Soup is something we make quite often here in The Bachelor’s Kitchen. It’s easy, filling, economical and very tasty. Soup is usually quite versatile, allowing you to add all sorts of ingredients you have lying around. Need to clean out the fridge? No problem. Make soup.
Ham steaks were on sale, and we felt this was a good way to use it. A bag of potatoes and celery joined the shopping list. Also needed are onion, water, chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, butter, flour and milk. Notice that many of these ingredients are pantry staples.
Of course, the first step is to peel and chop the potatoes into half-inch cubes, or as close as you can get. The more evenly chopped they are, the more even the cooking. While you are at it, you need about a third of a cup of chopped onions, maybe half of a medium onion. You need the same amount of chopped celery. The ham needs to be cut into a dice and should total about two-thirds of a cup.
If you don’t have chicken bouillon granules or powdered, put 3-1/4 cups of water in a measuring cup, add one bouillon cube or 2 tablespoons of granulated, and heat in the microwave for about three minutes, enough to melt the cube in the hot water. Measuring out the rest of the ingredients, you will need 5 tablespoons of butter, 5 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and two cups of milk. You can also use the same amount of chicken broth or stock.
Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add in half a teaspoon of salt and a full teaspoon of ground black pepper. You can adjust those amounts to your taste. There’s less salt because the ham and bouillon are already salty.
In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the milk mixture to the stockpot and stir it together, heating until all is hot. Taste for seasoning adjustments. Then serve.
We recommend a nice slab of homemade bread and a green salad to go with a bowl of soup to make a well-rounded filling meal. If you want to make this your own, you add a couple of diced carrots or a cup of green peas.
This is a delicious recipe for ham and potato soup that a friend gave to us. It is very easy and the great thing about it is that you can add additional ingredients, more ham, potatoes, etc and it still turns out great.
The recipe is available in regular format here.
