Classic Recipe 3/52: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Just like it sounds, it's a loaded baked potato in soup form.  It's a twist on another recipe I had tried for potato soup, and it has quickly become a family favorite.  Be warned: this is a soup to make on a weekend when you have plenty of time, and it is NOT figure friendly.  Very rich and creamy.

Ingredients: 1 lb bacon, 2-3 lbs potatoes, 2-3 carrots, 2-3 stalks celery, 1lb or so frozen broccoli, 1 onion, 8oz cream cheese, one stick butter, 8oz package velveeta shreds (find them in the shredded cheese area), 1 pint cream, 1 pkg oscar meyer bacon bits, sour cream and crunchy onions (for garnish, optional).

Get to work chopping your veggies.  You want them pretty small.  Don't worry about chopping the broccoli, it should be small enough in the package.  Put all the veggies in the pot and cover with water.  Bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  let it simmer for a few hours, stirring occasionally.  Add more water as needed, don't worry about too much water b/c you will be draining off any excess liquid later.

About half an hour before you are ready to eat, chop the bacon into bite size pieces and fry it up.  Just before it is done, take the pot off the stove and drain off most of the excess liquid.  You want it to be pretty mushy, so if there are any big chunks of potatoes or broccoli left mash them up a bit.  Now you're ready to add everything else in.  The cream cheese will blend better if it's at room temp.  I also add the bacon grease along with the bacon chunks, it makes for a more bacon-y flavor, but that's your call.  Another thing you can do to add bacon flavor is put a raw piece of bacon in the pot with the veggies at the beginning, just fish it out when you drain off the liquid.  Save aside some of the bacon bits to sprinkle on top of each bowl.  if it seems too thick add a little more cream (milk will do the trick if you don't have more cream).  If it's too thin you can add some sour cream to thicken it up a little more.

This soup is super tasty with some crusty bread to dip it in, or if you have sourdough bread bowls (like they have at panera's) that would be awful tasty as well.  I have tried the bread bowls they have at hy vee but they were not up to my standards.

 mmmm bacony goodness

 pre-draining the liquid.  looks kinda gross

the end result.  it's more delicious than it looks.  trust me