Sunday, November 6, 2011

Potato, Leeks and oh so yummy!

Waking up to a very cold morning, I decided I was going to make something warm and creamy.. Soup!! I looked through some ideas online and found a recipe for Potato and Leek Soup... Looked wonderfully warm.

I went to the store and bought the items I didn't have. When using leeks most people cut the dark green parts and throw it away.. I find that as a waste and will figure out something to do with them soon. Leeks are grown in sandy ground so you need to soak them. Easiest way for me was to slice them up and then soak them in a pan of water. All the sand and dirt will fall to the bottom of the pan.. Scoop the leaks into a strainer, don't pour or the dirty stuff with go with it.

As they were soaking; I cut up the potato, celery, and onion then threw them all into a pot to cook with some water, a bay leaf and some chicken broth. I then added half the leeks into the pot.



I let the mix simmer for about 15- 20 minutes.. As that was simmering I put a roux together with some bacon fat (I had in the fridge) and flour. The fat of the bacon needs to be completely melted before adding the flour. You can actually use any fat you want to make a roux but the bacon idea just sounds yummy. If you don't have bacon butter can be replaced.

I then added the rest of the leeks, cream, the roux, salt and pepper and fresh thyme in to simmer about 20 minutes. Then fished out the bay leaf I added earlier. 
 
I scooped up the veggies with a spoon that had slits in it to not add the broth and put it into a blender and pulsed it to make a thick yummy leeky goodness. I let it cook just a little bit more to thicken back up once it was all blended. The smells were amazing by this time and I was sooo very hungry and couldn't wait to try it. Once it was all done I served it up with some fresh sour dough bread. This recipe is such a keeper, everyone should try it!

Buon Appetito!