BAKED POTATO SOUP

 Well, here in Texas, we had our first cool-front this past weekend!  Woo-Hoo!  It's Wednesday, and it's over...but we had a couple of days!  We, Texans, will take whatever cool weather we can get! Haha!

I don't know about you, but when it gets cool outside, it makes me want a big pot of soup or gumbo cooking on the stove.  It just gives me that warm, comforting, cozy kind of feeling!

Over the past few weeks, I have been in the middle of helping my mom move into a new place, so I have been busy and haven't had a lot of time to cook.  My daughter made an amazing Lasagna the other day and my sister-in-law cooked a yummy Tamale Pie that I will have to blog soon!  They both are wonderful cooks!!  When it turned cold, I was trying to decide what soup to make.  I really wanted to make a gumbo but knew I would have to go to the grocery store and then come home and cook it.  A good gumbo takes a while so, I thought of Baked Potato Soup.  It is the perfect soup for a cool day and super easy to make.  I popped the potatoes in the oven at 4:30 p.m. and we were eating by 7:00 p.m.!

NEXT TIME:
As I was eating, I was thinking "this is missing something".  I thought and thought about that and about what I wanted it to taste like.  Even though I have made this recipe quite a few times, this time around I didn't serve it with anything else.  That made me really think about what my expectations were for the soup!  I finally figured it out...next time, I am adding a can of chicken broth or maybe two.  The soup is naturally thick and so I added more milk to thin it a bit but now I wish I would have added the chicken broth.  It would have added another level of flavor and that is what I am doing next time I make it.  I did go online and see if anyone else adds chicken broth and the first one I pulled up...there it was...chicken broth!  I am going to write this recipe with the chicken broth included.

Here's to October and cool days ahead!!

BAKED POTATO SOUP

4 Large Baking Potatoes

6 Bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

1-1/3 sticks of butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2/3 cup of flour

6 cups whole milk, plus extra for thinning soup

1 can Campbell's Chicken Broth

2 green onions, chopped

7 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and Pepper

Toppings

Chopped Green Onions, Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese, Bacon crumbles

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.

Place the four washed, dry potatoes in the oven. (You can wrap with foil if you like)

Bake until potatoes are soft, when squeezed or when a fork stuck in the middle of the potato goes in easily.  Time usually takes around 1-1/2 hours depending on your oven and the size of the potatoes.

In a large dutch oven, melt butter over low-medium heat.

Add onions and saute until tender.

Add flour and stir to make a thick paste.

Whisk in milk slowly to avoid lumps.

Add 1 can of Campbell's Chicken Broth.  I would use one can right now and wait until everything is added, taste and decide whether to use another one.

Cut the baked potatoes lengthwise and scoop out the pulp.  The bigger chunks will become smaller as you stir so don't worry about breaking them up.

Add the cheese

Add the green onions

Add the bacon crumbles

Season with salt and pepper

Now look at the soup and if you would like it thinner then add more milk and/or chicken broth 1/2 cup at a time, tasting after each add.  Remember that chicken broth does contain salt so be sure to take that in consideration when salting the soup.

 Serve with choices of toppings.  

SCRUMPTIOUS....

ENJOY!!!!