Cheesy Ham and Potato Chowder

[This recipe was originally posted in conjunction with Meijer ad week of 11/11/12 - 11/17/12]

One of the (only) reasons I enjoy cold weather is that I get to make soup again!  There are many different versions of potato soup out there, and after a little trial and error, this is the one I use and love.  Serve this chunky, thick soup with homemade bread and you'll warm right up after a chilly day...and it will warm your heart when your family says "this is soooooo good!" 



Ingredients:
4 C boiling water
1/2 C diced onion
1 C diced celery
1 1/2 C sliced carrots (peeled, if using the large/regular carrots)
6 C peeled, diced potatoes
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 C (2 sticks) butter or margarine
1/2 C flour
4 C milk
16 oz shredded cheddar cheese
3 C diced, cooked ham
1 can (15 oz) corn

Directions:
Place onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, salt, and pepper in a large stockpot.  Pour boiling water over vegetables.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes.  Do not drain.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan.  Stir in flour (mixture will be very thick).  Slowly pour in milk, wisking to combine.  Cook over medium heat, wisking or stirring continually, until mixture begins to thicken.  Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in shredded cheese.  Stir until cheese is almost melted (it might not melt completely but that's OK.)  Pour milk/cheese mixture into UNDRAINED vegetable mixture.  Add ham and corn and stir to combine all.  Cook and stir over low heat 5 minutes, but DO NOT BOIL.  Serves 12 adults. (This is an estimate.  I feed 2 adults and 4 kids.  Most of the kids have two bowls of this soup, and I still have enough left to freeze for another entire meal, plus a couple servings for lunches.)

Options and Tips:

• You can make this soup ahead and keep it warm in a crockpot.  Just stir it occasionally so that the edges don't get crunchy.
• The cheese sauce burns easily, so watch it carefully and stir it a lot, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan.
• If you don't need/want this much soup, you can easily halve the recipe.  I like to make large batches of soup because I have the time and mess into it already, so I figure I might as well make enough to freeze.
• This soup freezes OK.  The potatoes get a bit mushy and might break apart a little when you reheat it, but it still tastes great!

A similar recipe can be found on page 334 of Hull PRCS' Bountiful Blessings cookbook.  I adjusted measurements to add extra veggies, I doubled it, and I also changed up the instructions a bit for clarity.

This recipe is linked to the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom.