Perfect Potato Leek Soup

Potato leek soup is one of those, thick, creamy, hearty soups that most everyone loves. The great thing about this soup is that you can prepare it for a vegetarian or meat eaters and everyone will be pleased. Subbing in a vegetable broth for a chicken stock doesn’t always mean that you will lose out on flavor: choose a low-sodium vegetable stock and be sure to season your soup well with pepper, garlic and fresh herbs.

I’ve made a few batches of this soup using vegetable broth and and it has always come out delightful. Twice I have used half and half to thicken up the soup which can be omitted if you have a dairy free diet.

Leeks are interesting vegetables. A man in the grocery store line in front of me questioned me about leeks- how they tasted and what I use them for. They have a very mild, almost sweet onion taste. Don’t be scared by the big green stalks- save those for making stocks. Do not put the tough, green stems into your soup- they don’t taste amazing. Also, be sure to rinse your leeks very well because like spinach, they have a lot of sand and dirt hidden in their folds.

I use Yukon Gold potatoes. It’s a rich buttery taste and I prefer those over your regular Idaho baking potatoes. I suppose fingerling or red potatoes might be interesting too and yes, I keep the skins on.

You will need:

4-5 yukon gold potatoes

3 leeks

2-3 cloves fresh garlic

1 carton of Vegetable broth

teaspoon fresh herbs (thyme, parsely)

1/2 cup of cream or half/half

Sautee the leeks in butter with a little salt and sweat them out for about 10 min. Add your garlic and fresh herbs.  Dice your potatoes and add them in with skins. Add in broth and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer on low for about 20 min. or until potatoes are soft. Use a stick blender to blend your soup together. Let simmer for 15-20 min more. Salt/Pepper to taste. Add cream or half/half and serve hot with toasty french bread. Chives make a great garnish!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes go Blue

My boyfriend loves my garlic mashed potatoes. They are rustic, thick and creamy which is the best comfort food gets I think. But unlike a lot of people’s mashed potatoes, which resemble mountains of pure, white snow, my potatoes still have their skins on, either red or Yukon gold and are mashed into big chunks, not whipped into peaks. This is because I love tasting chunks of potato and roasted garlic- what a flavor!

Usually, I steam my potatoes first, then toss them in with milk, butter, fresh or roasted garlic, salt and pepper and mash away until I am satisfied with their consistency. This past week, in celebrating my boyfriend’s recent accomplishments in his career, I decided to make him garlic mashed potatoes….with a twist!

The day before we had gone to Central Market to purchase some fruit and cheese for our monthly indoor picnic. He was craving a good blue, so we bought a decent sized wedge of Maytag blue cheese. It is so thick and creamy, perfect with apple wedges or crumbled up in salads. But I decided that we should try them in the mashed potatoes and what a great decisions that was indeed.

The real trick to adding a strong cheese in with mashed potatoes is to not over do it. Put a little bit in, stir, melt taste. Repeat until you have the desired amount, keeping in mind that the blue cheese flavor should be a hint in the background, not in the forefront.