Fully Loaded Cheesy-Potato Soup

Rich, hearty, velvety texture, and very delicious:)  These are the words I use to describe this Potato Soup recipe I recently found.  The soup is thick but not pasty and loaded with flavor from the veggies, beer, and cheese.  Top the soup with  sour cream, bacon, and more cheese and you have one delicious bowl of soup.

The soup starts with veggies-carrots, celery, onions, garlic and potatoes cooked in chicken broth, milk, and beer.  Once the potatoes have cooked, I let the soup cool a bit before I put it in the blender.   Once the soup was pureed, I put it back on the stove and reheated it through.  Then I put in some cheese, added some hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.  I did a quick taste test and seasoned with salt and pepper.  If the soup is too thick, you can thin it with chicken broth.

I garnished the bowls of soup with sour cream, bacon, and cheese.  Doesn't this look good?

Fully Loaded Cheesy-Potato Soup
From Food Network

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken stock, plus more if needed
1 cup whole milk
One 12-ounce bottle light-bodied beer
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar (about 8 ounces)
Dash hot sauce
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Sour cream, for topping
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp, for topping

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, carrots, celery and onions, and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour into the saucepan to toast the flour, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the stock, and then the milk and beer. Stir in the potatoes and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and, using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Return the soup to low heat. Add 1 cup of the Cheddar, a handful at a time, stirring until melted and smooth after each addition. Add additional chicken stock if necessary to adjust the consistency. Sprinkle with hot sauce, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Divide the soup among bowls and top with the remaining Cheddar, sour cream, and bacon.

Makes 4-6 servings