Soup, Warm Blankets & Brisk Weather

For dinner last night I decided to make soup. Partly because a coworker of mine is out for a few weeks recovering from knee surgery, and I told her I make her dinner and she could request whatever she wanted. She wanted potato cheese soup. I went online and looked at a few recipes and culled this together based on one from Cooking Light, one from Southern Living and the Craven Family Broccoli Cheese soup recipe. It turned our fantastic I thought. My coworker will be getting a big container of this on Thursday night when we go and visit her.

Baked Potato Cheese Soup

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Velveeta cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onions, divided
12 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 400°. Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins.

Melt butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven. Sauté onion for 8 minutes or until translucent and caramelized. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Stir flour into onion/butter mixture and form a roux. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, about 8 minutes. Add mashed potatoes, cheeses, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Sprinkle each serving with extra-sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, and crisp bacon crumbles.

NOTE: You can use all regular cheddar cheese, but the soup typically separates and gets oily. Replacing half with Velvetta ensures it stays together and does not separate. Also, it gets very thick. Reheat slowly and thin with more milk as needed when you re-serve.