Bacon and cheddar potato chowder

It's a cold, snowy day so I thought I'd make some soup. I made up this recipe, which I modeled after a loaded baked potato, in soup form. It has bacon, cheddar cheese, potatoes, and the rest of the vegetables that round out a chowder and it's delicious!

It's based on my recipe for clam chowder or corn chowder .

Serves 2, multiply as necessary. I wasn't sure how it would taste, and I don't like to have that much leftover soup, so I often make only two servings. Since it takes 30-40 minutes, you may want to make a larger batch!

1 tbsp. butter 1 tbsp. olive oil 1/2 onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 1 small carrot, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 2 slices cooked bacon, chopped 1/8 cup flour 12 oz. water 1 tbsp. More Than Gourmet roasted chicken stock concentrate (or substitute chicken stock in place of the water) small potato, peeled and diced 4 oz. heavy cream 2 oz. cheddar cheese, grated (or at least diced) salt freshly ground white pepper Tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)

Here are the vegetables all cut up and ready to go:

And the bacon. I used bacon that I previously cooked and froze. You can use two pieces of raw bacon, just cook it first, then add the onions, etc..

And the cheddar cheese. I used Cabot extra sharp cheddar. You could grate it, but since I had such a small amount I just diced it. Also, the More Than Gourmet chicken stock concentrate and the 12 oz. of water. You could also use 12 oz. of actual chicken stock or chicken broth.

Add the butter and olive oil to your soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes. Add the garlic, celery and carrot and cook for a several minutes until softened, but not browned.

And the bacon and cook for a minute. Add the flour and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every minute or two.

Add the water and stock concentrate and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Add the potatoes, bring back to a boil if necessary, then lower the heat to a very low boil. Cook for 10 minutes.

Add the 4.0 oz. heavy cream and 2.0 oz. cheddar cheese. Increase the heat and bring to almost a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Stir every few minutes.

Season with salt, freshly ground white pepper and Tabasco sauce (optional).

Makes two delicious servings!

There is no vegetarian version of this recipe, because it doesn't really make any sense; the corn chowder recipe is a much better place to start and can be made vegetarian or vegan.