Food Friday - Ham and Potato Soup

I love a really good Ham and Potato Soup but, for whatever reason, I've never made it before but, I had a big ol' ham bone in my freezer and wanted to use it up so I went searching for a recipe and tried my hand at this new family favorite!

Ham and Potato Soup
adapted from Allrecipes.com

I took some major shortcuts with this recipe - I did it in the crock-pot :-)  I cut everything up and threw it all in, turned it on and let it cook.  I did cook it on high for about 4 hours.  It was a little thinner then it would be if you cooked the milk/flour and added it at the end to a boiling pot but it was so super good and easy - I would do it in a crock-pot every time. 

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.