Leek Soup

[Jared]

Hey everyone.

I'm looking for a great leek soup recipe. Any suggestions?

[Tamra]

Do you have a source for Sorrel? If so, I suggest Sorrel, Pea and leek soup
http://www.eatseasonally.com/kitchen_com.php?recipe=Sorrel,%20Pea%2...

Last winter I had sorrel at this time, but we had really cold weather a few weeks ago so my sorrel died back. But it is really hardy so it will come back late winter. One sorrel plant is plenty for a whole family, it is easy to grow and so pretty that mine is in my flower bed.

I also like onion soup
http://www.eatseasonally.com/kitchen_com.php?recipe=Onion%20Soup
The original recipe calls for a mixture of onions, leeks, shallots and scallions, but I usually just use what ever I have, and it is always good.

[Jared]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't have sorrel, but I'll keep my eyes peeled.

[Maggie]

Well one of my favourite Southern Australian winter soups is

Leek, mushroom and potato soup
Ingredients
2 sliced leeks
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 large potatoes (cut in 1cm dice)
2 to 4 very large mushrooms
3 crushed cloves of garlic
3 to 4 cups of water or stock
salt and pepper
a good handful of chopped parsley
1/2 to 1 cup cream or milk (optional)

Saute leeks in oil until starting to soften (add a little stock if dry)
Add the potatoes and stock and cook until almost soft.
Add the diced mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Stir in the cream and parsley and serve .

You can vary this recipe by adding any blanched green that you have .
It is also good if you add broccoli, frozen peas or more potatoes and leeks instead of the mushrooms.
You can thicken the soup with a little cornflour, or even puree the soup to make a creamy soup.
We grow lots of leeks, the secret to cooking leeks is just to cook them down slowly to soften and develop their flavour.

[Tamra]

This sounds good, I don't have any leeks at the moment but I think I will buy some to try this.

[Maggie]

Works just fine with onions, maybe a little thyme for extra flavour.

[Tamra]

I made this. It was great!! Thanks Maggie.

[Jared]

It does sound good. Thanks, also, for the reply!

[Eliza]

Leek & Potato Soup

Serves 6

-3 medium waxy potatoes, peeled, 1/2" diced
-4 leeks (3 lbs), tough greens removed, finely sliced (4 cups)
-4 & 1/2 cups water, milk, vegetable, or chicken broth
-salt to taste
-some unsalted butter or herb butter (parsley, chervil, mint, etc.)

Combine potatoes, leeks, & liquid in a 4-quart pot. Bring to simmer and cook gently until the potatoes are easy to crush against the side of the pot, about 20 minutes.

Add salt to taste, ladle into hot bowls, put a slice of butter on each serving, pass the pepper mill.
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And this isn't a soup, but risotto is a bit soupy, so I'm including it because I like this recipe (enough that when I opened the book, I was on the exact page I needed).

Leek, Mushroom, & Lemon Risotto

Serves 4

-8 oz. trimmed leeks (slice in half lengthwise & chop roughly)
-2 to 3 cups cremini or wild mushrooms, roughly chopped
-2 tbsp olive oil
-3 garlic cloves, crushed
-6 tbsp butter
-1 large onion, roughly chopped
-1 & 3/4 cups risotto rice
-5 cups simmering vegetable stock
-grated zest of one lemon
-3 tbsp lemon juice
-2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
-1/4 cup mixed chopped fresh chives and flat-leaf parsley
-salt & freshly ground black pepper
-lemon wedges, to serve

Heat oil in large saucepan and cook garlic for 1 minute. Add leeks, mushrooms, salt & pepper and cook over medium heat until softened and browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Add 2 tbsp of the butter to the pan. As soon as it has melted, add the onion & cook over medium heat until softened and golden. Stir in rice and cook about 1 minute, until the grains begin to look translucent and are coated in fat. Add a ladleful of stock and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue to add stock, a ladleful at a time, until all the stock has been absorbed. The risotto will turn thick and creamy and the grains should be tender.

Just before serving, stir in the leeks, mushrooms, remaining butter, grated lemon zest, and juice. Add half the grated Parmesan and herbs. Adjust the seasoning and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan & herbs. Serve with lemon wedges.

[Maggie]

I am going to make this tonight, I have lots of leeks, some mushrooms,chives ,lemon and parsley.
I shall make extra and then make risotto cakes.
I

[Eliza]

Ooh... risotto cakes are a great idea!

[Chad Ward]

Just joined, so I hope you don't mind me jumping in with both feet. Here's my potato leek soup recipe. The tips & tricks at the end are from my knife skills book. Ignore them if you're already comfortable with your knives.

