Foodie Friday - Easy Potato Soup

It's finally soup season! 

And all God's people said Amen. 

I was looking around my kitchen last night wondering what to cook and spotted three large baking potatoes.  Yep, time for the first potato soup of the season.  I've made a dozen different versions and this one works for during the week when you want to get supper on the table in about thirty minutes.  I ended up with probably 6 to 8 serving of soup, plenty enough for me and the hubby, my lunch tomorrow, and a few more servings for this weekend.  This soup also freezes well and easily doubles to serve a crowd. 

Again, this is one of my recipes (measuring cups, what?) so I'm going to try and get the proportions as close as I can but please feel free to tweak and change to suit your tastes. 

Speedy Weeknight Potato Soup

Three large baking potatoes - peeled and cubed
1 medium onion - chopped
4 pieces of thick bacon - cut into small pieces
1 quart of chicken stock - not necessary but gives the soup a ton of flavor
2 to 3 cups of water
1 cup milk
shredded cheese
2 to 3 teaspoons corn starch
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Garnishes:  shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream, and bacon bits.  


Directions:

Heat a stockpot or Dutch oven over a medium high heat, when hot add the bacon and fry until crispy.  Take bacon out of the pan, drain on paper towels, and reserve to garnish soup later.  Into hot bacon drippings add chopped onions.  Season with a small pinch of salt and sauté until translucent. 

(Now before you have a heart attack you don't have to use bacon drippings to cook your onion you can just as easily saute the onions in olive oil or butter.  But there's nothing quite like onion sauted in bacon fat.  Ok?)

When onions are done cooking, add the quart of chicken stock, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.  You need just enough liquid to cover your potatoes, I  eyeballed the pot and added about two to three more cups of water and brought everything to a boil.  When the liquid comes to a boil add the potatoes,  cover, and cook until potatoes are tender. 

When potatoes are done take out two cups of the cooking liquid and put to the side.  Add 1 cup of milk, this can be whatever you have on hand:  whole, skim, half-and-half, cover, and bring back to a simmer.  While the soup is coming back to a simmer, take your reserved cooking liquid and whisk in 2 heaping teaspoons of corn starch.  When mixture is combined and smooth add this back to the soup to help thicken everything.  Lastly add 1 cup of shredded cheese and bring the whole thing back to a simmer.  Make sure you stir every so often to keep the soup from sticking. 

When the cheese is melted, and the soup thickens, you're ready to serve!  I usually take a hand masher and mash a few times in the soup.  This breaks up any large chunks of potato and makes everything creamier.  You're not making mashed potatoes, just breaking up any larger chunks of potato. 

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, the bacon your fried crisp, and green onion. 

This really does cook quickly and can be thrown together in about 30 to 45 minutes.  Serve by itself or add a salad or sandwich and you're ready! 

I hope you enjoy and have a great weekend my lovelies!