Ted's Potato Soup

Ingredients:

10 - 12 small to medium russet potatoes 

One medium onion

1-2 cloves of garlic

4 slices thick cut bacon

4 1/2 cups milk

3 T flour

4 c turkey stock (homemade is great, made with the bones from Mei's turkey)

Salt, pepper, celery salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, parsley, thyme ( all seasonings to taste)

Chop the potatoes into cubes the size you like

Chop the onion and garlic - fine

Cut the bacon into pieces and fry until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan for garnishing later. Add onion to the pan and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and all the spices and saute for another couple minutes until it’s fragrant.

Add the potatoes and stir it all around. Dump in the stock (it should just cover the potatoes) and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender.

Add your flour to 1/4 cup milk and whisk until there are no lumps. Warm the 4 cups of milk until it’s hot but not boiling. Add the flour and milk mix slowly, stirring well.

Dump all that into the pot with the boiling potatoes. Simmer, uncovered, until it starts to thicken.

At this point you can leave it all chunky or you can remove some of the potatoes and broth, smash the potatoes all up with a fork until you have a mashed potato slurry, then chuck it back in. That’s what I did.

We have know Ted and his wife Marie since we moved to LC. I always make them cookies but Ted isn't into sweets. He came over yesterday to pick up goodies for christmas and we chatted about Gabe's favorite - potatoes.  He said he loves potatoes also.

When he left I told Gabe if he would like some potato soup. He said he would have a bowl or two. Potato soup does not freeze well and I contacted Ted's wife and told her about the soup.

Ted came over today and was very happy!!

The flowers in the photo are from my neighbor Maribel.