My brother came to town from San Jose, California this past weekend and along with him came a birthday present. Even though my present was five months late, it was something I desperately wanted last Christmas: an immersion blender. For those who do not know what an immersion blender is, let me google that for you. An immersion blender, also called a stick blender is basically a long metal shaft with a blade attached to the bottom end of it. It is best used for hot or cold soups and sauces because you stick the shaft into the pot of ingredients, turn it on, and it blends the whole pot full into a smooth consistency in one step instead of ladling the mixture into an upright blender to be blended in batches.
With my brother in town and a new kitchen toy for me to play with, I decided to make potato and leek soup – perfect for the chilly, snowy Sunday. Now, I can’t recall ever eating potato leek soup, but it was the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of soup and immersion blender. So, on I went to cook up a batch of potato leek soup.My guests enjoying their soup and wine
I looked online for a few recipes and discovered that the main ingredients are potatoes, leeks, stock, and cream. This all makes sense but for some odd reason, I had an instinct that bacon should be another ingredient. And so I made soup.
Recipe:
2 tbs butter
3 strips of bacon, diced
1 medium onion, minced
3 leeks, sliced crosswise
3 medium russet potatoes
1-14 oz can of chicken broth
¾ c heavy cream
Because leeks are very sandy vegetables, the best way to prevent any grit from getting into the dish is to cut the leeks crosswise into ¼” slices and put them in a bowl of water. The sand and grit will sink to the bottom and you simply have to remove the sliced leeks from the bowl.
Because bacon is so fatty, it is difficult to dice. To make dicing easier, freeze the bacon for 5-10 minutes until somewhat firm. The fat solidifies and becomes easier to cut.
In a 3qt pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add the diced bacon. Don’t worry that it is still frozen, just break up the pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook until the bacon starts to brown. Add the minced onion and let sweat for a few minutes or until translucent. Add leeks to the pot and stir. Continue to sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and dice the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the pot and cover with the chicken broth. Add water to the pot, just until the potatoes are covered. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and blend with a stick blender until smooth. Add cream and stir until incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste.
Additionally, you can fry up some extra pieces of bacon, and crumble it on top of each bowl as a garnish.
And how did the soup turn out? It was delicious! It was much better than I thought it would be and the bacon added a smoky depth of flavor that definitely enhanced the soup. The soup was very hearty and filling due to the potatoes and perfect for the cold, wintery, nights that are soon to come. My guests loved it too. My roommate on the other hand, is a vegetarian and politely declined a taste, although she will probably be making a vegetarian version sometime soon.
