Ham and Potato Soup

One of my husband’s favorite things to eat is ham.  He devours the stuff.  I cook a 10 lb. ham for Easter every year.  I’m sure a lot of you do the same thing.  You probably cook a huge Easter dinner for your friends and family.  The difference between me and you is that I don’t cook a 10 lb ham, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, green beans and sweet rolls for a large group of people.  I don’t need to cook for a large group, because I married Matt.  I make all that food for one hungry hubby.  Just for the record, I only had a small portion of Easter dinner on Sunday, so Matt has pretty much consumed the entire ham as of tonight.  You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but my husband EATS ~ and he eats A LOT!  He doesn’t gain weight considering his enormous appetite, whereas I probably gained five pounds just looking at the ham this week.  Oh, to have my husband’s metabolism, but that is neither here nor there.

If it were up to me, I would take the leftover ham and make several different recipes out of the ham, but not Matt.  He’s had Easter dinner every day this week, and he hasn’t gotten sick of eating it yet.  When I checked the fridge tonight, there was just a little bit of ham left, so I managed to use the leftover ham to make some ham and potato soup before Matt got home from work.  I don’t really have an exact recipe for it, because I don’t measure anything.  I just throw stuff in a pot until it looks and taste the way I want it too, but here are my guestimate measurements for this recipe.

3 potatoes

3 cups of cooked diced ham

½ c. chopped onion

2 c. chicken broth divided

2 c. milk

2 tbs. flour

4 tbs. butter

2-3 oz. fontina cheese

2 tbs. of celery powder

salt and pepper to taste

Bake the potatoes (or cook them in the microwave like meJ ).  In a large pot bring one cup of chicken broth and onions to a boil, then let simmer until onions are cooked.  Add flour and butter to thicken.  Take the skin off of the baked potatoes, and add them to the pot.  Pour in the milk and the rest of the chicken broth slowly while smashing the potatoes.  Add the cheese and stir until melted.  Add celery powder and cook on medium heat until the soup thickens, and then add salt and pepper to taste.  Toast sliced bread with fontina cheese slices for dipping in the soup (optional). Eat and Enjoy!