Creamy Potato Soup (a hug in a bowl)

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Hey y’all, today has been a fun day! Pepper and I woke up bright and early, got ready, hit the road to travel a couple towns away to go to one of my favorite stores. Hyvee! I just love it there, honestly. So many good things. Living in a smaller town makes it not easy to find a lot of certain types of groceries. I used to travel 45-60 miles to get specialty stuff and let me tell you, I am so over that. I haven’t done that in over a year now. I pretty much make what I have to work with work for me because ain’t nobody got time to drive 45 miles for special groceries. What special groceries am I after, you ask? Well the list is a long one, but for example a jar of Piquillo Peppers! I have been searching for a jar of piquillo peppers since one of my oldest friends got married in May. Why was I searching for said peppers? Because she had the most delicious food at her wedding reception and one of the dishes featured were these little peppers stuffed with chorizo, spinach, and cheese and I am still thinking about them six months later. So, I saw those peppers today and I grabbed them and I was entirely too excited about it. I told MY lil Pepper (Ha!) all about these little stuffed peppers that I was going to attempt to make and she just looked at me like…”I have no idea what you’re talking about. And I want chocolate chip cookies.” and I stopped because as much as I love my sweet lil girl she just doesn’t get it yet. Oh, but one day she will! And she’ll be glad I found those peppers at Hyvee. End of that story. I’m sorry but, this post has NOTHING to do with those peppers. I need to play around with that recipe because I have never made anything like that before and also, there’s no recipe. It’s just something I had 4 bites of five and a half months ago and I still can’t get it outa my dreams! Okay. So, While Pepper and I were shopping a lady was giving out samples of soup and I grabbed one because Hi free soup? Don’t have to ask me twice. (or even once really, if I see you with free soup, I’m taking it.) She gave me a tiny cup of creamy baked potato soup and my mind shot back to before Pepper was born and when I used to make creamy potato soup often for Eric and I to enjoy out of big bread bowls on a crisp autumn eve. Don’t ask me why, but I haven’t made it in years. I quickly grabbed the ingredients that I needed for my soup and decided that this pot of comfort needed to be featured on the blog as soon as possible. How in the world did I remember that recipe off the top of my head when I can’t even remember if I brushed my teeth this morning? Easy. My mom taught it to me a very long time ago. It doesn’t have any fancy ingredients. Most of the stuff I almost always have at home already. So, the only thing I needed to pick up was celery, bacon, and some extra milk. Ready for this? You need garlic, onion, celery, carrots, potatoes,  bacon, chicken broth, milk, flour, salt & pepper, and dried ground sage. That’s literally it and this soup is dreamy! Now, if you want to make it more of “loaded baked potato” type of soup which is almost always done around here. You’ll need some cheddar, sour cream, and green onions. But honestly, it’s super delicious on it’s own and I love enjoying a piece of freshly warmed bread along side to use to dip it in.  The best part about this recipe? It’s so very warm and inviting. The house smells so good when you make it. This is the kind of soup that you just know by heart after making it once or twice. You make it for friends, family, or anyone who just needs a good, warm meal. I honestly can’t believe it has been so long since I’ve made this soup. I actually called Eric while he was working to yell a bit at him and ask him why hasn’t he reminded me about the soup! I mean, really! The soup, man!

Okay guys, enough of my banter. I’m sure you’re like, “Does she ever stop?”

Lets get in the kitchen and I’ll show you how to make this bowl of soup that reminds me of a big hug on a cool day.

Grab a few potatoes approximately 6 medium sized ones.

Peel’m.

Chop’m into tiny-ish potato cubes. (It’ll be about 2 1/2 lbs after all is said and done)

Grab a sweet onion and chop it up real good.

Followed by a a few cloves of garlic. (PSA: In the produce section you can buy already peeled garlic in a bag. This is literally a godsend. It is a staple in my life now.)

Now, grab a few carrots. Okay, I know I’m having you chop literally all of the veggies. I personally find chopping veggies a bit therapeutic which I know many people absolutely do not. If you have a child now might be a good time to teach them how to use a knife if not, you can buy some already cleaned and chopped veggies fresh in the produce section to cut down a smidge on the prep time. But, If you’re just gonna chop all the veggies like I do… Trust me, you will be rewarded for your all of your hard work at the end. Just wait!

Peel’m up if ya want. I actually don’t always peel my carrots. I wash’m real good and chop’m up. I’m real rustic in that way. Ha! (or lazy, that’s up for debate.)

Chop’m up into tiny-ish pieces. These aren’t as tiny as they may look.

Please don’t hate me. Chop up three stalks of celery.

AND YOU’RE DONE! YAY!

I’m just kidding. Don’t forget to dice up some bacon.

Throw that bacon in a big stock pot and cook over medium heat until crispy. Drain about 97.9% of the grease after the bacon is cooked. I leave the bacon to cook with everything because it gives it such a smokey, hearty flavor.

Add the chopped celery, garlic, carrots, and onions to your pot and stir it all about.

Saute over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes until softened.

Add those taters with a bunch of pepper, some kosher salt, and a bit of ground dried sage.

Note: If you absolutely do not like sage I’m going to go ahead and recommend that you do not use sage.  This soup is a blank canvas for flavor you can make it spicy by using cajun seasoning or just simple by using a bit of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. I’ve also used a little rosemary.  I personally love sage and use it so much in the Fall months. I love to incorporate it into a lot of my soups and stews when I can! However, I do know some people have a serious distaste for the stuff. So it’s up to you! If you’ve never really had it, give it a go! It’s a very LIGHT undertone in the soup. 

Cook all these goodies together over medium heat for about 5 more minutes.

Pour in chicken broth and bring to a gentle boil. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

In a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup of milk.

When the potatoes are tender add the flour/milk mixture to the soup and continue to cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring constantly.

Next! This is very important. If you’re going to use a blender to blend up the soup. You will need to blend in small batches. Trust me on this, I speak from experience when I say if you do not blend in small batches you will have a mess and you will hate my guts. I usually use my immersion blender and blend to the consistency that I want, but fancy that, I couldn’t find it when it came time to blend the soup up today. I usually blend up about 4-5 cups of the soup and it’s the perfect consistency for me. Do whatever your heart desires!

Return the blended soup to the not blended soup and stir together and serve it up!

P.S. Remember to blend the soup in small batches.

Please.

And there ya have it… a delicious little bowl of creamy, dreamy potato soup that I like to refer to as a hug in a bowl.

As you can see I like it a bit chunkier. It’s really a personal preference. If you’d like a bit smoother potato soup simply blend up a few more cups of the soup. If you’re using an immersion blender just blend until you feel like it’s good.

I almost always make sure we have all of the fixin’s to turn it into a Loaded Up Potato Soup! It’s my favorite way to enjoy it.

Man alive, my mouth is watering as I write this post. I really just love this soup. A lot. Sadly, I am finishing this post later than I had anticipated and this soup is no longer in my fridge. *cries a river* Grab the tissues.

Go make this and your bellies will be so full and so happy. I promise. It’s the perfect bowl of comfort and it’s just as delicious as can be.

Let me know how it goes, y’all.

With love from my kitchen to yours,

Star

P.S. Please blend the soup in small batches if you are using a blender.