Baked Potato Soup

It's perfect for a winter night just like this!


(This is a recipe I was given by Jenifer Reese, who received it from Dorothy Pierce.)


Serves 8-10

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 to 1 cup chopped onion
1 to 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
4 large baked potatoes cubed
12 strips bacon cooked (I generally use less)
1 1/4 cup shredded cheese
7 cups milk
1 cup or a 1/2 cup of sour cream
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
chives (for garnish - optional)

This is the appetizer we enjoyed while I made soup. Semi-homemade raspberry chipolte jelly on top of cream cheese with crackers.

Yum!

Bake your potatoes until soft, but still slightly firm.

Roughly dice the spuds.

 
Dice your onion.

In a large dutch oven pan melt butter and sautee the onion until translucent.
This will really give the soup's flavor some depth.

Measure the flour.

Wisk in your flour.

Heat and continue to stir until smooth. It will be pretty thick.

Gradually add milk. Stir until it incorporates into the flour mixture and thickens again. Add a little more milk, stirring and thickening until you use all 7 cups of milk.

I like to add fresh ground pepper and a little salt at this point.

Less is more, you can always add more salt later.

Wow… what's with the freaky looking hand?

I cooked half strips of bacon in the microwave to speed things up.


This girl isn't the mushy/limp bacon type.

Add in the potatoes.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

I added crumbled bacon here.

Now add remaining ingredients.

*Note: Do not add sour cream to your boiling soup or it will curdle. Turn the heat down and then add your sour cream.

The last time I made this soup (for friends) I learned about curdling sour cream the hard way. It tasted fine but looked a little icky.
 

Crusty bread goes well with this soup.

Enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 to 1 cup chopped onion
1 to 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
4 large baked potatoes cubed
12 strips bacon cooked (I generally use less)
1 1/4 cup shredded cheese
7 cups milk
1 cup or a 1/2 cup of sour cream
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
chives (for garnish - optional)


Directions:

In a large dutch oven pan melt butter and sautee onion until translucent. Stir in flour. Heat and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk until thick. Add potatoes. Boil, stirring constantly, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, but make sure not to add sour cream to soup when boiling. *See note above.

You can use pre-packaged bacon bits to save time. (Most grocery stores have wonderful ones that are real bacon). You can also use lowfat versions of  the milk and sour cream, and it still tastes delicious! This recipe makes a lot, so you can cut in in 1/2 for two people, or freeze some so you don't have to cook one night!