BAKED POTATO SOUP

BAKED POTATO SOUP

5 big baked potatoes
1 Lb bacon, fried & chopped [save grease for sauté duty]
1 chopped yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced or 2 – 3 heaping teaspoons jarred minced garlic
3/4 cup flour

1 ½ quarts chicken stock
3 tsp coarse pepper

1 tbs kosher salt
big handful chopped parsley

2 tsp dried basil
2 cups half and half

2 cups shredded cheese

Cut and peel potatoes [large pieces]. Ok to leave some skin on.
In a LARGE soup pot heat all the bacon grease and sauté the onions until they start to turn translucent.

Add the garlic, sauté another few minutes, then add the flour, all at once.

[an onion, garlic, bacon grease roux]
Stir until you see the flour has absorbed all the fat, then keep stirring for another minute.

Add the stock slowly, whisking the whole time to get the roux dissolved in the stock. Bring to a boil, and then turn down the heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.

When the base is yummy looking, toss in ½ the bacon and everything else except the cheese. Bring back to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let everything cook together for another 10 or 15 minutes.
Don't forget to stir, lots of stuff here that could burn on the bottom of the pot.
When you just can't stand it anymore, or when everything is heated through and through, turn off the heat and add 1 ½ cups of cheese.

Stir until melted. ladle into a soup bowls, top with a little of the reserved cheese and bacon, and dig in.

Calorie conscious ... I have made it without half and half and with only about 1/3 cup cheese. Still scumptdiddlyicious.