New England Comfort Foods: Make Loaded Baked Potato Soup Like 'Wood-n-Tap' Located in Connecticut

Loaded Baked Potato SoupPhoto byWood N Tap Bar N Grill / Facebook

With several locations throughout Connecticut, including; Enfield, Farmington, Hamden, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill and one in West Springfield, Massachusetts, we can safely say Wood-n-Tap is a New England thing! Their ''Loaded Baked Potato Soup'' is a customer favorite, especially in the Fall. I wanted to share this recipe with all of you because it always reminds me of the Fall season. Simple instructions, easy to prep and a warm, comforting dish your entire family will love during these upcoming cool weather months. This recipe is featured on the NBC Connecticut website.

Here is a video of Paul Motta preparing the Loaded Potato Soup from 'Wood-n-Tap'

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salted Butter (one stick)
• 2 Cups Diced Yellow Onion
• 1/2 Cup GF Rice Flour
• 4 cups Chicken Stock
• 3/4 Cup Light Cream or Half and Half
• 1 Cup Dry Potato Flakes
• 1/2 TBSP salt and pepper
• 3/4 TBSP dry basil
• 1/2 lb Red Bliss Potatoes
• 1 tsp Tabasco

Garnishes

• Shredded Cheddar
• Chopped Bacon
• Chopped Scallions

Instructions

In a sauté pan on medium heat, melt butter and sauté onions until translucent (Approx 3 minutes). Gradually stir in flour to make a rue, cook for approximately 3 minutes until slightly darker in color. Add cream - stir in 2 ounces at a time until smooth. In a soup pot, heat up chicken stock and dissolve potato flakes then bring to a boil.

Whisk the rue into the soup pot and bring back to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. With skin on, shred potatoes into a bowl of cold water and rinse (you can use a cheese grater). Add shredded potatoes to soup and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for another 10 minutes making sure the soup reaches 165 F. Serve in a Soup Bowl and add garnishes. Serves 4-6.

The origin of potato soup goes way back to the Irish, and the French who used food scraps and cheap ingredients to make soups. ''Modern variations of the baked potato soup emerged at the chains Steak & Ale and Bennigan’s and can easily be traced back to the question “what are we going to do with these left over baked potatoes?” Well, some became potato skins, with the insides scooped out to become mashed potatoes. Some leftover bakers were re-purposed into twice baked potatoes, but some also became soup,'' as stated on the Idaho Potato website.