"Every Saturday from November till spring, I make a soup, so that whoever shows up at my big old Victorian home out in the country will have a chance to warm up with a mug of soup," says reader Mary C. of Tiffin, Ohio. She calls the Saturday Potato/Bacon Soup she submitted to Grandparents.com "a favorite, and one of my mom's best-ever soups."
It's a favorite with us, too. Hearty, creamy, and bursting with bacon and Cheddar flavor, it’s like eating a stuffed, baked potato with a spoon. Try it on your next autumn Saturday.
Ingredients:
4 - 6 medium russet potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed, and diced
1/2 pound bacon, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 cup chopped onion
3 - 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 - 2 cups milk
1 tablespoon hot sauce OR 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. While potatoes are cooking, in a large Dutch oven or pot, brown bacon over medium or medium-high heat. Transfer bacon to paper towel to drain. Empty all but 3 tablespoons of bacon grease from Dutch oven.
3. Add onion to Dutch oven and sauté until softened and browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in flour until well mixed with onion, creating a paste. Slowly stir in evaporated milk, until entirely incorporated. (If it becomes too thick, add a little milk.) Once a light sauce-like consistency is reached (3 or 4 minutes), add cooked potatoes, hot sauce, and salt and pepper, to taste. Stir to combine. Add milk until soup reaches desired consistency, stirring constantly. (You may have leftover milk.) Simmer 30 minutes over low heat, adding more milk if mixture becomes too thick.
4. Remove soup from heat. Stir in grated Cheddar and three-fourths of the cooked bacon. Ladle into bowls, topping with Cheddar and remaining bacon. Serve hot.
Serves 6
The Grandparents.com Recipe section is filled with seasonal soup recipes, like Rick Rodgers’ Winter Squash Soup with Prosciutto.
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