Chad

Potato Leek Soup
Techniques: Medium dice, small dice, finely sliced leeks, brunoise
Yield: About 2 quarts, enough for 8 servings (or 4 with plenty left over for freezing).
Cooking time: About 45 minutes

This soup can be either rustic or refined. Without the cream and left chunky, it is a hearty mid-winter family dinner. When pureed with the cream and topped with a bright garnish, you have a more elegant version suitable for brown-nosing your boss or the head of the homeowner’s association who thinks your planned outbuilding/roller disco rink might not pass muster.

This soup also makes a great base for other variations. You can add carrots, broccoli, spinach or parsnips. If adding hard vegetables, dice them small and add to the simmering stock with the potatoes. Simmer until tender. Puree or not as you see fit.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1/4lb thick cut smoked bacon cut to a small dice – ¼ inch cubes
3 medium leeks trimmed, rinsed and cut across the grain into 1/8 inch strips (3-4 cups)
One half of a large yellow onion, cut into small dice – ¼ inch cubes (1 to 1-1/2 cups)
4 medium or 3 large russet potatoes (1½ - 2lbs), peeled, medium dice – ½ inch cubes (about 4 cups)
6 cups of chicken stock (if you don’t have homemade stock, the Swansons reduced sodium stuff is pretty good for store bought)
Salt & pepper to taste

Optional: ½ pint (1 cup) heavy cream

Garnishes include brunoised red pepper (fine diced to 1/8″ cubes), finely sliced chives or minced parsley.

Procedure
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or soup pot until it shimmers. Before the oil begins to smoke, stir in the bacon and sauté over medium heat for 5-7 minutes to render the fat. If the bacon starts to crisp too much, turn the heat down. There is still some additional cooking to do before we add any liquid, and even though the vegetables will help we don’t want the bacon to turn into little carbon briquettes.

Add the leek and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are very soft and the leeks have reduced in volume by about half.

Add the chicken stock and potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Use white pepper if you want to maintain the sophisticated pale vichyssoise look. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender enough to fall apart.

The soup can be served as is or you can use a potato masher to break up the potatoes for the rustic version. I take it off the heat, add the cream and puree with a stick (immersion) blender until mostly smooth. You can use a regular blender, too. Just be careful and work in batches. Garnish with any of the options listed above or simply top with buttery croutons.

Tips, tricks and techniques:

1) Partially freeze your bacon. Buy thick cut bacon that comes stacked rather than fanned out in the flat package. If you have a 1 pound package, simply cut a quarter of it off the end. I keep a supply of bacon cut into quarter pound chunks in the freezer just for cooking. If you have the fanned out package, stack several slices on top of one another until you have a quarter pound and wrap in plastic. Place your bacon in the freezer for about thirty minutes before you begin your prep work. It should be firm but not frozen solid. This is about the only way to cleanly dice bacon. Otherwise it just slithers all over the cutting board.

Once the bacon is firm, cut lengthwise into 1/4″ strips and then again crosswise into 1/4″ cubes.

2) Wash your leeks well. Leeks are a member of the Allium family, along with onions, garlic, shallots and scallions. Like most members of the family, leeks come in layers. Unlike the other members of the family, leeks suck up lots of dirt and sand which gets trapped between the layers. For the more elegant version of this soup use just the white parts of the leeks. Even if you choose to use the pale green parts too, trim off the fibrous dark green tops and save for stock. Cut off the root end and discard. Slice the trimmed leeks in half lengthwise. Fan each piece out like a book under running water and rinse away any dirt or sand caught in the layers. Slice each leek across the grain into 1/8″ slices. When you want a leek or onion to break down in cooking (which we do in this soup) you can facilitate things by cutting across the grain. When you want it to hold together (as with onions for a salad), cut with the grain.

3) Cut the onion in half, lengthwise, through the root (the beard looking thing). Trim off the blossom end (the side opposite the root) and peel the onion. Place the onion cut side down on the board, rest your flying hand lightly on top to keep it from sliding. Place your chef’s knife parallel to the cutting board and make a series of three or four horizontal cuts from blossom end to root, stopping before you get to the root. The root is your anchor and will hold everything together as you work. Don’t saw. Pull the knife through in a smooth stroke from the heel to tip, cutting toward the root end of the onion. Then draw the tip of the knife lengthwise through the onion, making a series of parallel slices starting at the root. Slice across the onion to produce the dice. The closer the cuts in these last two steps, the finer the dice. We’re looking for between 1/8″ and 1/4″ – about the width of your chef’s knife where the blade meets the handle.

4) If you want a perfect dice on the potato, square it off first, trimming each side flat and parallel so you have a rectangular block of potato. Cut 1/2″ planks from the block. Stack two or three planks at a time and cut 1/2″ batons lengthwise from which you can produce perfect 1/2″ cubes when you cut across. Perfection is not a necessity for this soup. The potatoes will break down anyway. But this is practice, remember?

[Jared]

Dang man! Nice details. Thanks for sharing!