Creamy Potato Soup with Crusty Bread Bowls

I love everything about this time of year.

I love the snow. I love the cold. I love that the Holidays are just around the corner. I even love that it gets dark earlier!

Lately it’s been getting dark right around the time I get off work – 5:30 p.m. I work from home, so as soon as I’m done I bundle my little girl up and we head outside for a snowy twilight adventure. Yesterday we made her first snowman!

Most of the time she likes to run up and down the sidewalk in her leather boots, munching on snow, stopping only to pick up another handful. I love to watch her. She’s so innocent and full of wonder. I also love to stare at the darkening sky. The moon always seems close of late, and the patterns made by the colored clouds on the horizon so mysterious. There’s nothing quite like standing under the big dark sky, moon on one side, twilight on the other, constellations brightening overhead, chilly winds whipping the tree branches, a warm little one safe in my arms.

But the night is not over yet.

Later we will go inside, where warmth and love of family are waiting. I will give Audrey a steamy bath and bundle her in pajamas and blankets. Nights like this call for hardy food. Food that warms the toes and fills the belly. Food like hot potato soup.

This potato soup recipe has always been a family favorite, but I recently tried out these crusty bread bowls for serving. I don’t think we will ever eat potato soup without them again!

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients

3 Cups Chicken Broth
3 Cups Raw Whole Milk
4 Large Potatoes
4 Strips Uncured Bacon with the Grease
1 Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
8 Scallions
2 teaspoons Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Parsley
2 teaspoon Chives
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Mustard
1/2 Cup Raw Sour Cream
1 Cup Raw Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup Salsa

Instructions

1. Heat chicken broth and milk in saucepan over medium heat.
2. As broth/milk mixture is heating up, chop potatoes, onions, garlic and scallions. Add to saucepan.
3. Add salt, pepper, parsley, chives, and Italian seasoning to saucepan.
4. Boil until potatoes are tender. While potatos are cooking, fry bacon in skillet until crispy. Save grease and chop bacon into 1/2 inch pieces.
6. Remove soup from heat. Add mustard, sour cream, cheddar cheese, salsa, bacon, and bacon grease to soup.

Crusty Bread Bowls

Ingredients

6 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 1/2Cup Unbleached White Flour
2 Cups Raw Whole Milk
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Butter, Melted
2 Tablespoons Active Dry Yeast
1/4-1/2 Cup Unrefined Sugar (Sucanat)
2 1/2 teaspoons Sea Salt
4 Eggs

Instructions

1. Mix whole wheat flour and raw milk in a bowl. It will form a stiff dough. Cover with a towel and let sit for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Add butter, yeast, sugar, salt, and eggs to flour/milk mixture. Mix until combined.
3. Add unbleached white flour until dough sticks together. The dough should still be somewhat sticky, but workable. If you are opposed to using white flour, a variety of flours could be used instead including sprouted wheat, almond, and coconut. The amount will need to be adjusted for some flours – I would just add the flour slowly until the dough is the desired consistency.
4. Split dough into 10 even parts. Form into ball shape and place on cookie sheet, several inches apart.
5. Preheat oven to 450 and let dough rise for 30 minutes.
6. Place a cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Fill cookie sheet with VERY hot water. Place dough rolls in the oven on the second rack. The water, combined with the high heat will steam the rolls and give them crusty shells!
7. After 5 minutes, lower oven heat to 375. Continue cooking rolls for 20-25 more minutes. Every 5-10 minutes, pour more hot water into cookie sheet on bottom rack.
8. Rolls are done when they are dark brown and crusty on the outside and soft and moist inside.

Making Bread Bowls

1. With a bread knife, slice off the crown of the bread. Use a spoon to scoop out the insides. Save for dipping!
2. The remaining bread should form a sturdy bowl shape. Fill to the brim with creamy potato soup!

This Post is entered in Fight Back Friday, Monday Mania, Thank Your Body Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Tasty Thursday