I had a "souper" productive day today. My friend, Lisa Beckstead, came over and we made soup. Not just a pot-full, kind of soup--but enough to feed the masses. Sometimes it's easiest to see how something is made and where some of the tricks are that add those extra tasty perks to the things we enjoy eating. So I showed Lisa my process in mass production-mode.
We started the adventure by boiling approximately 7-8lbs of chopped russet and red potatoes, 5 lbs chopped carrots, 2 1/2 bundles of celery, 7-8 large onions, and over a half a cup of crushed garlic in three large pots. When everything was fork-tender, we whipped up a couple of gallons of cheese sauce...from scratch. Hmmmm....yum. The sauce starts with a roux from butter, flour and milk. A quart of Half and Half made it extra creamy today. Then we added 16 cups of assorted cheeses.
We picked up a Black Forest ham at Costco and cubed it into tiny pieces. We only used half of the ham between all the hots. [One of the things that I like to do with the water from the vegetables instead of draining it off, is to add potato flakes or pearls to thicken it up a little before adding the cheese sauce. I prefer thick and chunky soups, rather than thin and watery].
In order to get everything mixed together, we divided the vegetables with the broth into four large mixing bowls. I added some potato flakes and the ham. Then we divided the luscious cheese sauce between all the bowls and 2 pots, mixing the vegetables and the cheesy goodness together. We ended up with 12 gallons of Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup. Ahhh....delicious and "souper" productive for an overcast Monday morning. And it's so nice already having dinner ready to go before the craziness of the day begins.
Lisa and I divided the haul in half...and it was just that--a haul! Even after I sent gallon bags of soup home with 4 other families today, I still have a humongous pot in the fridge for tomorrow. I just may have to invest in a second freezer if this production-mode becomes a habit.
In fact, it was so productive, that we decided we would have to do it again next week with another recipe. It's more stimulating and satisfying to share the work and the results when you are thoroughly enjoying yourself in good company.
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