Creamy Potato Soup

Hello Friends!!  Happy first day of February!  I appreciate your kind comments on my last post; they are always a joy to read.  I feel bad that I'm not getting to visit with you more outside the blog.  I really hate that Blogger no longer delivers e-mails with comments; it was so easy to reply to those if I wanted to have more of a conversation with people.     

         I just found out yesterday that January was National Soup Month (saw that on another blog).  This year, our January certainly had plenty of soup weather, wouldn't you say?  Sunday, I made a pot of homemade cream of potato soup.  Our son came over for dinner, and the three of us enjoyed a good bowl of soup, along with turkey, ham, and cheese sandwiches.  I took some pictures yesterday so I could share this recipe with you.  It's one that I've made for almost our entire married life, and we love it.  The people we've shared this with -- family, extended family, and friends have all loved it, too.  My mom and sister have been making this same soup for several years now.     

This is not a low-fat, low-calorie soup folks.  It can be a vegetarian dish, but probably not a vegan soup.  Here's how to make it:      

You first chop your onion and peel your potatoes, or you can leave the skin on them if you prefer.  I used three small potatoes and one medium potato.  I used one medium onion, finely chopped.  Put these in the pot with plenty of water (I used five cups of water).  You want to have two cups of potato water left after your potatoes and onions have cooked.  I cut my potatoes into quarters and eighths so they were still large enough to mash with my potato masher.  I've discovered that if I dice them small, I end up having to mash them with a fork, which is harder work.     

I cooked the potatoes and onions together for an hour.   

I then removed these to a separate bowl and wound up with exactly two cups of potato water.  There were many times when too much of my water cooked away, and I had to add extra tap water after the potatoes cooked.  That's why it's best to start with a little extra water.     

The potato water makes all the difference to this recipe.  A lot of cream soup recipes call for chicken broth, but this potato broth really gives the finished soup that depth of flavor -- a real potato flavor.  I think you'll be surprised at the difference from chicken broth.     

The next step is to make a roux.  I use four tablespoons of butter (or margarine) four tablespoons of flour, and one teaspoon of kosher salt.     

Once the butter has melted, add the flour and salt.   

Stir and cook for a few minutes to get the flour taste out.  Then begin adding the potato broth to your mixture.   

I added the broth a half a cup at a time.  It will thicken very quickly at first, so you'll need to keep stirring.  By the time you get to the last half cup, it will take longer to thicken (about ten minutes at least).    

The finished sauce.    

The next step is to mash the potatoes and put them into your soup pot.  You can use more than four potatoes if you wish; I was kind of worried I hadn't used enough, but it turned out just right.   

To your mashed potatoes and onion, add two cups of half 'n half and one-half cup of milk.  I used one percent milk because that's what we drink.  After adding in the cream and milk, I give everything a good stir with a flat whisk and big spoon.  Finally, you'll need to heat everything so the light cream and milk get hot.  Heat on a low to medium-low setting -- you don't want this soup to boil or it will curdle.  Also, if you don't stir fairly frequently, it will start sticking on the bottom.  It sounds like a lot of work, but it really is worth it.  We had the leftover portion for dinner again last night; I wish I had made more.  😉   

I've been making this soup for so many years, I had to search out the original source of my recipe.  It came from this cookbook, which I received as a wedding gift in 1987.   

This was gifted to me by my mother-in-law's cousin -- her cousin's church cookbook.  I think church cookbooks and community cookbooks are some of my very favorite and most used cookbooks over the years.   

This is the basis of my recipe, which I modified by doubling the quantities and substituting half 'n half for milk.    

I would add that any leftover portions need to be refrigerated.  When re-heating, I usually have to add some milk, as the soup thickens a lot in the refrigerator.  I think any type of potato would work in this recipe -- russet, white, Yukon gold, or red-skinned.  I prefer white; for whatever reason I like the taste and texture of the white potatoes in this soup.  We like to top ours with grated cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and sliced green onion tops.     Sharing this recipe post at "Full Plate Thursday" hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.  Her party always features lots of tasty-looking recipes, so please stop by!       If you decide to make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.  Let me know!  Thank you for stopping by here today; it brings me great pleasure to read your comments.  What have you been cooking this winter?  I hope you have a great week friends!!