Potato Leek Soup -- and my Premiere Secret Recipe Club participation

While I was stirring this delicious Potato Leek Soup, my 23 year old son said that he suddenly remembered his Bavarian "Oma" serving him a similar soup when he about 4 years old. (Mutti didn't add leeks, as far as I can recall.)  It's funny how certain aromas or recipes can transport us way back in time. 

It's been a long time since I've participated in a food blog recipe roundup.  For the last year and a half, time is a rare commodity with my job and evening classes.  Still, I find that food blogging (is that a new verb like "face booking"?) is a fun way to discover new food blogs.  I decided to join "The Secret Recipe Club", after seeing a few of my blog community friends had join as well. The idea is that I am assigned to peruse, choose and post a recipe from a blog that is assigned to me. 

 

For my first assignment, I was given "The Haggis and the Herring".  After reading their "About Page" (...and can I just say that I love it when bloggers tell me who they are, where they live and a bit about themselves?) I discovered that these are Toronto, Ontario bloggers who originally created their website for their wedding.  Like most of us food bloggers, their blog has evolved into a place of sharing recipes they've created for their Friday night dinners with friends and family.

I spent a bit of time to get a feel for their theme of recipes.  I noted that there is a lot of Indian flavors like, curries, vegetarian and then-- some English, European and Mediterranean influences. My visual taste buds were changing like a chameleon.  I narrowed down my recipe picks to either "Hamentaschen" cookies, "Chocolate Bonk" or a Welsh dish of "Potato Leek Soup".  This weekend, rainy and cold weather has finally come to stick around my part of California. So, I chose a savory hot soup.  This would give me a perfect opportunity to bake bread to go with it.

I usually keep leeks on hand, because they are perfect for making soups.  Trader Joe's carries leeks that have already been trimmed, and the price is right.

I like to split them in half...

...the cut them into half moons. . Sometimes soil hides inside leeks, so I carefully wash them, then strain them.

 I used my mandolin to easily slice a large onion and three Russet potatoes, nice and thin. In a Dutch oven, you'll need a bit of olive oil and butter. Begin to saute the leeks and onion, just until soft (about 5 minutes).  Next, add 2-3 small cloves of garlic and cook for just the last minute.

I decided to add thyme to the soup recipe.  Fresh is usually my go to, since I grow my own. But, I took a shortcut and used dried thyme  How much? About two teaspoons.  Give it a stir.  Add the potatoes.  I like to make my own chicken stock, but there is no shame in buying boxed chicken broth/stock. I added one quart of chicken broth to the sliced potatoes.

One of my favorite ingredients that I add to creamed soups is white wine. The wine gives a nice touch of acidity, and I think, enhances the flavors of the soup.  I like to use sauvignon blanc, as my cooking wine (or dry vermouth).  I covered the soup, brought it to a simmer until the potatoes were fork tender-- about 20-25 minutes.  At this point you could mash the potatoes. Or, you could puree the soup in a blender. Me?  My immersion blender is one of my favorite kitchen tools.  I like to puree my soups to leave a bit of texture.  I added about 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Then I tasted the soup and added a little  and pepper.  I used a low-sodium broth, but I didn't want to add salt just yet.  Why? Because I'll be adding Parmesan cheese, which can be salty in itself. What's next? Ah, heavy cream.  What can one say?  It's got some extra calories and fat grams.  But, it leaves such a silky and creamy flavor to soups.  I added about 1/2 cup-- not too bad, considering this 8-10 cups of soup. Last, but not least, I add a little salt until the flavors all seemed balanced.

I baked a loaf of Whole Wheat Bread, and decided to add a Parmesan Crisp (that I buy at Trader Joe's. These are wickedly good.) 

Photographing a white soup isn't very easy to do, especially when you have white dinnerware.

VERDICT:  My husband, my son and I love soups.  To me, they are the ultimate in comfort food.  The potatoes give the soup a lovely thick viscosity, and the leeks and onion add so much flavor.  The thyme, I think, is a good addition. The wine....oh, the wine.  You don't taste alcohol. White wine really kicks up the flavor buds, and the Parmesan cheese.  My husband usually reads my blog (hi, honey), but I will rat out that he ate three bowls of this soup.  I ate two. The bread...well, I'm not sayin' how many slices of hot, fresh bread and butter were devoured.  The bread? Oh, that recipe is coming up next. (NOTE: I realized that I had made and blogged another version of Potato Leek Soup, in April 2009.  That version uses bacon.  It's good, but I liked this version better, I would say.)

 The next day, I reheated the last bowl of soup.  I made chive oil, and I think that added some pretty color and subtle flavor.

Thanks, Dan & Meredith, for inspiring me to make your Welsh soup.  My tweaks were minor, but I do believe I captured the recipe as you shared it.  I will definitely make this again.  A printable recipe is at the end of this post.