Cheese Potato Soup

 Ingredients:

• 5-6 extra large potatoes (Costco kind)
• 4 cups of peeled chopped carrots
• 4 cups of diced ham (I found cubed ham that was soy free, gluten free & nitrate free in of all placed Walmart!)
• 64oz water
• 2 sticks of Tillamook: Salted Butter
• 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
• ½ gallon 2% Organic Hormone Free Milk
• 1 Pint of Organic Heavy Cream
• 2 cups fresh flour or gluten free flour
  
• 2 TBS Onion Powder
• 1 TBS Garlic Salt
• 2 tsp Ground Mustard
• 2 TBS Ground Celery Seed
• 4 TBS Wright's Hickory Liquid Smoke
• 2 lbs Grated Tillamook Sharp Cheddard Cheese

Directions:

• Peel & cut up potatoes, combine with chopped carrots into a large stock pot.
• Add water & boil until soft & add ham; reduce heat to low.
• While this is boiling, in a separate large pan, melt butter & add flour, onion powder, garlic salt; form a paste (rue).
• Slowly add milk & buttermilk while stirring rapidly with a wire whisk to get the lumps out (only add more milk after the lumps are out).
• Now you have your white sauce-Good Job!
• Now add to white sauce ground mustard, ground celery & bay leaf.
• Slowly add grated cheese to the white sauce, stirring frequently over medium heat (higher heat will scald it) until cheese is completely melted (dissolved) & thick. 
• Add liquid smoke to cheese/white sauce after cheese is completely dissolved.
• Add white/cheese sauce mixture to your large stock pot with the fully cooked potatoes/carrot/ham , use a mashing motion when stirring to mash up some of the potatoes & cause the soup to thicken more. (Do not mash all of the potatoes).
• Turn down to low & stir frequently for 15 minutes; serve.

Cook Temp: Medium

Serve With: Gluten Free Rolls.

Notes: I make this every Christmas Eve, a family favorite.

Yields: 18-20 Servings