Ham and Potato Chowder

This week will be the week of recipes.  I do love to cook and bake!

The girls and I had this soup last week when Joel went out for wing's.  I'll give you the recipe, and then tell you how I did it.  :)

This is from the book Soup!, which I am really enjoying.  It comes from page 41.

Serves 4

3/4 stick unsalted butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 lb 5 oz red potatoes, chopped into 1/2-in cubes

3 T flour

4.5 c vegetable stock

1 c grated mature cheddar cheese

10 oz cooked ham, cut into 1/2-in cubes

2 T chopped chives

salt and pepper to taste.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the onion.  Saute until translucent but not browned.  Add the potato and stir to coat with butter and onion.  Add the flour and stir for one minute, don't move away!  Add the stock slowly and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and add cheese and stir until melted.  Simmer for 8-10 minutes or more until potatoes are tender.  Add ham and chives and cook for further 2-3 minutes. 

The best idea before starting this soup is to make sure, double check, that you have all of the ingredients.  It really is.  Because that may not turn out to be cheddar cheese in your fridge.  It could be mozzarella, which, while wonderful, does not sound appetizing in this soup.  You may not be lucky enough to have Feta in your drawer to cover up your mistake!  I only had about a 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese, but I did have a large hunk of Feta, so I crumbled it and tossed it in.  I think I probably ended up with more than a cup of cheese, but that is all right.  I also had no onion or chives, but that is okay because I don't think the girls would have gone for that.  I also used chicken stock instead of vegetable.  I only used half the amount of recommended and added water for the rest.  Sometimes I think chicken stock can be very strong, and I wasn't sure how that would go in this!  I guesstimated on the potatoes.  Mine had to boil for at least five minutes more than it said until my little chunks were tender.  Undercooked potatoes are the worst! 

The Feta actually turned out to be a wonderful addition, but I love Feta.  I like to just crumble it and eat it!  I am not sure how I will feel about this soup when I make it the correct way because it will taste so different.  I'm sure it is good though, and the girls both did like it.  Pnut only likes the broth, she isn't a fan of potatoes.  Pilly liked it all:)

Update on our family status:  No, we are not pregnant.  But apparently Pnut thinks we should be.  But, there is a condition.  She told me the other day that she wanted us to have another baby because she wanted to play with her.  I asked her what if it was a boy baby?  She said we would just give it away and get another one.  We aren't planning on having any more children.