Potatoe and Sausage Soup

Chop up 3 carrots, 1 stalk celery, 1/2 onion, and 1 leek (white/light green part only), and 2 green onions.
Finely mince 8 cloves garlic (I used a whole head- it just happened to have 8 larger cloves).
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a big pot over medium heat. When butter melts, add the above ingredients, along with 1 tsp each of salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, oregano, ground mustard powder, celery seed, and 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika. Stir well and often, otherwise the garlic can brown too quickly.
When the carrots and onions start to soften/caramelize, add about 2/3 cup dry sherry. Let that simmer down (stirring often) until it's almost evaporated.
Add another 1/4 cup of sherry along with 2 bay leaves, 1/2 cup corn kernels, 2 1/2 lbs of peeled and diced russet potatoes, and about 6 cups chicken stock. Let come to a boil and then lower to a simmer.
While simmering, chop up a link of smoked sausage (I used a 14oz link of hickory smoked pork sausage) and brown that in a separate pan (preferably cast iron!).
When potatoes are soft, add the sausage (don't drain it first- that's good stuff!), along with about 1 ounce each of shredded swiss and gruyere cheese, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup cream (you could do 1 cup half and half- I just used what I had), and another couple tbsps of dry sherry. Stir well, let simmer another 5-10 minutes to incorporate the cheese and let everything settle in together, then taste it to make sure I told you the right amounts of salt/spices! If it tastes bland, add more salt, pepper, rosemary and ground mustard powder. If it still tastes bland, well then just drink the rest of the bottle of sherry- it'll taste much better then. 😉
Enjoy! I hope y'all try it and love it!