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.
3. 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!
4. Add the half & half and stir. Taste it. Needs salt, right? Add salt & pepper to taste.
5. Done. Ladle-up some, and eat healthy soup with your family.

FAQs

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. Drop those leeks into some clean water and clean 'em off. Then chop into rings. Done and done.