Baked Potato Soup

Have you ever made a really nice dinner with beautiful Idaho bakers? I don't know about you, but I always make way too many bakers. And then I'm stuck with cold, leftover spuds. Don't worry, this recipe will kick you in the face, use up those potatoes, and leave you begging for more!

Baked Potato Soup
2 large baker potatoes
6 T thinly sliced green onion
3 T butter
3 T flour
2 t fresh dill or chives o 1/4 t dried dill (note - I used about 1 t of dried chives)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
4 C milk
1 1/4 C shredded cheese (note - recipe calls for American. I used Cheddar. Use whatever you have/whatever you want)
4 slices bacon, crisp cooked, drained and crumbled
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1. Take baked potatoes and scoop out white part. Break up white part to small chunkies. Throw away peels.
2. In a large saucepan cook onion in the butter on med-high heat until tender. Stir in flour, dill/chives, salt, and pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir 12-15 min until thickened and bubbly. Add the potato and 1 cup of cheese. Stir till it heats through and the cheese melts completely.
3. Top each serving with cheese and bacon


As you can see, this recipe is for basically a baked potato in a soup. So what if you don't have bacon? Leave it out! Maybe you like sour cream. Throw it in! Have some leftover ham? Why not chuck that in the mix? It's a method that you can add to, and it's so dang good. Plus it makes fabulous leftovers. It's also amazing when served with a hunk of warm bread to dip in it.

Props to this recipe has to go to the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 2007 edition.