Step 1

Turn the crock-pot onto HIGH or LOW and place the potatoes, onion, garlic, spices and stock in the pot. Stir to combine and cover with a lid. On HIGH, it should take between 3-4 hours for the potatoes to soften, on LOW, it should take from 8-10 hours.

Step 2

When the potatoes are just barely soft enough to slide off of a fork, scoop out about ½ cup of the broth and set aside. Mash the cooked potatoes gently, just to break up the bigger pieces and slightly thicken the soup.

Step 3

Whisk ¼ cup of flour into the reserved broth until it is smooth. Stir in 1 cup of half and half (or heavy cream, if you have it) and whisk again for a moment until it is smooth again. Pour this into the crock-pot and reduce the heat to LOW. Let it cook at least an hour, stirring once or twice.

Step 4

I've also let this soup cook up to an additional 2 hours (provided it is on LOW after adding the cream) and then unplugged the crockpot and uncovered it and waited as much as another hour to serve it. This is a very flexible soup and it holds quite well until you are ready to serve it.

Step 5

When the soup has thickened and is warm throughout it is ready. If desired, serve with the toppings of your choice.