Loaded baked potato soup

Method

1. 01

   Cut the 340 g package of bacon in half. Slice one half into small slivers for the soup itself. Cut the other half into shorter strips that will fry flat as chips for the top.

2. 02

   Fry the slivers in a large heavy pot over medium heat until crisp, then lift them out and reserve. Fry the strips in the same pot until crisp and flat, and reserve those separately.

3. 03

   Pour off about 75 percent of the fat that melted out (render). Leave roughly a quarter in the pot. The vegetables cook in that fat, and it carries the whole base.

4. 04

   Add the diced half onion and 2 diced celery stalks. Cook at medium for 5 to 10 minutes, until the onion turns translucent.

5. 05

   Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook 30 seconds to a minute, just until fragrant.

6. 06

   Add 4 tbsp butter and 4 tbsp flour. Stir until the flour disappears completely into the vegetables and butter, with no raw white streaks left.

7. 07

   Meanwhile, boil the 700 g diced potatoes in a separate pot of water until tender. Drain them and divide them into three equal portions. They cook on their own so each portion can be used a different way in the soup.

8. 08

   Warm 120 ml heavy cream and 480 ml whole milk until very hot but not boiling. Pour the cream into the pot first and stir until it starts to thicken. Then add the milk a little at a time, stirring, until it thickens again. Warm milk and cream going into the hot flour and fat (roux) is what keeps it smooth.

9. 09

   Warm 480 ml chicken stock with 240 ml water, pour it in, and stir until the soup thickens once more.

10. 10

    Add the first third of the potatoes, then blend the soup smooth with an immersion blender. This portion is doing one job only: body. Blend it before the bacon goes in, or the blender destroys the bacon too.

11. 11

    Stir the reserved bacon slivers in now that the blending is done. They soften into the soup and keep their texture.

12. 12

    Simmer 10 minutes, then add the second third of the potatoes and mash them into the soup with a potato masher. These melt down partway and leave a softer, coarser body behind.

13. 13

    Simmer another 10 minutes, then add the last third of the potatoes and break them up roughly with the masher, leaving clear pieces. This is the portion you actually bite into.

14. 14

    Simmer 10 minutes more, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Only season now. The bacon, the bacon fat, the stock and the cheddar on top all bring salt. Anything added earlier will be too much once the soup cooks down.

15. 15

    Ladle into bowls. Finish at the table with grated sharp cheddar, a spoonful of sour cream and chopped green onions. Stand the saved bacon chips on top.