On a rare day off recently, I spent a fun day with my mom kitchen floor shopping at Tudor Carpet One, clothes shopping at Bangles, noshing at Silver Spoon in Valpo, and of course, cooking. We tackled a simple potato and leek soup that involved a lot of chopping but not a lot of cook time. While cooking we talked about whether a food truck focused on soup could have a following in NW Indiana - with lunch time stops at local office buildings. Two girls can dream!
This is me and my mom in her kitchen!
The recipe we made came from a newsletter from Heifer International. The Lazar Family supported Heifer as one of our Christmas charities several years ago. It was the start of the llama obsession for Pete, for those of you who follow his llama pics on FB. Here's the recipe:
Leek and Potato Soup
4 cups leeks, white part only, chopped
4 cups baking potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
6 to 7 cups of chicken or vegetable stock (or water)
Salt and peper to taste
Bring leeks, potatoes and stock (or water) toa boil in a stockpot, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Process in a blender for smoothness or serve chunky.
Here's how it went.
First we peeled and chopped the potatoes. 4 cups measured in a large measuring pitcher.
Then we cleaned and chopped the leeks. Only the white parts. My mom showed me how to slice open the white parts and fan them out, to be able to rinse out any sand. Measured 4 cups in the measuring pitcher. We cut up 4 leeks.
Once we were done chopping, everything went into the pot! The taters, then the leeks, then the broth. We used 3 cans of chicken broth and then 1 cup of water to give us the right amount of liquid. We brought it to a boil and then simmered for 30 minutes.
Once it was done simmering, we busted out the immersion blender to thicken up the soup. Then added in some salt and pepper to taste. That's it! Pretty easy and super yummy. This isn't a creamy soup - its nice and light. You could add some bacon or a dollop of cream (or cheese, Pete's preferred condiment). Soup's on!
Your blog looks so professional...and your soup looks delicious! Ryan made a potato leek soup on Tuesday for Arlo's b-day. You two could've had a soup off (for your soup's on blog!).
ReplyDeleteHow did our recipe compare with Ryan's? Same ingredients? Something else we could have used?
ReplyDeleteI am on the hunt for a soup that could make the blog! Que rico!
ReplyDeleteMine was a little different. I used Yukon Gold potatoes (med size) cut into one inch chunks and left the skins on. I lightly sautéed the leeks in butter for about ten minutes. Added salt and pepper 2 minutes into the sautéing and added a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the leeks at the end of the sautéing, From there I added in chicken broth and water and the potatoes and simmered. At the end of the simmering I added a teaspoon each of thyme and marjoram and a healthy sprinkling of parsley. Since Arlo was asleep in the next room I didn't use an immersion blender, but an old fashioned hand held potato masher. It worked fine.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had added in some cubed pancetta (found conveniently packaged at Trader Joe's) midway through the leek sautéing. That would've been AWESOME!
I was surprised the recipe didn't saute leeks first, will try the seasonings in your recipe next time. Eliza asked about "skins on", but recipe said peel.
ReplyDelete