Saturday Night Cooking School:
Potato-Leek Soup
When I was a starving student, I used to love this stuff. I still love this stuff. Add hot water, stir, wait a few minutes, and you've got yourself a tasty insta-soup. Just don't look at the ingredients-- mostly flour, salt, potato flakes, and preservatives. That can't be good for you. I wonder if I can make it myself?
(Bonus: In English, cold potato-leek soup is "leftovers", and it is "gross". In France it's known as "vichyssoise", and it is considered "tasty". Go, France!)
The big root thing with the dark green leaves is a leek. Also shown: fennel, potatoes, shallot, and a vodka and soda. Vegetables are for the soup, booze is for the cook. Do not confuse these.
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Chop up:
- Leeks. Enough to make two cups of leek slices. Use just the white-and-pale green parts of the leek, and chuck the leaves-- they taste gross. Look out for dirt between the leaves.
- Fennel. Also two cups. Just use the "bulb" part, and chuck the rest. Keep a few sprigs for a garnish, if you're feeling fancy.
- Shallot. A shallot is a weird purple mutant root that tastes like a cross between onion and garlic. Hell yes.
- Potatoes. 2.5 pounds of 'em. Peel and dice.
Saute the leeks, fennel, and shallot until the leeks are clearish. Oh man, this smells good. Actually, it smells just like the soup mix, so I must be doing something right. :D
Once everything is sauteed, add potatoes and 4 regular-size cans of vegetable stock. Now everything smells like vegetable stock. Not un-good, but-- HEY! there's high-fructose corn syrup in this! Swanson's, you bastards!
Simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Drink vodka. Update LJ. If anyone would like to get me a cast-iron one of these for Christmas, you will have many many thanks. And soup whenever you want.
Ooo! The timer!
Soup now looks like this:
Mmm. Chunky. Julia Child would roll over in her grave if I called this done, so the next step: puree it to death in the blender.
This makes it less vomit-like to look at, and puree'ing the leeks makes everything a little more leek-y. Pulverizing the potatoes actually thickens it up a lot.
Finally, add a few cranks of black pepper, and half of a little carton of half-and-half.
This tastes damn good, if I do say so myself.
When I was a starving student, I used to love this stuff. I still love this stuff. Add hot water, stir, wait a few minutes, and you've got yourself a tasty insta-soup. Just don't look at the ingredients-- mostly flour, salt, potato flakes, and preservatives. That can't be good for you. I wonder if I can make it myself?
(Bonus: In English, cold potato-leek soup is "leftovers", and it is "gross". In France it's known as "vichyssoise", and it is considered "tasty". Go, France!)
The big root thing with the dark green leaves is a leek. Also shown: fennel, potatoes, shallot, and a vodka and soda. Vegetables are for the soup, booze is for the cook. Do not confuse these.
>
Chop up:
- Leeks. Enough to make two cups of leek slices. Use just the white-and-pale green parts of the leek, and chuck the leaves-- they taste gross. Look out for dirt between the leaves.
- Fennel. Also two cups. Just use the "bulb" part, and chuck the rest. Keep a few sprigs for a garnish, if you're feeling fancy.
- Shallot. A shallot is a weird purple mutant root that tastes like a cross between onion and garlic. Hell yes.
- Potatoes. 2.5 pounds of 'em. Peel and dice.
Saute the leeks, fennel, and shallot until the leeks are clearish. Oh man, this smells good. Actually, it smells just like the soup mix, so I must be doing something right. :D
Once everything is sauteed, add potatoes and 4 regular-size cans of vegetable stock. Now everything smells like vegetable stock. Not un-good, but-- HEY! there's high-fructose corn syrup in this! Swanson's, you bastards!
Simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Drink vodka. Update LJ. If anyone would like to get me a cast-iron one of these for Christmas, you will have many many thanks. And soup whenever you want.
Ooo! The timer!
Soup now looks like this:
Mmm. Chunky. Julia Child would roll over in her grave if I called this done, so the next step: puree it to death in the blender.
This makes it less vomit-like to look at, and puree'ing the leeks makes everything a little more leek-y. Pulverizing the potatoes actually thickens it up a lot.
Finally, add a few cranks of black pepper, and half of a little carton of half-and-half.
This tastes damn good, if I do say so myself.