After a solid week of making soups, you’d think we would be tired of them. Well, we had reached a saturation point last week because homemade soups usually make more servings than we can eat, so it’s soup for lunch and dinner some nights. And don’t get me started on breakfast soup – yes such a thing exists. There are recipes, some sweet, some savory, but I just could not embrace it.
I was looking for a recipe that used leeks since I had a few in my fridge. Potato Leek Soup is the most common recipe that kept cropping up so I though I’d make it.
I particularly had fun deciphering the ingredients in the English (U.K.) version of this soup. I love my friends who live in England, but I have to say there are times when I don’t think we are speaking the same language. Take this ingredient for instance – 3 rashers streaky bacon. A little investigation revealed a rasher is equivalent to a piece. Got it! And I loved their description of cream as “pot single cream.”
Well, I’ve thought for years the way the English describe cream is a bit odd. When I first ventured to England some 30 years ago, my friend invited me to a clotted cream tea. As an American I wasn’t quite sure if that was tea accompanied by cream that had gone “off” or what. What I learned is that clotted cream is a most delicious cream (similar to a non-sweet whipped cream) that is paired with scones. Yum!
Let me circle back to the potato leek soup. I have several recipes that I like. My favorite version is somewhere in my stack of recipes and did not surface in time for this post, so I just improvised with ingredients and created today’s lunch. Hope you enjoy it!
Serves 6
Save RecipeIngredients
- • 2 slices of bacon (or 2 rashers if you want to go with the English) Omit for vegetarian
- • 2 medium sized leeks, cleaned and chopped (chop green part about ½ way up)
- • 4 large red potatoes, peeled and chopped
- • ¼ cup onion chopped
- • 2 tablespoons butter
- • 2 tablespoons flour
- • 1 14-oz can chicken stock (can double amount of chicken stock if you don't want to use vegetable stock and vice versa)
- • 1-2 tablespoons vegetable bouillon or 1-2 cups vegetable stock
- • 2 cups whole milk
- • ¼ cup cream (optional - makes soup richer flavored and adds a little thickness)
- • Salt and pepper
- • Sprig of fresh thyme
- • ¼ cup cheddar cheese shredded
- • Chives finely chopped for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Chop bacon into fine bits and fry to crisp up. Remove from pan and reserve for garnish.
- Sauté onions, leeks, and potatoes in butter.
- Sprinkle flour over vegetables in pan. Stir to incorporate. This will thicken the soup.
- Add chicken stock, vegetable bouillon, milk, and cream, salt, pepper, and sprig of thyme.
- Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Check for doneness when potatoes and vegetables are soft.
- Serve with toppings of your choice (chives, cheese, bacon bits).
Nutrition
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