October 1 - Baked Potato Soup

I found a keeper! I was perusing the soup recipes on Allrecipes.com (my favorite site for new food ideas) and found a highly-rated recipe for baked potato soup. There's nothing we love more in this household than potatoes, so I knew this would be worth a shot. It was fantastic! I made some rosemary bread to go with it, but the it didn't fully rise, so it was very doughy and weird. It wasn't a big deal because the soup was so amazing you didn't even need anything to go with it. The recipe below serves 4, so if you want leftovers or have a few extra mouths to feed, I'd recommend doubling it.

Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
3 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 large cooked potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set bacon aside. 
2. Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. 
3. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. 
4. Gradually add broth. Bring to boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. 
5. Add the potatoes, cream and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil. 
6. Garnish with bacon and cheese.