Cheeseburger and fries

Many is the day I find myself sitting at my desk wondering just what in the world I am going to make for dinner. Well on this midweek day, which had a decided chill, I thought some old fashion potato soup was in order. Not the fancy stuff  but the stuff of my childhood…the cheap, feeds a large family for few hard-earned dollars kind of potato soup.Growing up in the ’70s on Navy enlisted pay was tricky at the best of times and down right difficult most of the time so one learned to make do or to do without. It’s from that time of growing up frugally that this soup was born and passed along.

I have a love affair with this hamburger potato soup…it was filling, hot and there was usually more than one serving per person in the pot…add in a few slices of white bread (now crusty sourdough or heart whole grain) with some butter and it was awesome! Yes like pimento cheese & Wonder bread or Scrambled Eggs and leftover rice…its one of those odd family specific foods that others look at you like you have lost your mind when you bring them up.

So my thoughts had drifted to this meal mostly because I could throw the few ingredients into the pot and walk away for about 45 minutes till it was done. 45 minutes of knitting or hand stitching on some quilt blocks.

..but as I have become accustom to doing I could not leave well enough alone, that perfect dish of cold grey winter days of my childhood needed an upgrade. Kind of like a fresh coat of paint that breathes some new life into a room. So I started tossing bits and pieces  into my lovely French white and blue La Cruset 4 qt pot the perfect size magic pot for 2-4 hungry people and out popped this wonderful tasty weekday soup.

Let’s get started…

Cheesy Hamburger Potato Soup

3 Red or Yukon Potatoes (I used “new potatoes”)

1 1/2 lb ground Beef-browned and drained

1 cup diced onions

1 cup celery hearts-finely chopped leaves included

1/4 cup Wild Rice

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup crushed garlic

1 1/2 cup Ex Sharp Cheddar Cheese-grated

2 qts chicken stock

2 TB olive oil

1 ts each Salt & Pepper

Start out by doing all your chopping prep first, you can put the onions and celery into the same bowl, hold the potatoes to the side in a separate bowl for now. Brown off your beef and drain off any accumulated fat.

Heat your soup pot on med heat add your oil and allow to heat till it shimmers a bit in the bottom of the pot, add in your onions and celery sweating it down for about 4-5 minutes add in your salt & pepper.

Once the onions become translucent add in your garlic and allow to cook for a couple minutes-take care to not burn the garlic as you continue to sweat down your onion mix.

Add in your browned beef & potatoes-give them a good stir to mix it all together. Add your stock washing down and bits that may have stuck to the side as you were cooking the onions. Bring up to a soft gently boil, sprinkle the rice over the top.

Cover and allow to simmer away for 30-45 minutes until the wild rice softens.Once the rice is softened reduce the heat to low.

Now take your time with the next step of whisking in the cheese. IF you just dump in the cheese it will clump together and will just be nasty bits floating in your lovely stock…so your going to add the cheese in small hand full whisking the cheese into the stock in between each addition until you can not see any cheese floating around.

Once the cheese is incorporated remove from the heat and whisk

in the sour cream.

I serve this with a crusty bread like Sourdough or multi-grain.

Now go play with your food….

WikiJan