Revisited: Exploring New Foods: Recipe III

About a month ago, I added a new recipe for Cheddar Potato Chower that was an absolute disaster for me due to some technical difficulties (ahem, misreading the recipe). I LOVE potato soup, so the recipe was begging for redemption and I gave it another go.


Cheddar Potato Chowder




Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups diced unpeeled red potatoes
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cubed fully cooked lean ham

Directions:

• In a dutch oven, combine first 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10-12 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, place flour in a large saucepan; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened.
• Remove from heat. Add cheese; stir until melted. Stir the cheese sauce into undrained vegetables until combined.

Notes/Changes:
I didn't have any ham on hand, so I skipped it. We also left out the chopped onion since we don't really care for onions in our house. I also only used half the amount of cheese because I didn't realize that I was nearly out of shredded cheese!

Review:
It didn't live up to the ridiculously high expectations that I had for it.  I love potato soup, could eat it daily I love it so much.  I just don't have a recipe for one yet.  It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't what I wanted.  Derek commented that it didn't have enough potato flavor, and I could agree with that.  I only used half the amount of cheese since I forgot to get more, and that may have added a little to the disappointment.  There's leftovers from dinner, and I will eat them because it was good, just not great.  I have some ideas for changing the recipe a bit, but I am going to continue my potato soup recipe quest.