Sunday is Food Day: Vichyssoise

I recently had the good fortune to happen upon a used copy of Mark Bittman's "The Best Recipes in the World", and it has already been a great resource; if you come across a used copy be sure to pick one up. For Bittman fans, it's a good approach to a cookbook: an enormous hardbacked monster of a book, 1000 recipes from everywhere, and especially useful if you've got ingredients but no specific direction you want to go. Yesterday at the market, there were leeks. I was contemplating buying only one at $0.50, but the hawker successfully upsold me to 5/$2. And a good thing, as almost immediately I realized that I needed to make some cold leek and (also market-purchased) potato soup. Which would be vichyssoise.

Ingredients:

• 5 baby leeks, white bits only, well-rinsed and sliced
• 3 medium potatoes (Yukon Gold in this case), diced
• 5 cups veggie stock (this one derived from collard stems, Swiss Chard chaff, fresh garlic bits)
• 3 tbs. butter
• 1 c. whole milk (calls for 1/2 c. cream, so just upping for more fat)
• salt
• pepper

Procedure:

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat; add leeks and stir occasionally for 5-8 min. Keep heat moderate and cook until leeks are soft
2. Season with salt and pepper, and add the potatoes. Mix thoroughly, and cook for one minute
3. Add the stock and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30 min.
4. Pour into large bowl and let cool to room temp, either in fridge or not.
5. Pour from bowl into blender, and blend until smooth, adding milk now.
6. Return to fridge and cool; serve cold and enjoy!

Verdict:

TBD – still in process as of this writing.