POTATO/LEEK SOUP

POTATO/LEEK SOUP image

Yield 6

Number Of Ingredients 19

4 oz. butter
Olive oil
Garlic, 1 minced clove
5 cups leeks (see below for great tip in chopping these)
2 stalks celery
1 large onion
3-4 cups roughly chopped potatoes
2 qts stock (see below)
Splash of Tamari or Soy Sauce
Important secret ingredient: Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth (I use it instead of white wine in just about everything)
Salt and pepper to taste
Stock: (in a pinch, a good organic stock will suffice as well)
Chicken or turkey (best!) carcass, leftover from a roasting chicken or T-day is perfect. Try to include any of the congealed drippings that didn't become gravy.
Large onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks, include some leaves
Large turnip
Water
Pepper, bit of salt optional (I don't)

Steps:

In large soup pot, saute the celery, onions, leeks in butter, olive oil, garlic, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and stock (below). Salt and pepper to taste-I grind in a fair amount of pepper!. Add a splash-maybe ½ cup of the vermouth, and the Tamari/soy. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Give it about an hour, but longer is better. Towards the last 20 minutes or so, add a bit more garlic if desired. This soup really does well with only these simple seasonings! If you want a creamier vs. chunkier soup, use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. Some folks add cream; I don't. I usually mash about half the potatoes but leave some chunks as well. Stock preparation Place the carcass and veggies in large stock pot. I usually just cut the veggies in half, maybe quarters. Cover with water. Bring to boil, add pepper/salt. Reduce to gentle simmer. You will have a good stock in about 1.5 hours; you'll have a great stock if you can leave it for longer-I'll sometimes leave it simmering all afternoon. If needed, add a bit more water. Remove from heat; cool enough to be able to strain out the veggies and meat. Leave the strained stock to set awhile; the fat will rise to the top, easily skimmed off. Refrigerating does this as well. Can be frozen for future use in a Tupperware container. Any stray veggies that can be added will enhance-beans, greens, are good. Easy on broccoli-a bit strong. Any/all root veggies-excellent! For veggie stock-simply omit the carcass.