Recipe: Dill-icious Cream of Potato Leek Soup

[kaasirpent]

prunesnprisms asked everyone to post their favorite recipe and also include it as a comment to her original post on this very subject. In the interest of sharing the joy, I include here my recipe for Cream of Potato Leek Soup. It originated (as far as I know) with my mother (chend), then I got hold of it and started tweaking, including elements from Julia Child's version. This is my #1 comfort food. I can't think of a single thing I'd rather eat when I need comfort. And it's become something of a tradition in our family to eat this soup the night before Christmas.

By the way, just to show you how indeterminate the recipe is, compare the one below with the one I put on my journal back in January of this year. They're the same, yet different, because it's quite different each time I make it. You should treat this as some sort of object lesson in how cooking isn't an exact science and that, for those who've been doing it for a while, a recipe is nothing more than a guideline. :)

Dill-icious Cream of Potato Leek Soup

Second recipe

3 large or about 8 small russet potatoes
1-2 leeks
2-3 stalks celery
salt to taste
pepper to taste
garlic to taste
dill weed
1-2 Tbsp butter
1-2 cups sour cream
1-2 cups milk (GUESSTIMATE)

Peel the potatoes and cut them into approximately 1" chunks. Cover them with water in a pot large enough to accommodate the potatoes and enough water to cover them and still not boil over. Slice the leek (use as much of it as you feel comfortable using; leeks vary widely in how much of the green is tender enough to eat) and the celery into the pot.

Add some salt, some pepper, some garlic. Bring this to a hard boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked, but not mushy. (Test: a fork should easily go into the potatoes without pressure, but the potatoes shouldn't be falling apart when you stir them with a spoon.). You should have water BARELY covering them by this point.

With a hand-held potato masher (or one of those hand-blenders), you want to break the potatoes into small chunks, but don't CREAM them--you want it to have a chunky texture, but no HUGE chunks, you know? Sure you do. (Unless you like a silky smooth, creamy texture, which I sometimes make for my grandmother, who has denture problems. Then go for it.)

Now, add the butter and the dill and turn it down to low. Cover for 2 to 5 minutes and let the dill "blend," taste-wise. Uncover and whisk in the sour cream. I go entirely by color and smell and texture. If you like a lot of sour cream, add a lot. If you're not fond of sour cream, cut it out completely and just use milk (or cream, if you want to go all out). Once you have "enough" sour cream, let the soup simmer for a few minutes to bring it back up to temperature. Once it is hot again, slowly add the milk while whisking or stirring to blend.

The reason I put GUESSTIMATE up there is that I go by color, smell, taste, and texture. You want enough milk that the soup turns a white-ISH color, but you don't want it so milky that it tastes like milk with potatoes in it. You want it to taste like potatoes with milk in it. This recipe makes enough for about 5 - 6 bowls (depending on the bowl) and I use almost 1 1/2 cups of milk and about 1 cup of sour cream. Usually. :)

Once you have "enough" milk, heat it on low until it's hot, but don't let the milk curdle, because that would be pretty disgusting. 

Makes 5 to 6 single-bowl servings. Great with a grilled cheese sandwich and some crackers, but you probably knew that already. Serve piping hot--this is best when it's almost hot enough to burn your tongue but not so hot that you can't eat it.
Note: Two of the hardest foods to get salty enough are potatoes and anything involving cream or milk. It's best to get the potatoes salty enough when you're cooking them that you don't have to add a lot at the end. A sure sign that I've failed is when people keep sprinkling salt into the bowl after the initial taste.

Comments

[ex-prunesnp.livejournal.com]

Yes, the potato pie is mildly different every time I make it too. I have a whole list of 'dairy' you can put into it if you're out of 'whatever' and the same for liquor, flavoring, pie crust, sweetenings, etc. It usually still turns out right; I think the key is 'egg' 'yam' and 'cloves'.

I think I'll give this soup a try after we get back from Thanksgiving.

[kaasirpent]

Let me know how it turns out. :)