loaded baked potato soup

In full disclosure, this post was not supposed to be about potato soup. It was supposed to be about apple cider donuts, but here's what happened....

Growing up near an orchard, apple cider donuts were a special treat in the Fall. Warm, cinnamony, sweet goodness. Yum. So when my mother-in-law gave me a new cookbook, In the Kitchen with David, (we both love QVC) and I opened to find a recipe for apple cider donuts, I was thrilled! The caption on the cover was right, Comfort foods that take you home!


I couldn't wait to make these things and blog about it. I went to the store bought all the ingredients yesterday, cleaned my kitchen, and then it was time to make the donuts!


I got off to a good start but then something went terribly wrong. There is a step where you are cooking the apples in apple cider and you need to let it reduce, time estimate for this to happen was 15-18 minutes. I had those apples cooking for at least 25 minutes and thought it had reduced enough so I transferred it to the blender for the next step to puree. (Opportunity to use a wedding shower gift for the first time, yay!)

I swear I held the lid held down tight, but apprently not tight enough. HOT Apple+cider puree all over the wall, counter, cabinets, window and my new cookbook (eeeek!!!).  This is such a classic mistake I hate even admitting to it. So after a few choice words that cannot be repeated here, I was able to finish that step and mix it in with the dry ingredients. This is when I realized something was not right. The instructions said to mix until dough forms and then knead it. After mixing for way longer than I should have, my dough never formed. All I had was a soupy mixture. Guess I did not let the apples and cider reduce enough on the stove, but you'd think with half of it going all over my kitchen it would have reduced enough that way. Nope.

So I put on my creative hat as to what to do with this batter... I attempted to make pancakes, they were soggy; poured it into muffin tins, still not good; so down the drain it went. Along with all my hopes and dreams of how amazing these things were going to be. Maybe next year...

I was really set on posting a recipe, so I turned a few more pages and found another (little less challenging) one for loaded baked potato soup. This sounds good and perfect for a cool Fall night. So here it goes, round 2!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Source: In the Kitchen with David, Comfort Foods

Great thing about this recipe is I had a lot of the ingredients already so it didn't require another trip to the grocery store. Also, I could easily subsitute some lower fat options to make a teeny bit healthier. I usually try to steer away from anything with the word "loaded" in the name. This ended up being really good and fairly easy to make. It got a thumbs up and an empty bowl from John so it will be on our list to make again.

This recipe makes 8-10 servings which is a lot for just the two of us. Next time, I will cut it in half. Usually after Day 2 of leftovers we can't take anymore.

What you'll need:

• 4 medium baking potatoes
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter - I used Land O' Lakes light butter
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 6 cups of milk - I used 1 % milk
• 1 cup (8 oz) shredded extra sharp cheddar - could have used reduced fat cheese
• 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 cup (8 oz) sour cream - I used fat free greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup scallions
• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled - could have used turkey bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Pierce the potatoes several times with a fork. Bake the potatoes until they are tender, about 1 hour.
Cool the potatoes and peel them. Cut 3 of the potatoes into medium dice, and coarsely mash the remaining potato.

 

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven (or large pot) over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it is thick, 8-10 minutes. Add the diced and mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup of cheddar cheese, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Stir until the cheese melts, then remove pot from the heat and stir in the sour cream and 1/2 cup of scallions.

                          

Return the pot to low heat and cook just until heated through (do not boil). Season the soup with salt and pepper, if necessary. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with remaining cheddar, scallions, bacon and a little pepper. Voila! We paired this with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

                            

My notes: whisking the butter, flour and milk took awhile to get it smooth, mine was a little lumpy at first. Also potato soup is supposed to be thick, but mine was really thick and I think it was due to the greek yogurt. Next time I may just use reduced fat sour cream or add a little more milk.

Can you tell the difference?