Southern Comfort:Baked Potato Soup

Welcome to The Cookbook Diaries!

I created this blog to document my love for food, my attempt in executing recipes and my culinary journey in general. When I thought about the recipe I wanted to feature in my first blog post I wanted it to be something timeless that I love.

What better than a southern classic and my personal favorite, Baked Potato Soup!? Baked Potato Soup is the epitome of southern comfort and a breeze to make. The recipe for this particular Baked Potato Soup comes from the Queen of Southern Comfort herself Paula Deen. I cut the recipe in about half since I have a small family, and was pretty satisfied with the results. I did however substitute and add a couple ingridients to better suit my taste and what I had on hand.

Here is the recipe adapted by Paula Deen's Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

8 slices of hickory smoked bacon

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 sticks of celery diced

1 garlic clove minced

4 tablespoons of all purpose flour

2 cups of chicken broth (I used Wolfgang Puck Organic Free Range Chicken Broth)

2 baked potatoes, baked, peeled and diced (I microwaved mine)

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

Chopped green onion (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

In a medium saucepan cook the bacon covered until crisp; remove bacon; crumble;reserve drippings

Cook onion, celery and garlic in the drippings until tender

Stir in flour and cook for about one minute stirring constantly

Gradually add the chicken broth, 1/2 cup at a time to avoid clumping, cook for about 5 minutes stirring constantly until think and bubbling

Add in diced potatoes and heavy cream; continue to cook for about 10 mins

Stir in sour cream and cheese

Garnish with sour cream, cheese, bacon and chopped green onion (optional)

I hope this soup brings you as much warmth and comfort as it does for me.

Until next time... I wish you, Speedy Cooking and Happy Eating!

- Erikalisa