Mom's Potato Soup

I have made a version of potato soup that I found online a few times. It's really quite good. My sister Ruth asked if I have made our mom's recipe before, and I never had. I didn't even know my mom had a good recipe for potato soup! I got the recipe and made it with the ham bone from our Christmas dinner. I love using the bone to make soup!

Some tips Ruth offered were:

This recipe is easily customizable with whatever ingredients you happen to have. You could switch the savory and use sage and rosemary and add chicken or turkey to the soup. Try different kinds of cheese that you like. If you are creative like Ruth is you can have a lot of fun with this recipe. Ruth also told me that she doesn't peel the potatoes or even measure anything except the water, milk and cornstarch.

My favorite tip from Ruth is she has made this soup with skim, 1%, 2%, whole and even evaporated milk. They all tasted good and she said she wasn't able to tell a difference, so you may as well use skim or 1%, if you have them, to save calories.

One thing I did that isn't in the recipe is I used my new immersion blender that I got for Christmas! My boys don't like their soup too chunky, so I blended it down before I added the ham. I didn't make it all smooth. I left some of the potato chunks because I like them.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces (I didn't have broccoli. I used some ham.)
1/4 c. butter (I used 2 Tablespoons.)
1/2 c. celery, sliced
1/2 c. carrots, sliced
1/2 c. onion, diced
4-6 nice sized potatoes, peeled and diced (I used 4 potatoes, not peeled)
chicken bouillon (I used 6 cups ham stock from boiling the ham bone)
2 c. milk
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. savory
salt and pepper to taste
cornstarch (amount depends on how much water you use)
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp or at least medium)

Directions:

1. Melt butter over medium heat in large pot. Add celery, carrot and onion. Cook about 5 minutes or until soft.

2. Add potatoes, and cover with water. Keep track of how many cups of water you use, and add 1 cube bouillon for each cup. Simmer 10 minutes.

3. Steam broccoli for a couple of minutes until bright green. Don't overcook!!! Set aside.

4. Add the milk and seasonings to the soup.

5. Thicken with cornstarch--1 T. per each cup of liquid in the soup. Mix the cornstarch with a bit of cold water and stir to dissolve. Stir into the soup and continue to stir while bringing to a boil. Boil for at least 1 minute.

6. Turn down heat to low, add broccoli and cheese.

7. Enjoy!