Baked Potato Soup

Easy delicious recipe! Really does taste like a baked potato with all the fixin’s. This recipe is inspired by the New York Times recipe with a few prep changes to help assure a smoother soup and no curdle. It’s a perfect super bowl addition. Leave those potatoes a bit chunky for the guys who need something to sink their teeth into.

Recipe

6 slices thin sliced bacon
1 Bunch scallions thinly sliced-separate white from green tops
2 Large cloves garlic-pressed or minced
3 Large russets (about 2 pounds)-thoroughly washed & peeled with best of skins reserved
6 cups milk
3/4 Cup sour cream-more for garnish
3/4 Cup grated mild cheddar or Colby cheese-more for sprinkling
1-2 Tablespoon olive oil
Cayenne
Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper

Cook bacon in a dutch oven (to be used for the soup) until crisp.

Remove bacon to paper towels to drain & cool. Crumble and set aside.

Maintain the drippings in the pan. All but two tablespoons of bacon fat can be removed.

Cook the white slices of onion over medium heat until tender but not browned.

Stir in the garlic for about a minute then lower heat to medium low.

Add the potatoes that have been cubed into 1 inch pieces.

Add milk (whole milk is best). Slowly bring to a simmer beginning at medium low heat to medium. Avoid turning the heat up too quickly. It will curdle the milk. Also, hold the salt for now. It too will cause curdling.

Simmer with lid until the potatoes are tender, up to 30 minutes.

At this point the potatoes can be roughly mashed leaving a few chunks. Let the soup cool down over lowest heat while you cook the potatoes skins.

In a skillet heat the olive oil over medium to medium high heat and cook skins until browned on both sides. Try to place skins flat in the skillet. They may curl up a bit during cooking. Remove to paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper and spices generously or to taste.

With the soup cooled to a warm add the grated cheese slowly as you stir. Next add the sour cream and stir.

When soup is thoroughly mixed add one-two teaspoons of salt or to taste. Add pepper to taste. Slowly increase heat to bring soup to serving temperature.

Serve soup hot with a dollop of sour cream, sprinkles of crumbled bacon & cheese, scallion tops and potato peelings.  Add ground pepper to liking.

Take your first bite and be pleasantly surprised!