it becomes almost a sauce.  We’re not looking for baby food,  we still want some texture.  Add the remaining stock and heat it through.
• At this stage, I will usually take half the soup base out of the pan, and freeze it.  This makes quite a bit of soup, and I will use it again the next time I have left-over chicken.  Thaw it, then continue:
• Add the cream and bring it to a slow simmer for about minutes.  
• Add the chicken (and the optional rice) and let it heat through.
• Ladle into bowls, and sprinkle with a few bits of the cooked bacon and some parmesan cheese if you like.