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Thursday, January 12, 2006
what I ate last: Leek and potato soup Why is it that home-made soups are always better than even the most superior restaurant/shop versions? I often get soup for lunch near work and (although it comes from Konditor and Cook) it is distinctly underwhelming almost all the time - too thin and too salty, as if to make up for the lack of substance in it - and also with way too much of whatever herb they decide goes, for the same reason. There is never any texture, which for me is the key thing about soup. Sometimes the soup tastes like it is just salt, pepper and herb. I think they cheat in ways that they would never do with their superb cakes, and use crap out of a tin for the rest, although I have no proof. They should have more pride. Anyway, today I am working at home, so I got to make myself soup for lunch. Ah, how nice. It was so simple, and so good. How can anyone make those leek and potato soups that are all smooth and bland, when a semi-chunky textural one is so much better? and why do people feel the need to load the thing with cream and even cheese, until the fact that it actually has delicious potato and leek in it gets completely lost? My version went like this: Finely slice a small onion and a couple of garlic cloves into thin crescents, and start to sweat in a saucepan while cutting up a couple of large potatoes into decent cubes (without peeling. I like the taste of the skin). When the onion is translucent, add the potato and sweat for a few minutes until the potato starts smelling nice and sweet, then add water, some Marigold powder, a bay leaf and a little black pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the potato is pretty much cooked. Meanwhile, cut up a leek along the diagonal roughly every half-inch or so. Add to the soup, but reserve a little bit of the leek to add raw at the end as a garnish. Simmer gently until the leek is soft. Then I just crushed most of the potato (which is already collapsing) against the side of the pan with the wooden spoon, so it thickens the soup but there are still some chunks around. If you were making a larger quantity you could blend it really quickly before you add the leek, just one or two pulses so it is still textural. While the leek is cooking, finely chop up some raw ginger and the left-over leek as a garnish. I also found a small left-over smoked kabanos (Polish sausage) in the fridge, sliced that up and added it to the soup to bring a bit of smokey depth, which was really nice. When you are ready to serve, check the seasoning, then sprinkle the ginger and leek on top of the soup once you've dished it into the bowl. Delicious, homely, warming, textured, filling - what more do you want for a January lunch that takes about 20 mins from start to finish? 0 comments permalink  
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