POTATO CHEESE SOUP

So I have never posted a recipe before, but I absolutely love to cook and thought it would be a good idea to start sharing recipes! It is a cold day here in Atlanta...it even snowed here a little this morning! One of my favorite things to cook on days like this is soup. Nothing can warm you up and make you feel cozy like homemade soup can! This Potato Cheese Soup came out so, so good and I think you will love it!

Ingredients

3 large russet potatoes

2 tablespoons finely minced celery

1 tablespoon finely minced onion

1 tablespoon grated carrot

2 cups chicken stock or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

2 slices bacon, cooked and drained

1 tablespoon chopped green onion

Directions

-Peel potatoes and chop into bite-size pieces.

-Make sure vegetables are minced into very small pieces- carrot should be grated, not shredded.

-In a large saucepan, combine vegetables with chicken stock, salt, and vinegar over medium heat.

-Bring to a boil, then turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

-In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and milk.

-Remove saucepan with vegetables from heat and add flour and milk mixture.

-Return pan back to heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes or until soup has thickened.

-Add 1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese to soup and simmer until melted.

-By now the potatoes should be tender and falling apart.

-If not, continue cooking until soup is as thick as you like it.

*I love creamy, thick soup...but this next step is optional!

-Remove 1/2 of the potatoes from the pot with a ladel and set aside in medium bowl. Using an emulsion blender, puree soup in pot until you’ve reached the desired consistency. If you don’t have an emulsion blender, let the soup cool for about 30 minutes and, working in two or three batches, puree some of the soup in a conventional blender until smooth. Place pureed soup in a bowl and puree the remainder in the pot

-put remaining potatos back into the pot and stir

-To serve, divide soup into 2 bowls.

-Divide remaining 1 tablespoons of Monterrey Jack and Cheddar cheeses and sprinkle on the soup.

-Crumble bacon and sprinkle evenly over the cheese.

-Top off each bowl of soup with chopped green onion.

YUM..this soup is SO good. If you try it, I would love to hear how it came out!