2013-10-21

Potato and Leek Soup

Today for dinner it was potato and leek soup. That was the intent that was the lofty goal. Reality was it turned out to be potato applesauce. Ok, I didn't put apples in it but imagine mashed potatoes with the consistency of applesauce. That was the result.

I wish I had taken pictures.

I took the recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics. My mistake? Oh, many mistakes I'm sure. But soup tends to be forgiving. That's why my latest cooking fad has focused on soups. Among my many likely mistakes I'm sure one was by ridicoulsly large potatoes. The recipe called for 3 potatoes. I opted for the gargantuane (sp?) regular brown baking potatoes. I should have realized it when I needed a forklift to get them to the car. They were probably twice as big as the recipe intended. Additionally if I had done a little more reading or YouTube viewing I might have actually chosen a less starchy potato. I knew I was in trouble when I went to pour the soup out of the blender and nothing came out. It was just that thick.

Moreover I probably should have let it cool off a little more before I blended it. The recipe called for cooling it out some before blending but when have I ever actually paid attention to what the recipe actually said. I think that too contributed to the stickiness. 

I tired making up for it by adding another cup and a half of chicken broth. That might have worked if I didn't then decide to follow the recipe and add half a cup of heavy cream. 

Overall the tast was good. My wife tasted the leeks. I didn't. I couldn't taste anything but the potatoes. I don't think that was the recipe I think it was because of the monolithic potatoes I used. What I was able to taste wa good. It's just hard for me to judge whether I succeeded or not because of course I've never had potato and leek soup.