Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Potato Leek Soup...

Having received an immersion blender for Christmas (or rather...  having gifted myself one for Christmas), I'm thrilled with what a great tool is for for making creamy goodies like Potato Leek Soup.  In fact, it's such a great tool, and this is such a good recipe, I've made this soup three times now since the beginning of the year.

There are numerous and similar recipes online, but I started with this recipe found at Once Upon a Chef  and adapted it to what I had on hand.  Giving credit to the original creator of this recipe, I record here how I made this soup so I can easily find it again.  If  you make it (or follow the recipe linked to above) I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.






Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

3 Tbs butter

2 to 4 good size leeks    
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes - peeled and cut up 
7-8 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp powdered Thyme 
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (approx)
Chicken Bouillon (if desired)
Heavy Cream (~ 1 Tbs per bowl)


Notes:  
  • The original recipe calls for 4 large leeks, but I just use whatever comes in a bundle - typically I get 2 or 3 leeks in a bundle.
  • I sometimes mix other potatoes with Yukon Gold
  • Original recipe calls for 3 sprigs fresh thyme - dried, powdered thyme is what I had
  • I almost always end up adding some chicken boullion to my soup after blending it.  I don't know if you'll think it needs more, but this heightens the flavor for me.  I could just have poorly trained taste buds. Don't add it before tasting.


Instructions:

If you're not familiar with cleaning leeks, here's a quick video tutorial - I prefer to cut them in half lengthwise and clean them before chopping them up.  I clean and chop leaks about an inch into the dark green stalk.  And being a plumber's daughter, who's sometimes learned the hard way that Dad was right, let me advise you...  dump the sandy, dirty water outside - not down your kitchen drain.

Melt butter over low heat in soup pot.  Add the leeks and garlic.  Cook, stirring so nothing browns.  This takes 10 - 15 minutes.  

Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a boil.  Stir, turn heat down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes (or until potatoes are very soft).


Remove the bay leaves (and sprigs of thyme if using fresh), then puree with an immersion blender until smooth.  At this point, the soup can be cooled and frozen for future use.  To eat now, read on:

Ladle soup into bowls, then add about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to each bowl and stir.  If needed, nuke in microwave for 30 seconds to heat back up after adding cream.

Soup can be frozen without cream.  Just thaw, reheat, and add cream to hot soup.


This soup is great alone or with a light sandwich.  Very filling.



 



18 comments:

  1. That sounds excellent. Yukon gold are so buttery and good. Not a difficult recipe. A keeper, thank you.

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    1. Hubs did another shopping trip earlier this week and he picked up some leeks. I didn't end up trying the soup with green onions after all. ;^) It's a super simple recipe.

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  2. mmmm - potato leek soup - one of my favourites! Resident Chef has one of those blenders too and uses it a lot. Sometimes the best gifts are those you buy for yourself!

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    1. Those are the only gifts hubs and I give each other anymore at Christmas. Does that sound confusing? It's become something of a game - that confuses our sons as they watch. But then they laugh. Maybe next Christmas I'll have to describe it.

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  3. This may be a silly question but, what do leeks taste like? Like onions? I have never had them before and have often wondered.

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    1. I can't say I tasted the leek raw to be able to tell you, but given how it smells while it's cooking I can tell it's very mild. Looking it up, I see someone described leek as both sweet and sour. I can imagine that - in a mild sort of way - based on how it smells when it was sauteing in butter. Evidently, they're good on salad, too. Sorry I'm of no more help at the moment, Marsha. But now I'm going to be sure to taste it before I cook it up next time.

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  4. Ooooo . . . I am a soup lover and this one looks delicious! Pretty too!

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  5. I love leeks and this year, I'll get to grow them. So yummy.
    Happy Eating and be well.

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  6. I'm glad you said 'filling' because without hunks of food in there it seems like it wouldn't be...I know, it's psychological because the same food is still in there it is just pureed. Thank you for the tips and recipe. Instead of an immersion blender, I have and use the old fashioned hand operated mixer with the 2 mixer blades and the handle you turn. What they used before mix masters came on the scene. It's the original immersion blender! LOL! Like The Happy Whisk....I may try and grow some leeks! Enjoy your soup!

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    1. I know what you mean. Honestly, this soup makes a meal unto itself, but I like a little something to sink my teeth into, so I can't seem to eat it alone.

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  7. This looks delicious, perfect for chilly evenings.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. While it's starting to warm up here, I do hope for a fair number of chilly evenings to enjoy my favorite soups. I don't know why I think of soups as chilly-weather food, but I do!

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