Recipe: Potato & Leek Soup

It's wintertime, and that means it's time for soup. After I made this, my wife exclaimed, "Mama Mia, that's a spicy meatball!" wait, wrong wife. She actually said it was the best soup I have ever made. Sounds like high praise, right? Well, I have made a number of soups in the past, and my ego of experience took a huge hit (were the soups from the past just bowls of poorly made piss?) No matter. I choose to accept this praise at face value: she enjoyed the soup. I'm guessing that you will enjoy it too. Enjoy it, that is, unless you fuck it up. Keep reading to see how to make it right.

Potato & Leek soup in a bowl on my table. 

What's that? Homemade bread too? Yes, I am awesome

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 leeks, washed and cut into rings
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 Tbs butter
• 1 cup half & half
• Salt & pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prep the veggies: dice the potato, dice the onion, and wash & cut the leeks (see the note on leeks below - they deserve special attention)
2. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the veggies and cook until tender but not browned - about 10 minutes. Stir the veggies from time to time to prevent browning. Add the stock and bring to a boil (if the stock is not enough, feel free to add a little water - enough to barely cover the vegetables). Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for ~20 minutes until the vegetables are cooked-through.

Leeks, onions, and potatoes in the pot with vegetable stock. Note how the veg stock slightly exceeds the level of the materials - this is the right amount (you can even go with a little less stock). Why is the veg stock red? It's the tomatoes - veg stock has some tomatoes in it

4. Now it's time to process: using your trusty stick blender, buzz the shit out of the mixture until it's smooth and creamy. no stick blender? Put the mixture into a blender or a food processor and spin to win. Watch out! Hot soup is like napalm in a blender - don't get any on you!

Stick blender in the pot grinding-up soup. It's the way to go

5. Add the half & half and stir. Taste it. Needs salt, right? Add salt & pepper to taste.

Add the half & half, buzz, and then add the salt

6. Done. Ladle-up some, and eat healthy soup with your family.

RECIPE NOTES

Use all the white, all the light green, and ~1" of the dark green

• What do I do with these friggin' leeks? >> They are certainly weird. And unless you're a bonafide soup maker, you're unlikely to have any experience with leeks. A leek is like a large green onion - a tender white bottom and a dark green top/stalk. The dark green tops are tough - let's get rid of most of them. Cut-off the bottom root (trim closely, we want to preserve the white section) and the top - leaving only ~1" of dark green. Now, cut the whole stalk in-half lengthwise. Look closely, you will notice that the leek is made of many layers (like an onion). Leeks are grown in especially loose and sandy soil, so there's likely to be dirt and grit in between layers. Slice the leeks into 1/2" rings then drop those leeks into some clean water and clean 'em off. Rinse and repeat. Advanced move: spin in a salad spinner to remove the water - yeah, that's the stuff
• How do I store this soup? >> I don't recommend long-term storage, but this will make ~3/5 gallons of soup - possibly more than you want to eat all at once. I recommend using mason jars for storage. You can use the small pint-sized ones to make a soup serving ready to bring to work. Or you can dump it into a half-gallon jar and store it in the fridge (pictured)

Jar full of soup. Keep it next to the orange juice and above the shelf of beer

UPDATE - July 2, 2012

I made this soup last night and decided that I wanted a greener and more healthful looking soup. Let's face it; made properly, the potato leek soup is not as green as you'd expect. The soup takes-on more color from the potato than the leek (we're using the tender white bottom after all...) How to make it green...?

SPINACH!

For greener soup, cook the soup as directed above. For the last 3-5 minutes, drop-in a cup of baby spinach and let it cook with the soup. Those leaves cook quick, and won't add much flavor, but oh baby, they add color and health to the soup. Grind it up as before, and you'll have a beautiful green soup ready for consumption. You're welcome

Here it is with the spinach buzzed-in. Notice the greener hue and green flecks. 

That's health staring you in the face. Popeye would be proud.