Baked Potato Soup and Zesty Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

The weather was absolutely perfect Tuesday night when I cooked this meal, rainy and a bit cool. It made me want to curl up on the couch with a good book and hot bowl of this wonderful soup! The weather has since changed and gotten a bit warmer, but you know what they say about Mississippi weather. If you don’t like it, hang around for a couple days and I promise you it will change!

This is the time of year we all break out the “comfort food” recipes, and the baked potato soup was every bit as comforting as I remember! The original recipe came from my favorite on-line recipe site, MyRecipes.com, and was published in the September 2007 edition of Cooking Light magazine. Of course I tweaked it a little for my taste!

4 baking potatoes (about 2.5 lbs.)
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
6 cups 2% milk
¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
½ cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 400°. Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

Place flour in a large Dutch oven or stockpot. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8-10 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, cheese, salt, and black pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and green onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle soup in bowls. Garnish with cheese, chopped green onions, cooked and crumbled bacon, and black pepper if desired.

Now that you’ve seen the recipe, let me tell you what I did differently. For starters, I don’t think I’ve ever cooked baked potatoes in the oven. Rinse them off, pat dry with a paper towel, wrap in plastic wrap, and put those babies in the microwave! It will take approximately 15-20 minutes for them to cook, and you should flip them at 5 minute intervals. Some of you may say the potatoes taste better actually baked, and you may be right. I don’t know the difference since I grew up eating them microwaved. Plus microwaving them takes a third of the time baking them does, and I was able to put together this whole meal in 1 hour. I probably could have done it quicker than that, but I wasn’t in a big hurry. Any of you that know me know I don’t get in a big hurry for much!

Ok, back to the recipe! Be sure you level the flour off in the measuring cup with a knife. The original recipe actually states this, and you’ll see Paula Deen do it all the time. Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker both give these instructions as well. They don’t give a reason that would apply to soup, so I’ll just say too little or too much will alter the soup’s consistency. Someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong! As far as milk goes, I always try to use the type of milk called for in a recipe. I once substituted fat-free for 2% milk in a homemade macaroni and cheese recipe, and the sauce was way too runny. When it comes to cheese, I always try to take the easy way out and buy the packaged shredded cheese. Taking the time to shred cheese might be more fun if I had a good grater, but it’s so much easier to buy it already done. According to the recipe notes, fat-free sour cream makes it taste too tart, which is why they went with reduced-fat instead. I actually left out the onions completely and like it better, but that’s just my taste. And truth be told, I didn’t garnish it with anything but salt, pepper, and cheese. I forgot to cook the bacon and was too hungry to wait on it by the time I remembered! One other tip for the soup is to constantly stir it, especially when it’s just the milk/flour mix. It will stick in that stage if you’re not careful.

Up next is the pimento cheese. This is a Paula Deen recipe I got from FoodNetwork.com years ago. This recipe is great because it can be used as a sandwich spread or as a dip. We like it best with Fritos Scoops, but it’s yummy on a toasted wheat hoagie bun too.

1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, room temp
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
1 cup grated Monterey Jack
½ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
2 to 3 tablespoons pimentos, smashed
1 teaspoon grated onion
Pinch of salt and cracked black pepper

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add all remaining ingredients and beat until well blended.

House Seasoning (this is Paula’s signature seasoning):
1 cup salt
¼ cup black pepper
¼ cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

And as usual, I’ll tell you what I changed. I bought a package of already shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese mix instead of grating it myself, and I thought it tasted fine having Colby instead of sharp cheddar. I put a quarter of a small onion (which turned out to be right at 2 teaspoons) and 3 tablespoons pimentos in my food processor to get them finely chopped. The only problem was I thought doubling the onion was a bit too much. Next time I’m going to leave out the onion altogether and drop the pimentos down to 2 tablespoons to see how we like it. Kyle said it was great like it was, but I didn’t like that lingering onion taste it left!

I give both recipes a high five! Super easy and super tasty! Chad, I hope you enjoy!