Ham and potato soup

Every year, Josh’s work gives them either a ham or a turkey for the holiday season. “A” ham actually is two hams. Big-ass hams, like 8 to 10 pounds each. So it’s a lot of ham for three people. I made one this past weekend but…did I mention it’s a lot of ham for three people? Leftovers. I froze part of it with the bone, so I can make ham and beans at some point, but last night I made Ham and potato soup. A super easy, really amazingly delicious ham and potato soup from allrecipes.com. If you look at the recipe, you’ll see by the ratings that I’m not the only one who thought so.

Most of you know that I usually change the recipes somehow, but this time I followed the recipe exactly (well, I put in more ham but that doesn’t count). But the recipe is perfect–and did I mention easy? as is.

INGREDIENTS

* 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
* 1/3 cup diced celery I lied. I changed this. Hate cooked celery. I omitted.
* 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
* 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
* 3 1/4 cups water
* 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
* 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
* 5 tablespoons butter
* 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS

1. 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. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. 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.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.