Difficulty Level Easy

On January 1 of this year I started off my Soup of the Week series with a potato soup. It seemed like a pretty good idea, because potatoes are easy to get any time of the year, they are economical and nutritious. In addition to that, they are pretty delicious. I toyed with the idea of making this the last soup recipe of the year as a kind of book end, but honestly, I couldn't wait that long to share it.

The soup was easy, had a fantastic flavor, and was a meal in itself. Baking the potatoes gives the soup an entirely different taste from the standard potato soup. You heap traditional baked potato toppings on as a garnish and it really does taste like a baked potato in soup form. I made a few changes in the recipe because of what I had on hand. I had a lot of 10% cream and chicken stock, so I used about one cup of cream and three cups of stock to three large potatoes. You could also use vegetable stock. I also had some leeks from the farmers' market, so I used those rather than green onions, which I think probably gives it a more mellow taste.

This would make a great meal after an afternoon skiing or tobogganing. The list of toppings is just a suggestion. You could use chilies as well. Put the toppings out on the table and let everyone dress their soup the way they like it. Adding the bacon really is gilding the lily, but I admit that we did it. When we had leftovers for lunch the next day we just ate the soup plain, without the garnishes and it was still fantastic.

INGREDIENTS