School can get busy sometimes (and by sometimes, I mean all the time :), and a good way to make sure you're eating well--or eating at all! is to cook once for the whole week. Especially if you are on a budget (which I assume most grad students are), cooking your own food is probably less expensive and probably healthier (unless you're eating vegetables in butter soup or baking cookies with shortening--then not so much). This soup recipe is originally from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Druker and Silverstein. I picked it up one day at the Tattered Cover last year and I am just now using it for the second time. It's a pretty fantastic cookbook! Especially since it seems to be themed around New England (oh, how convenient, that I am in NJ). It also throws in some recipes for sandwiches and salads.
On Tuesday night, Ben and I made a potato leek soup with the following:
- 7 lbs - leeks (white and pale green parts only) sliced into 1/4" rounds
- 8 tbsp - salted butter, melted, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 4 whole cloves - garlic, peeled
- 6-8 Yukon Gold potatoes - peeled and diced
- 8 cups - chicken broth
- 1 tsp - ground bay leaves
- 1 tsp - celery salt
- 1 tsp - crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp - Worcestershire sauce (L&P)
- 1/2 tsp - ground nutmeg
- 1.5 cups - light cream
- snipped fresh chives, for garnish
I'll let you figure out how to make it...get the recipe if you want but from my experience, here are some
Lessons learned:
- definitely wash them leeks good---I get a good mineral-y crunch from time to time (whoops). Mom suggested cutting the leeks at their roots and holding them by the dark, leafy green end to get all the sand that collects at the bottom of the leeks. DO THIS.
- get rid of any of the tough parts of the leeks. DO only used the white/pale green parts of the leeks for this recipe, and if you want to keep the dark green parts, you can slice then thinner (long ways) and used them in another dish, sauteed with stuff...or toss 'em in scrambled eggs.
- we used russet potatoes; they worked just fine. And by fine, they were great.
- I only have unsalted butter. I think using salted is a good idea. Usually I don't like using much S&P (which is why my butter is unsalted), but in this, it'll be good. It won't be too salty at all, IMO.
- we didn't have all the spices---still was super yum
This was the perfect soup for the season! It lasted for a whole week, and tasted pretty darn hearty and delicious on day 6. Throughout the week, I mixed it up w/ either some pasta or one day, Paul made some fresh bread which was O-so-good, dipped into the soup.
(and as a general rule of thumb, I'll organic ingredients when I can...or just when my wallet is feeling extra generous that day :D
that's my new, lil' basil plant in the back--winn
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