[Recipe] Savory Ham and Potato Soup

[kitchenklutz]

With the overblown failure of an overspicy glazed ham on Christmas, I found myself with an overabundance of leftover and somewhat too spicy ham. I put out a request for soup suggestions to use it in, and got more than a few suggestions for ham and potato soup. A little bit of Google-fu later, I had a printed out recipe. I tweaked it, added a few spices, and came up with the following very tasty recipe.


Ham and Potato Soup

Ingredients

* 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes (for me, this came out at 3 medium potatoes)
* 1 1/2 cups diced celery (3 stalks of celery)
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 3/4 lb diced cooked ham
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 teaspoon coriander (ground or not ground; I used non-ground)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon half-sharp paprika
* 1/2 teaspoon savory
* 5 tablespoons butter or margarine
* 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 cups milk

Method

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham, chicken broth, and coriander in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, paprika, and savory.

2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork (preferably a wooden fork, to avoid scratching your cookware). 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.


Savory, thick, and tasty soup -- perfect comfort food for a cold winter's night. I am definitely making it again.