Friday, March 9, 2012

Food Friday - Ham and Potato Soup

I love a really good Ham and Potato Soup but, for whatever reason, I've never made it before but, I had a big ol' ham bone in my freezer and wanted to use it up so I went searching for a recipe and tried my hand at this new family favorite!

Ham and Potato Soup
adapted from Allrecipes.com

I took some major shortcuts with this recipe - I did it in the crock-pot :-)  I cut everything up and threw it all in, turned it on and let it cook.  I did cook it on high for about 4 hours.  It was a little thinner then it would be if you cooked the milk/flour and added it at the end to a boiling pot but it was so super good and easy - I would do it in a crock-pot every time. 

Ingredients
  • 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
  • 1/3 cup diced celery
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
  • 3 1/4 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk

Directions

  1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
  2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
  3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.