by Toi Aspinwall
You can never go wrong with a good potato soup! I make this often for family meals and always get asked for the recipe when I share it with friends. It’s easy to make and is fun to top however you like to make your baked potatoes. Be sure to always have plenty of cheese! Extra bacon never hurts either!
Ingredients:
5-6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, diced
5-6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 c. butter, plus additional butter for sauté
1/3 c. flour
2 ½ c. whole milk
½ c. heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Boil potatoes until just soft. Drain but do not rinse. Sauté onion and celery in butter until onion is translucent. In a medium saucepan, melt 1/3 c. butter over medium heat, add flour and cook for 1 minute while whisking constantly. Slowly add milk, cream, salt and pepper, stirring constantly until a low bubble. Add onions, celery (and the butter in the pan!), bacon, and potatoes to bubbly milk mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes and serve. Garnish with sour cream, cheese, and additional bacon, as well as chives or chopped green onions, if you wish, just as you would top a baked potato.
TIDBIT
Eyes in the Pantry
You’ve heard that potatoes have “eyes,” but what does that mean? The part of the plant we know as a potato is the “tuber” that grows at the end of underground stems below the roots of the plant. Each tuber has several buds or small sprouts, called “eyes.” What are they for? Not seeing underground! It’s from these buds that new potato plants grow. Why are they called eyes? Speculation is that it’s simply because these little buds look like eyes with eyebrows. Don’t worry, they’re not watching if you sip the wine while you cook!
