Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 lb. red potatoes, diced
5 bacon strips, cooked and diced into bits
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
5-7 tbsps. butter
5 tbsps. all purpose flour
2 cups milk
4 cups water
Chicken bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste
5-10 fresh broccoli flowerettes, steamed
2 cups shredded Colby/Cheddar Cheese or 1/2 cup of cream
2 green onions, sliced


Boil diced red potatoes for 10 minutes then set aside.

Once the bacon is cooked, drain on paper towels and set aside.  Once cooled, dice into bits and set aside.  Empty most of the bacon grease from pan and return to stove.

In a dutch oven, add milk, water and chicken bouillon, heat thoroughly but do not boil.  Stir often.

In the meantime, over medium heat add onions and celery to bacon grease and saute until onion is translucent.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Add broccoli and cheese to hot milk mixture under low heat, stir often.  Salt and pepper to taste.

To make the roux, melt butter in a heavy sauce pan, add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time to melted butter and constantly stir.  Keep adding flour one tbsp. at a time until mixture is thickened but not too pasty.  Keep stirring until it turns a golden brown color.

Add onions, roux and potatoes to milk cheese mixture.  Under low-medium heat,  stir gently and thoroughly for about 5 minutes.

 Garnish with bacon bits and green onions.

Enjoy!

I halved this recipe and still had plenty of leftovers but then my meat and potatoes man had a very small bowl only because he's not crazy about "soup" although he said this was very tasty.  Anyway, this soup is a guilty pleasure and goes against everything my doctor would want me to consume.  So my excuse is that I've been pretty good so far and I convinced myself that I needed to cheat.  How can one resist anything with cheese and bacon??  I also added the broccoli to the recipe only because I needed to have my daily allowance of a vegetable :)  I need to work on the right cheese though, anyone out there know which kind of cheese that will melt into a creamier consistency?  I'm still new at this stuff :)

Have a blessed weekend and remember to savor. every. moment!