Sunday, December 21, 2008

humble leek and potato soup

Marian Morash says this is a "perfectly simple, humble soup is wonderful for supper on a cold, wet day". I got the recipe from page 158 of the Victory Garden Cookbook, but substituted celeriac for celery and plain yogurt for heavy cream. It was absolutely fantastic!

leek leeks chopped

Gretta pulled this leek from her field last week. (The potatoes, onion and celeriac are from her CSA share.) I'm thinking of growing leeks next year, so I looked up some information. Leeks are another vegetable that do well very late into the cold weather. Along with kale, they are the most cold-tolerant of vegetables.

Different varieties of leeks are better adapted to cold weather. There are two basic types of leeks: summer types (long shanked—bulbless) and winter types (short shanked—slight bulbing). As a general rule, leeks with blue-green leaves tend to be more tolerant of the cold. If established in late summer they can overwinter through the frozen ground and snow pack of northern New England. In fact, the colder the temperature, the sweeter the taste. On the other end of the spectrum, they will endure, but are not particularly fond of temperatures consistently above 85˚F.

leeks chopped 2 leek soup in pot
leek soup leek soup in bowl

My version of the recipe:

3 T butter
2 1/2 C chopped leeks (2 small leeks), chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 C chopped celeriac
2 C roughly chopped potatoes (3 potatoes)
1 quart chicken stock
6 oz plain yogurt
salt and pepper

Melt butter in heavy soup pan, add leeks and onion. Saute until golden. Add potatoes, celeriac, stock. Cover, bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer until potatoes are soft (about 30 minutes). Roughly puree in food processor. Add yogurt, whisk. Season to taste.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bookmark entered! Thanks for all the good info on leeks and weather tolerance. Your pictures look so professional :-) Does this soup freeze well, do you think?

kathy said...

Marion Morash says this soup does indeed freeze well. She recommends to leave out the yogurt/cream, freeze, then add it when you serve the soup.

Linda Lunda said...

Hi!
I hope you will have a ....
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Linda

Matron said...

That looks TRULY wonderful! I love making soups this time of year. I know one very similar called Swiss chalet soup. The same ingredients as yours but you toss in small lumps of gruyere cheese and croutons! Enjoy!

Mrs Flam said...

Num , I might Like this well with Deep Fried Leek Rings. Nurmm...