Friday, December 11, 2009

The First Snow and a Bowl of Soup
The first snowfall of the season came this week and I decided that a good, hearty soup was in order.



We awoke this past Monday morning to find that it had snowed overnight.


Looks like we got about half an inch of the cold, white stuff.




What better day to make a nice potato soup?
That's what I thought.
Let's get to work, shall we?


For this recipe I assembled:
3 medium potatoes, diced
leftover mashed potatoes
onion
turkey stock
flour
Old Bay Seasoning
dried thyme
Half-and-Half
cheddar cheese spread (I never have Velveeta on hand)
salt
black pepper
hot sauce (not pictured)


For garnish I have
bacon
fresh chives (as I didn't have green onions on hand)
sharp cheddar cheese
*
The first step of the recipe is to cook the diced potatoes in a bit of water in the microwave for about 5 minutes.
Dice the bacon and cook that over medium-high heat in a 2-quart (or larger) sauce pan.
The bacon is removed from the pot and allowed to drain.
Retain about 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pot and add the diced onion.

Saute the onion over medium heat until softened.


Stir in the flour and cook for another minute or two.

Add the turkey stock and mix well.


Then add in the mashed potatoes, hot sauce, dry thyme and Old Bay Seasoning.

Salt and pepper to taste.


Add in the cooked diced potatoes, Half-and-Half and the cheddar cheese spread.

Stir until incorporated and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes.

Allow guests to top their soup with cooked bacon pieces, chopped green onion or chives and grated cheddar cheese.

*

Let's skip ahead to the ratings.

The Foodie Daughter gave this 4 stars since she wanted more bacon fat in the soup.

The Foodie Boyfriend gave this 4 stars as he had never had potato soup before and had no basis for comparison.

The husband gave this 3-1/2 stars because "potato soup will never be a 5-star dish but this was okay."

I gave this 4-1/2 stars as I think it still needs a few more tweaks.

Thus the recipe card contains a couple of changes to the recipe.



Chunky Potato Soup

Chunks of potato swim in a creamy potato soup.

See Chunky Potato Soup on Key Ingredient.