It's Cold Outside....That Means Soup

So this past weekend it's gotten a bit chilly. It has been getting into the low 40s overnight. I figure in the next month or two I will be making Chili, more Chicken Soup, some Roasted Tomato Soup, Gumbo, etc.

Yesterday morning my wife said it was cold and when was she getting some potato soup. So I whipped up a batch for her. Every time I make it, it seems I make it differently. I never write it down so it is from memory, a memory that seems to be steadily going away. This was one of my better versions, and one of the healthier versions too. Is it healthy? No, of course not. A dish that has bacon, cheese, butter, and cream is not healthy. But it's damn good. Now onto the boring list.

Potato Soup

6 large baking potatoes
1 large yellow onion
4 stalks of celery
1 can cream of celery
1 stick of butter
half n half
1 pound of bacon
cheese
salt
pepper


Sometimes I get elaborate and use sour cream, green onions, and a bunch of other stuff. I used what I had in my kitchen, and it came out excellent.

Peel the potatoes, dice them up, stick them in a large pot and boil. In a separate pan, cook the bacon. Make sure you dice it up. I usually do maybe half an inch dicing on the bacon. You want it brown and crispy, none of that soft stuff.

Now here is where we go into heart failure. Pull out bacon. Finely chop onion and celery. Throw into bacon grease and saute. For the ultimate artery clogger, throw in a stick of butter. Cook until veggies are soft. After, add to the potatoes which should be getting somewhat soft. I was good this time, and used a slotted spoon to get my veggies out of the pan, instead of dumping everything in. Throw in the can of cream of celery, add kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, and stir to mix in the cream of celery. Let cook on medium low for a while. I think I did about 1-1.5 hours. I wanted the flavors to meld together, and it to thicken a bit.

After that time, I pulled out my trusty stick blender. If you don't have one get one. I have a simple kitchen aid corded one that I got at Target for 50 bucks or so. One of the best investments I've made for the kitchen. Blend the ingredients in the pot to a nice smooth consistency. That will thicken the soup nicely. Then I add the Half n Half. I eyeball it until I get a nice creamy white-yellow look. Then I threw in about 1 cup of cheese and let it cook a little more.

To serve, ladle into a soup bowl. Top with cheese and bacon. Next time I am going to do 2 pounds of bacon, because we have a ton of soup left but no bacon.