Potato Soup (Vegetarian, Even)
The resident 7-year old keeps a lot of notebooks. LOTS AND LOTS of notebooks. Several are used as journals, while others are filled with notes about all sorts of things. In the ultimate of crazy coincidences, if you ask her why she keeps all of the notebooks, she'll say "to help me remember stuff."
Huh. Someone I know maintains a blog for that exact same reason.
Earlier in the week I realized that she was asking me a million questions and then writing down my answers. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I want to remember your Potato Soup recipe," she replied. "It's one of my favorites."
Huh. Someone I know posts recipes on a blog every Sunday night for that exact same reason.
So I guess I owe future Alexis my Potato Soup recipe. For what it's worth, she has a few things wrong in her notebook. For example, I don't know why she decided there are onions in it, because there aren't. I like leeks for this better.
No matter, it's a really good soup. I just need the resident 7-year old to unlock that "can peel potatoes" achievement so that we can make it more often.
Potato Soup (Vegetarian, even)
10 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3/4 cup sliced carrots
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
3 leeks, chopped (just the white part)
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups heavy cream
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1. Fill a large stock pot with water and toss in the diced potatoes, carrots, and celery. Boil at medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until it all begins to soften. Don't let the veggies get mushy, though. You want them edible, but not necessarily appropriate for the toothless crowd.
2. Drain the water from the pan, but keep it. You're going to add some of the potato water to the soup at the end.
3. In a nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Toss in the leeks and sauté until the leeks begins to soften.
4. Add in the flour and stir with a fork until the butter and flour join together in beautiful harmony.
5. Gradually add the heavy cream, stirring constantly. If it seems like you're making a typical white sauce, it's because you are. So far.
6. Once the heavy cream is fully incorporated, pour it over your cooked potatoes and such. At this point, you should have some really delicious potatoes that aren't quite a soup.
7. Remember that potato water? Now is when you want to use it. Add a little at a time to the soup until it reaches a thickness/soupiness that you're happy with. I end up adding about two cups, but it's OK if you go with more or less. Do a whole bunch of stirring as you go so that you can be sure of how thick your soup is.
8. Add salt and black pepper to taste. I usually go with a teaspoon of each.
9. Turn the heat on and keep that stock pan over medium/low heat until you're totally happy with the softness of the potatoes and such. I end up cooking it for about five minutes.
10. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and crackers. Because OF COURSE you need crackers. It's the law!
Now somebody convince Alexis that cheese is the best food ever. She still doesn't believe me.
Recipe
Reader Comments (1)
hi, future alexis. i love you. andn your momma for pasting this recipe!