Loaded Baked Potato Soup

    I started this recipe by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.  I then put four potatoes on a roasting tray.  Once the oven was up to temperature, I put the tray in and set the timer for 45 minutes.

    Next, I began to fry up the bacon.  For this recipe, I used a different technique when cooking the bacon.  Instead of cooking it in a skillet, I cooked it in the same pot I will use to make my soup.  This is done so I can use the leftover bacon grease to give some flavor to my soup.  Unfortunately, my partner accidentally burnt the bacon grease, so we had to throw it out.  We ended up improvising by using cooking oil instead of the bacon grease.

    Once the bacon was done, I added some flour to the oil and stirred until everything was combined.  I then poured in the six cups of milk.  I cooked it over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until the milk thickened.  I had to stir with a whisk very often to make sure the milk wouldn't burn.

    After 45 minutes, I checked to see if the potatoes were soft.  I tested this by poking a fork into the potato.  Most of them were still fairly firm, so I put them into the microwave to speed the cooking up.  Once they were done, I scooped the potato pulp out from the skins.  I used a wooden spoon to mash the potatoes, but I still left it a little chunky.  I then added the potatoes to the soup and stirred.

    I added the bacon, cheese, salt, and pepper to the soup.  I continued to stir the soup until the cheese was melted.  After the cheese melted, I removed the pot from the heat, and it was ready to serve. 

    I thought my soup looked very good.  It had a white coloring from the milk and potatoes we added.  You could also see the little chunks of bacon in the soup.  I liked the taste of my soup.  It had a nice and creamy texture.  It was also just the right thickness.  The only thing I thought my soup was lacking, was a little bit more flavor.  If I would've had the bacon grease instead of the oil, I think my soup would've had that extra flavor it was missing.