Potato and Leek Soup

The Green Grocer delivery box forces me to try new things. I have never cooked with a leek before. Low and behold, two giant leeks (okay, so they're not so giant, perfectly normal sized for leeks, but having not cooked with them before, they seem quite large) were included in this past week's box. I search the internet for possible recipes. It seems that potatoes and leeks go hand and hand. I came to this conclusion considering that's pretty much all that ever came up in search results. Figuring that I have been missing out on some level of greatness that is potato and leek soup, I felt I needed to make a batch. Here's a combination/modification of several recipes.

1 stick of butter

1 medium onion, sliced

1 giant leek, sliced thin (I used both the green and white parts)

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

3 large russet potatoes, chopped into cubes

7 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon thyme

1/2 half and half

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Sliced chives for garnish

Put all but two tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, and garlic to the pot, sitrring occasionally until soft (about 10 minutes). Raising the heat to high, add the wine and cook for about 5 minutes until the wine is absorbed.

Add the potatoes, water, and salt. Tie the parsley and thyme in a cheesecloth (if you don't have it, I've used the disposable tea bags and they work well) and add to the pot (you'll be removing this later). Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender (about 25 minutes). Remove from heat and cool.

Remove the herbs and transfer the soup to a food processor. Mine is fairly small, so I did it in batches. Be careful not to do too much at once or it'll overflow. Then return the pureed soup to the pot and reheat. Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter, lemon, and cream. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon into a bowl and garnish with chives. It was really yummy with some toasted French bread!