I adore soup. Winters are very cold and long where I live, so a steady supply of hot soup is my prescription for staying healthy sane. Stews and broth-based soups are indeed lovely, but lately I’ve been hankering for something a bit more rich. After much searching, experimenting, and adjusting, I now have a recipe that meets the demanding standards required to be called, “my potato soup”.

Creamy? Check. Cheesy? Check. Smooth? Check. Low-fat? Um…no.

Oh, but it’s heaven, I tell you.

{I apologize for the dark pictures! I took them on one of our afore-mentioned long winter days. That was coupled with the mid-remodel lack of lighting in our kitchen.}

Here’s everything you’ll need. Note: This is not your 30-minutes-to-the-table kind of meal. It’ll take about an hour to make…okay, more than that if I’m honest, because if your house is anything like mine, Arsenic Hour hits at around 4pm, and then you’ve got a child clinging to your leg who is asking thirty-seven thousand questions, and the phone is ringing and, shucks, now the bacon is burning, and… Just know that the end result is totally worth it.
To begin, cut up your bacon into smallish pieces and cook it in the soup pot until it’s crisp. I find it easiest to cut when the meat is still partially frozen. I usually use my kitchen shears (scissors). I also like to cut off the fatty sections and leave them in big pieces. This way, I can put them in the pot for flavor, but they’re easy to separate from the rest of the bacon when it’s done cooking.
While the bacon is sizzling and making your house smell like a southern diner, go ahead and cut up your vegetables. I like to finely dice the carrots so they aren’t very noticeable in the soup. Just slice them into matchstick-sized strips, then chop the strips into tiny pieces. If you want to make this part of the process as dangerous and complicated as possible, do follow my example and use the smallest baby carrots you can find.
This is a nifty way to dice the onions. (I learned it from The Pioneer Woman. I adore her too.) Slice your onion in half. Cut off the stem ends, but leave the root ends intact. Remove the outer skin. Place each half cut-side down and slice vertically (root-to-stem). Then turn them and slice the other way, producing neat little diced pieces.
Slice your potatoes into smallish pieces. I prefer red potatoes and I leave the skins on. You should do whatever makes you feel giddy. (On a side note, am I the only one who likes to eat raw potato pieces with salt? Am I as bizarre as my husband thinks I am?)

Note: Many potato soup recipes also call for celery. I have some repressed negativity toward cooked celery that I’m still working through, so I don’t use it, but you certainly can.
By now, your bacon should be completely burned cooked. Remove it from the pot, but leave the grease. You’re going to create some flavor amazingness with it.
Toss the carrots and onions into pot with the bacon grease. Add your garlic, pressed or minced. Stir and cook until the onions are softened and your house smells like Paula Deen bought that diner and turned it into a southern like-your-mama’s-home-cookin’ restaurant.
Push the vegetables to the side and tip your pot to make the grease collect on the other side. Gradually whisk in the flour. The grease will be absorbed and the flour will look like mashed potatoes. Pour in about a cup of the broth and whisk again until the flour is smoothly incorporated into the broth, with no lumps. Then add the remaining broth and stir the whole pot.
Add your potatoes and seasonings to the pot and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are just softened.
Pour in the milk and cream, then whisk thoroughly. Reduce heat and simmer for another 10 minutes or so. The liquid will thicken up a bit.
Remove 2/3 of the soup to your blender and pulse until smooth (or if you’re super-cool just use your immersion blender for this step). Pour back into the pot, stir, and heat through.
Remove pot from the heat and gradually add in most of the shredded cheddar cheese (save some to sprinkle on top of each bowl). Stir each addition until completely melted before adding more. Taste the soup and decide if you want to add more cheese, ’cause if you do, now is the time. You snooze, you lose.
Stir in half of the cooked bacon goodness. Resist the urge to sample it for “quality control”.
On the other hand, you should sample the soup at this point and add more salt and pepper to your taste. I like mine with a little peppery zip to it. Actually, I just wanted an excuse to say “zip”.
Serve in bowls or mugs with a bit of cheese and bacon on top. Fresh-made biscuits or bread go very well on the side. Good crackers will do in a pinch. A spoon is helpful too.

Here’s the recipe written out all recipe-like for you ’cause I adore you even more than the soup:

Cheesy Potato + Bacon Soup

1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 1-in. pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, finely diced
8 medium red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. paprika
1-2 tsp. salt, to taste
1/2-1 tsp. black pepper, to taste
1/3 c. white flour
4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
2 c. milk (or substitute 1c. with heavy cream for a richer soup)
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded + more for garnish

Cook bacon in a large soup pot over medium heat until crisp. Meanwhile, prepare vegetables. Remove bacon from pot and set aside. Add onions, carrots, and garlic to bacon drippings. Stir and cook until onions begin to soften. Move vegetables to the side and whisk in flour, then pour in broth and whisk again. Add potatoes and seasonings, and bring to a gentle boil. Cook until potatoes are just softened. Whisk in milk (and cream, if desired) and return to heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove 2/3 of soup and process in a blender until smooth, then return mixture to soup pot and heat through. Add cheese slowly, whisking until melted. Add half of cooked bacon to soup and stir. Serve in bowls with remaining bacon and cheese sprinkled on top.

Makes 6 servings.

Enjoy!

Have I mentioned that I’m a ranch dressing snob? I totally am. It’s all Mary Ostyn‘s fault, really. She provided a recipe for homemade Ranch Dressing in her fabulous cookbook, Family Feasts for $75 a Week, and ever since I started making it, all other ranch dressings just disappoint me. Laugh now, but once you try it, you’ll understand.

Oh, so you want to try some? (I knew you couldn’t resist.) Well, my friend, this is a provident day for you. Here’s my recipe, adapted from the one in Family Feasts.

Ranch Dressing

makes about 1 qt.
prep time: 5-10 minutes

1 2/3 c. mayonnaise
1 1/4 c. sour cream
3/4 c. whole milk
1/3 c. white vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/4 tsp. dried dillweed

Whisk everything together. Pour into a quart-sized container with a tight-fitting lid. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (if you have any left!).

Simple, right?  Do give it that 30 minutes or more to meld the flavors, ’cause that’s important. Let me tell you though, that when you taste it, you’ll know it was worth the wait.
Some notes on how I make it:
1. I use real, full-fat sour cream, mayonnaise, and milk. I think it makes a difference. In a pinch I’ve used plain yogurt in place of the sour cream and that’s worked well too.
2. I measure the olive oil after I measure the spices. That way I can use the same measuring spoons and not need to wash ‘em in between…I’m lazy that way.
3. I store mine in a thrifted old-style, quart-size Rubbermaid container. I love it. You could also use a mason jar or a food storage container with a tight lid.
4. Be sure to shake the dressing each time you use it. You could stir it as well, I suppose, but then you couldn’t say that it was “shaken, not stirred”.

Are you convinced yet that you NEED to try this recipe? Just writing about it is making me want to go make a salad, just so I can eat the dressing!

Try it, and let me know what you think!