OOC: A recipe of OMG Goodness: Potato-leek soup
If Cassie Austen were real, this is how she'd do it.
Ingredients:
Potatoes: a bunch. 5 lbs for a big soup, less for a smaller batch. Peeled and diced
Leeks: again, a bunch. For a big batch, 4 or 5 good sized ones. Play with it. Chop them.
Chicken stock. (For a big batch, I use two boxes of Kitchen Basics, I totally cheat and that's the brand with the least salt. It's also good tasting.)
A pound of bacon, diced and fried to your liking, but a little crispy is better.
A stalk of celery or two, optional
Spices: I use a little marjoram, a bit of thyme, a lot of parsley, celery salt and kosher salt.
Heavy cream: about a pint for a large batch, or a few cups of milk. Cream makes it ungodly good.
First up, get your ingredients ready. Fry the bacon first, as you'll use some of the grease, (not a lot, just a little) to soften your leeks. (I use about half a teaspoon of butter and about the same of bacon grease, it's a flavor thing.) Also, put a bit of celery salt on the leeks while you're sauteeing them. Toss the leeks, bacon grease/butter and all into a big-ass pot. Add in enough chicken stock to cover them and simmer them for about ten minutes, then toss in your potatoes and spices/herbs, and the rest of your chicken stock. Add enough water to cover your potatoes, cover and simmer until the potatoes are mushy.
Now, if you're fancy or better equipped than I am, here's where you blend your soup. Me, I only have a potato masher and a hand-mixer and a regular blender, plus, I actually prefer mine all rustic and chunky, so I mash the potatoes by hand and leave it like that, all thick and yum. It's good the other way, too. If you find that your soup is still too watery after mushing your potatoes, let it boil down a little. If the potatoes fry a little on the bottom, it's ok, it adds character. (I found that one out by experience and holy cow, the YUM.) Turn off/down the heat and add in your cream or milk, stirring it thoroughly. Serve topped with the bacon bits, and if you have it, a few drops of white truffle oil, which brings it to ethereal soup of the gods.
Ingredients:
Potatoes: a bunch. 5 lbs for a big soup, less for a smaller batch. Peeled and diced
Leeks: again, a bunch. For a big batch, 4 or 5 good sized ones. Play with it. Chop them.
Chicken stock. (For a big batch, I use two boxes of Kitchen Basics, I totally cheat and that's the brand with the least salt. It's also good tasting.)
A pound of bacon, diced and fried to your liking, but a little crispy is better.
A stalk of celery or two, optional
Spices: I use a little marjoram, a bit of thyme, a lot of parsley, celery salt and kosher salt.
Heavy cream: about a pint for a large batch, or a few cups of milk. Cream makes it ungodly good.
First up, get your ingredients ready. Fry the bacon first, as you'll use some of the grease, (not a lot, just a little) to soften your leeks. (I use about half a teaspoon of butter and about the same of bacon grease, it's a flavor thing.) Also, put a bit of celery salt on the leeks while you're sauteeing them. Toss the leeks, bacon grease/butter and all into a big-ass pot. Add in enough chicken stock to cover them and simmer them for about ten minutes, then toss in your potatoes and spices/herbs, and the rest of your chicken stock. Add enough water to cover your potatoes, cover and simmer until the potatoes are mushy.
Now, if you're fancy or better equipped than I am, here's where you blend your soup. Me, I only have a potato masher and a hand-mixer and a regular blender, plus, I actually prefer mine all rustic and chunky, so I mash the potatoes by hand and leave it like that, all thick and yum. It's good the other way, too. If you find that your soup is still too watery after mushing your potatoes, let it boil down a little. If the potatoes fry a little on the bottom, it's ok, it adds character. (I found that one out by experience and holy cow, the YUM.) Turn off/down the heat and add in your cream or milk, stirring it thoroughly. Serve topped with the bacon bits, and if you have it, a few drops of white truffle oil, which brings it to ethereal soup of the gods.