Loaded Potato Soup

This was the first recipe I remember making habitually. It’s like a book I’ve read a hundred times; each time I see something different. I have changed this recipe more than any other having made it for nearly twenty years. And it’s still my favorite comfort food on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Ellie asked for it for a rainy Vanderbilt tailgate one day, and we made it gluten-free on the spot for Michelle Supko. Instead of starting with a roux, we puréed the cooked potatoes and chicken stock to thicken it. I made that version for Michelle when she brought Tanner home from the hospital on Super Bowl Sunday last year . . . and threw a Super Bowl party. . . crazy.

There were mistakes in the early years: adding raw potatoes to cook in the soup, scorching the milk on the bottom, too thick, too thin . . . Maybe there will be more changes. This is where I am now.

2 large Yukon gold potatoes

3 strips of bacon

1 yellow onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

4 T butter

4 T flour

salt and pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 dash of Tabasco™

2 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of whole milk

1 cup of shredded cheddar

Garnish:

green onion, bacon, shredded cheddar, sour cream

~ Peel and chop potatoes into 1/4 inch dice.

~ Put potatoes in a small sauce pan of chicken broth and bring to boil till potatoes are tender.

~ Dice bacon and crisp in stock pot.

~ Remove bacon, set aside, and discard all but 1/2 T of bacon.

~ Add butter to bacon grease and sauté onion with salt, pepper, and sugar for 5 minutes.

~ Add garlic clove for 1 minute.

~ Whisk in flour and cook for 2 minutes.

~ Slowly whisk in milk bringing to a boil to thicken.

~ Gradually add potatoes and the chicken stock.

~ Take off heat, stir in cheddar and dash of Tabasco™.

~ Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

~ Taste for seasoning! Potatoes soak up salt! Salt and pepper to taste.