Autumn and Soup---The Perfect Couple

So.

I haven't blogged in something like over eight months.  There is a reason.  I've been wanting to write about it.  But, it's awkward.  

Instead of starting anew with something awkward I'll just do a recipe blog since that is very non-threatening.

Autumn began this week (can you believe it?) and with autumn goes soup.  I love soup.  If I had the gumption to do it I would like to make soup several days a week in the fall and winter.  But with my food allergies there are only so many soups I can eat so I guess it would get kind of boring for the rest of my family.

Today it was kind of a gloomy, rainy day here so soup was the perfect solution to feeling good.  The soup du jours is potato.  I use a recipe from the West Lisbon Church cookbook as a base but have kind of made it my own in order to feed my tribe over the years.  

So here it is:

Ingredients you will need are:

potatoes
carrots
flour
butter
milk 
bacon 
onion
garlic
salt 
pepper


First, I take a pound of bacon (yes, a pound)  and using a scissors cut the slices across to make it into around 2 inch size pieces.  I put these in my big dutch oven pot on medium heat with some garlic and black pepper sprinkled generously.

While the bacon is cooking I peel up as many potatoes as I feel I need for the amount of people I am cooking for that day.  I am used to cooking for a large family so I kind of continue to do that even though there are only 3 of us here. (Leftovers are even better than the first go round!)

So, maybe 6 or 7 potatoes for about that many people.  You can adjust if you have a smaller family or have better portion control than we do.

Then I peel about 4 carrots.  

Slice up your potatoes into bite sized chunks and your carrots into medium slices.  I put these into a big measuring bowl with a handle, put enough water to cover the top and give it a good dose of salt.  

When the bacon is pretty crispy and done I scoop it out with a slotted spoon and put it on some paper towels to drain while I make the rest of the soup.

Pour all but about a tablespoon of the bacon grease into a glass jar or something that can take the heat and deal with it however you deal with bacon grease at your house.

Pour the potatoes, carrots and water into the pan with the tablespoon of bacon grease and bring to a boil.  You can also add chopped onion or dried onion at this time.  Simmer it on medium to low heat with a lid on it while you do the next step.

Melt 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) in a saucepan.  Add 3/4 of a cup of flour and mix well to make a roux.  Then add 4 cups of milk slowly while you blend with a whisk to make it really smooth.  Cook over medium heat while stirring pretty constantly and it will thicken nicely.  

By the time your sauce is thickened your vegetables should be cooked.  

Add the thickened milk and flour mixture to the soup and stir together.  Heat through to blend.  Put bacon into the soup and stir it in.

Serve it up with bread and maybe add some cheese if you like.

It comes together really quickly.  My oldest son makes this his own way when he is having friends over for dinner often.  

Hope you have a soup-er autumn!