I have mentioned I began blogging my recipes for my children so they will not be in the same predicament I found myself in after my mother passed away; I didn’t have written recipes for the comfort foods I enjoyed growing up.

I started by creating a database which I pulled up the other day and started to browse.The earliest entry in the database is September of 2004. A lot of the recipes have made their way to this blog over the past five and a half years. I was surprised to come across this recipe for one of my favorite soups. It was entered into the database ten years ago in October of 2006. It has to have been at least six or seven years since I made it which surprises me because it is one of my favorite soups.

Here is my recipe for Baked Potato Soup. It is wonderfully creamy, cheesy, and full of bacon flavor. I know my daughter Elizabeth used to love this soup; she loves potatoes. I may need to make it vegetarian sometime by using my “facon” in place of bacon for her. “Facon” is a bacon substitute using shiitake mushrooms. I’m also experimenting with a thinly sliced Japanese eggplant for “facon.” But that’s another blog post.

Here is what I did:

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups milk
4 to 6 large baking potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled and cubed, about 4 cups
6 green onions, thinly sliced; reserve greens from two green onions for garnish
1 pound bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled; divided and reserving 1/4 cup for garnish
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese; reserving 1/2 cup for garnish

Directions

Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth and bubbly and takes on a nutty aroma; about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly, and cook until sauce just begins to thicken; about 15 to 20 minutes. Add potatoes and onions. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until soup begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add approximately three-quarters of the bacon, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Check seasoning of soup. You may need to add additional salt and pepper depending on the saltiness of the bacon. Return to simmer and then stir in cheese and cook until cheese is melted.

Garnish with small amount of cheese, bacon and green onion tops in this order. Serve baked potato soup immediately.