slow cooker potato soup

On Sunday after a long holiday weekend we were ready to just hang around the house all day and do nothing. Just before lunch I started thinking about what to make for dinner and taking mental inventory of what we already had on hand. Turns out we had about 90% of what the potato soup called for so after a quick run to the store for some whipping cream and a bag of potatoes we were in business. 

Ingredients:

7 cups of potatoes (or roughly 6 medium)
1 cup of yellow onion
3-5 cloves of garlic
3 cups of chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 cup of heavy cream
4-6 slices thick cut bacon
monterey jack or cheddar cheese

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Pre-heat oven to 375. Prepare potatoes by peeling and chopping into small chunks, roughly 1" in size. Chop onions and mince garlic. Add all vegetables to slow cooker bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour in chicken stock. Cover and cook on high for 3 1/2 hours (or low 6).

Put bacon slices on a lined cookie sheet and place in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove and chop bacon. Add the extra grease from cookie sheet to the slow cooker. 

Remove 1/3-1/2 of the potato chunks to a blender with heavy cream. Blend until smooth. Return to slow cooker. Stir and cover, continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes.

Garnish with shredded cheese and bacon. 

** we opted out of the bacon this time but I have made it with the bacon before and it's very good. This time after blending and returning the pureed potatoes I also added some steamed and chopped brocoli florets. You can come up with countless variations and toppings to this recipe.