Cheeseburger Soup

I found this recipe online and it was freakin awesome. My Girlfriend and I ate it and both of us said we'd definitely eat it again. At the end I'll list my comments and what I did differently.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 3 1/2 cups diced potatoes
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery stalk
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 8 ounces Velveeta, diced
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

Method:

• Sauté the ground beef and chopped onion in a large skillet/pan over a medium heat. Mix the beef to prevent it sticking to the pan, cook until its browned all over. Drain and set aside, we will use the same skillet next.
• Sauté the chopped celery, chopped carrots, parsley and basil in 2 tablespoon of the butter in the skillet. When the carrots are tender, add the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Now add the diced potatoes and cooked beef and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
• In a separate small skillet melt the remaining butter, stir in the flour and cook through until it combines. Whisk in the milk and cook until the whole mixture thickens and becomes smooth. Add this to the soup and bring to the boil one more time.
• Reduce the heat and mix in the cheese and season. When the cheese has melted remove the pot from the heat.

I followed the recipe, except I bought ground lamb instead. It was cheaper. I accidentally put the whole package in the skillet, which was a pound. After the recipe was done, I realized this was a good mistake. The 1/2 pound it called for would have been too little.

The recipe could use more carrots than what is stated above. As for the spices.. I eyeballed everything and did a taste. I think I added a lot more basil, parsley, and salt than what was called for, except instead of salt I used a product by Tone's called "Crazy Dave's Salt & Pepper". It had other stuff in it like onion and garlic.