Cheddar Bacon Potato Soup

So this week I've been craving Lobster Bisque... and well since my lobster budget is non-existent I had to settle for potato soup. Its a favorite of the family.. Never really had a recipe for it, just kind of go with the flow.. But I'll do my best!

Potato Soup
3-4 large russet potatoes, washed, peeled, and cut up
4-5 c milk (heavy cream if you want it richer)
1/4 c butter (yes.. BUTTER!)
1/4 c sour cream (not necessary if using heavy cream)
10-12 strips of bacon, chopped
1/2-3/4 c mild cheddar cheese
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
5-10 'shakes' of hot sauce (to taste)
1/3 c chopped scallions (aka green onions)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender, drain well. Start with about 3 cups of milk and 1/4 c butter in a pot over med-high heat and add the potatoes. You can either get a masher and work the potatoes down or get a stick blender if you like it smoother. Keep adding milk to get it to a good consistency. Remember that your adding cheese and sour cream which will also add thickness. Once it looks good go ahead and whisk in the cheese, and sour cream. Then add the bacon, onion and garlic powders. Add hot sauce, salt, and pepper a little at a time until you have a flavor you like. Lastly add the scallions. If the soup is still too thick add more milk. If you made it too thin, don't worry. You can either add more cheese and sour cream OR if you happen to have some instant mashed potato flakes lying around add a bit of them. Garnish with cheese and scallions and a little dollop of sour cream

Came out great. I actually didn't even bother with potatoes. I found some bags of 'steam and mash' potatoes in the freezer section. They may be my new favorite thing. They're already washed, peeled and cut. You pull the bag out of the freezer and put in directly in the microwave for 10 minutes and ta-da! I used a stick blender to make it smooth. I actually did end up making mine too thin, and really too milky so the cheese and sour cream didn't help. I added the instant potatoes and fixed it right up. Mine also had no scallions because Walmart apparently was sold out. It was still good, but I would have liked it better with the scallions.

A good 'secret' ingredient to add here I didn't put in the recipe is lemon juice. Lemon juice is one of my secret ingredient stand by's. Just like every, and I mean every recipe needs salt, many need an acid. It brings a nice brightness. Lemon juice is good for this.. it's an acid but not too sharp as lets say vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is a good substitute tho. It doesn't take much, maybe a 1/2 tsp but it really does brighten things up! Another good 'secret' ingredient to add to random recipes is anchovies. You can either buy the can and turn it into a paste using the side of your knife on a cutting board, or a spoon in a bowl OR you can buy pre-made anchovy paste. A little bit of that in your salad dressings, soups, sauces, and such add a really interesting back note that most people can't detect. Be careful with the salt in your recipes however, anchovies are VERY salty!

Well, I think I'll call it a day! Good eats!