Potato Leek Soup

I am a soup person. I always have been, always will be! I love nearly every soup that goes into my mouth. However, my favorite soups typically have some sort of cream base. I LOVE cream. It has been to my great woe and sorrow to find that most soups in Stuttgart are "broth" based soups. So, in order to get a nice, creamy, yummy soup that I love, I have to make it at home. SIGH!

Our church decided to revise, expand, and update its Cookbook. The new cookbook was unveiled for the purchasing on this past Sunday, so... of course, being the food addict that I am, I had to buy it.

The potato leek soup that you see below is the first recipe that I've tried from the new cookbook. Despite the shoddy photography (I was hungry!), you shouldn't be surprised to see that the soup is indeed made with cream.


Leek and Potato Soup
Recipe by Frances Buttle

3 potatoes
2 leeks
1 pint vegetable stock
milk or cream (milk? whatever for?)
bacon bits
chopped parsley or chives
salt & pepper
olive oil

Peel and dice the potatoes. Wash, trim, and slice the leeks. Add a little olive oil to a large saucepan and add the potatoes and leeks, toss in the oil, put the lid on the pan, and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the stock. Stir and simmer for 25 minutes. Dry fry the bacon bits until crispy.

Blend the soup until it is thick but not lumpy. Add a slosh of CREAM, season with salt, pepper, herbs. Stir in bacon bits, then serve with crusty bread.

NOTE: I was a bit liberal with the recipe, for a few reasons. First of all, I have no blending device at home, so "blending" the soup wasn't about to happen. And, well, Nate and I love chunks, so the thought of taking away those big beautiful pieces of potato was a bit hard for me. Also, instead of frying the bacon separately, I just fried it up in the large saucepan (my big soup-pan) while I was chopping the potatoes and leeks, and then threw the potatoes and leeks into the bacon grease. Yes, we are also bacon lovers, so the extra bacon flavor was welcomed. I also didn't simmer the potatoes for 25 minutes. They were soft/done much earlier than that, possibly because the chunks I made weren't terribly huge? Finally, I definitely added more than a "slosh" of cream. I added a whole container (gulp). I also added a bit of Italian seasoning along with the parsley, just for kicks. I hope Frances won't kill me for messing with the recipe, but I was having fun, and it ended up tasting incredible. I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch!