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| two soups |
4 to 5 leeks roughly chopped
3 small potatoes
2 bay leaves
garlic to taste
splash of white wine vinegar
single cream
seasoning to taste
1.25L of vegetable stock
0.25L of white wine
Very gently sautée chopped leeks and garlic in butter. Make sure that your garlic doesn't brown. Peel and chop 3 small poatoes into small cubes. Then once your leeks are translucent and softened add a splash of vinegar. Add your potatoes and your stock and white wine. Pop in two bay leaves and season with a little salt [the stock will already have added salt] and freshly ground black pepper. Leave to simmer for about 1/2 hr or until the potato is well cooked.
Now Niall and I have a difference of opinion when it comes to consistency so here the leek soup diverges along parallel lines. Niall likes his soup chunky. Therefore, at this point I fish out the bay leaves, finish the soup with a bit of light cream and pop his half into another pan to eat [or cool for storage].
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| N's soup |
Then I blitz the other half of the soup using a wand blender until it has a puree-like consistency, with the odd small bit left in it. I don't like it ultra smooth like a velouté. It needs to have a bit of texture as it isn't a 'posh' soup.
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| A's soup |
For lunch yesterday we each had a bowl of 'our' soup with a fresh baguette bought from the excellent bakery in Grand Pressigny -- we'd driven over in the morning to buy birdseed. The rest of the soup has been popped into the freezer and we'll definitely be having a bowl this coming Thursday on St David's Day.
14 comments:
Home-made soup is one of life's great joys.
I have never put wine vinegar in leek soup - must give that a try. I usually add a slurp of dry sherry to most vegetable soups before serving - a tip I read in a cookbook I no longer have but it always seems to work.
Thanks for the recipe.
@Jean - only a small splash. It's a tip I had years and years ago for cooking leeks and have kept it in when turning them into soup.
I'm sure you could easily leave it out.
Another soup-lover here. I have leeks waiting to be turned into soup so much try your recipe instead of my usual one. I smiled at your chunky versus smooth divide. I like both, band it's interesting that even made from the same recipe, chunky and smooth don't seem to taste the same.
I'll try the splash of vinegar idea...we have leeks in the garden, though it's rare to find them for sale commercially.
Interesting to use a small splash of vinegar with the leeks. Also the tip about dry sherry... I love homemade soup and am especially fond of those made with leeks. I think the next one I make -- St. David's Day sounds a good time -- I will do the chunky version -- sounds good!
@Perpetua - no they don't for some reason.
I like chunky soups too, just not potato chunks so that's why I prefer mine blitzed when it has potato in it. A
@Helen - you have leeks? Odd how one assumes things: I would have thought it is too humid to grow them in Costa Rica.
@Broad - re the splash of vinegar. I think [may be wrong it was a long time ago] the reasoning was because leeks are quite sweet so can 'take it' and also to keep the fresh color.
I've done it without thinking since my student days.
Leeks are very cheap here at the moment and we eat it a lot these winter days. I am going to make leek soup as I hadn't thought of it yet. Thank you for the recipe.
I love leek and potato soup. I made a good chicken stock this week so I could do some good soups.
@Riet - you're welcome. Eet smakelijk :-)
@AJ - home-made chicken stock is fab. Will be making some later this week when I get round to dealing with the remains of tonight's roast chicken.
We love soup which is just as well because since Tom went to University it has become my 'easy' meal. A large pot lasts a couple of days.
I prefer any kind of vegetable soup and am not so keen on soups containing meat.
On St David's Day I shall be making a 'lambless' Cawl which is a vegetable and leek chunky broth. Of course I could blitz it for a few seconds to make it more palatable for you, Antoinette.
@Gaynor - with you on the vegetable soups although I don't mind a good chicken soup.
Lambless 'cawl' even unblitzed ;-) sounds lovely! Happy St David's day for tomorrow.
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