La Madeline's Country Potato Soup

1/8 cup unsalted butter
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 1/2 qt. chicken stock
4 large peeled potatoes, sliced evenly in 1/4 inch slides
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bacon cooked and diced
salt to taste

In a large saucepan, add butter, leeks and onions, and cook. (Do not brown vegetables.) Add chicken stock, potatoes, salt and fresh thyme. Cook for 40 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Add cream, bring to a boil and serve hot. Garnish with Cheddar cheese and diced bacon.

Perfect Potato Soup

by Karin Calloway

 

I call this recipe "perfect potato soup" because it’s perfectly delicious, perfectly simple to prepare and my perfectly picky children love it. Potato soup was considered simple, inexpensive comfort food until chain restaurants began serving "baked potato soup." This popular soup calls for baking potatoes, removing the skin and making a rich soup with traditional baked potato toppings like bacon, shredded cheese and sour cream.

This recipe is a cross between the old and the new, made simple by using convenience products like frozen pre-chopped onion and Southern-style hash browns. Both can be quickly thawed in the microwave or measured out and thawed in the refrigerator while you’re at work. Serve your potato soup with a fruit salad and cinnamon muffins, baked from a mix or purchased at the supermarket.

• 6 slices bacon or turkey bacon
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes or frozen Southern-style hash browns, thawed
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 10 3/4-ounce cans regular or reduced fat condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 soup cans milk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Fry bacon until crisp in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and set aside. Add onion to bacon fat and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and water. Cover pan with lid and cook for 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Stir in salt, soup and milk. Heat through but do not boil.

Ladle into bowls and top each bowl with 1/4 cup shredded cheese and some of the crumbled bacon.

Makes 6 servings.

Slow Cooker Hearty Potato Soup -Southern Living -tweaked

This is not my favorite potato soup recipe but it's one that is easy and makes a great meal on a chilly day - just add some crusty bread.

6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (2 1/2 pounds)
3 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fat-free half-and-half

Note - I add a 1/2 tsp of fresh minced garlic

Garnish: fresh celery leaves

Combine first 8 ingredients in a 4 1/2-quart slow cooker. Cook, covered, at HIGH 3 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Stir together flour and half-and-half; stir into soup. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve in Italian Bread Bowls, and garnish, if desired.

She Love Wine's Potato Soup

This is one of my favorite soups, it says comfort food to me. This recipe came from my mother's friend, Adele, she would bring it to us when we were sick.

She never had a set recipe, neither do I........this is how I make it.

Peel and cut up potatoes, enough to fill your saucepan or soup kettle halfway.
Add peeled and quartered onions, several of them
Next add several stalks of celery, include the leafy tops after trimming off the ends.

Add water to cover and 2 tsp.salt. Cover and bring to a boil.
Boil until tender. Cool.

When very cool, put all in a blender, including the water....puree. ( Or blend together with the middle of the blender cap removed and covered with a towel)

Put the puree in a clean soup kettle.
Stir in milk until you get to the desired consistenc, depending on how thick you like it.
Add a very generous chunk of butter, about a pat per serving
Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle in dried parsley or fresh if you have it.
Next add some cooked and crumbled bacon. Heat through on medium, stirring often so you don't scorch the soup. Adjust seasonings.

If you have some left over baked potato in the refrig.........peel and cut it up – add to the soup.

Add cheese if desired..... serve.