Potato Soup

What's better than a bowl of hot potato soup on a cold winter night? Makes... probably enough for six people? Seven? Or enough for a whole week's worth of leftovers for one person, so scale accordingly. Also takes several hours unless you get someone to help you with the prep.

Feel free to substitute ingredients to make it vegetarian/vegan friendly, as well as just substituting ingredients in general. The only things you technically "need" for this recipe are the potatoes, broth, flour/thickener, and spices.

Ingredients

• A pound of bacon, cut into small pieces.
• 3/4 large carrots, diced.
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• Any other veggies you want, about a cup each, diced.
• One whole onion, diced.
• 5 cloves of diced garlic.
• 32 fl oz chicken broth.
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup heavy cream (OR 1/4 cup butter + 3/4 cup milk)
• Cheese

Directions

• Get a big-ass pot. This is the only pot you'll ever need. Fry the bacon in the big-ass pot until crispy, remove bacon and set aside, dispose of all but 1/4 cup of bacon grease.
• Fry the onions, celery, carrots, and other veggies in the bacon grease for about 5 minutes (or until onions are transparent). Add in garlic and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
• Add in potatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes, then add in the broth. It should cover all ingredients—if not, add in water until it does. Let it simmer until potatoes are soft.
• Mix melted butter and flour together in a bowl, then add heavy cream and whisk. Add to soup.
• Go to town on the soup with a potato masher (or, remove half of the soup, let cool, then blend in a blender) this makes the potatoes smaller + the soup much creamier. Add in spices (I usually go with paprika, coriander, baharat, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder) and salt and pepper to taste. Add back in the bacon and add in the cheese.
• Consume.