Bouchon’s Potato and Leek Soup
We’re okay so far! Noah is going back to work tomorrow after an 11-day asymptomatic quarantine. I got a test on Saturday and received results negative yesterday. Seems like his test was a false positive, since we both didn’t develop symptoms, and I tested negative after 7 days of exposure to him. But this week wasn’t easy to live through. Going to sleep every night felt like gambling, hoping to wake up feeling no worse than the day before. And tomorrow, it’s back to covid icu for him. I really wish it would have been an asymptomatic positive in hindsight so he can have some immunity, but of course we should just be grateful we didn’t get sick.
We did end up going ahead and cooking for Thanksgiving, although only five people split up enough food for 9 or 10. That’s okay! It was nice to have a super full fridge full of food.
And also to get rid of that food suddenly and be able to put things in the fridge again.
And to be able to raid the fridge during a bout of hunger and actually find food. A rarity in this house.
I made some good mini pies with the tartine dough + bravetart filling. Baking smaller ones was kind of tricky, since the apples cooked faster than the crust. But the top crust turned out beautifully! Maybe I’ll make it again, try a blind bake, and post the recipe+notes.
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I made this soup from the leftover ingredients from cooking for Thanksgiving: leeks from the stuffing, potatoes, tons of onions, leftover thyme/parsley from various dishes, cream from the gratin, pecorino we grated but didn’t use. We served it with sourdough I made w/ everything bagel spice. It was a comforting cold winter soup.
I’ve included the original recipe along with what I actually had on hand, which yielded a decent soup.
Bouchon’s Potato & Leek Soup
Sweat over medium heat for 3-5 minutes:
4 Tbsp butter
2 lb leeks, rinsed well between the layers & cut into 1/4-inch slices
2/3 cup onions, thinly sliced
1 cup shallots, thinly sliced
generous pinches of salt & pepper
Vegetables should sweat, but not brown. Meanwhile, prep potatoes (#4.)
Add and saute for a few more minutes:
2 Tbsp minced garlic
Add for a quick tossy toss:
1 lb potato (about 2 large russets), cut into 1/4-inch slices
Add and bring to a boil:
10 cups chicken broth
sachet
16 thyme springs
4 sprigs parsley
handful black peppercorns
4 bayleaves
Lower to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender.
Let soup cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the sachet of herbs.
Transfer in batches to a high-powered blender, and blend until very smooth.
Only fill the blender halfway.
Start at low speed, and gradually increase the speed, so the hot soup won’t splatter
I usually also vent the top and use a towel to cover the hole
For a more refined texture, strain through a fine-meshed strainer.
Return soup to pot, and bring it to a simmer again.
Finish the soup. Add and simmer for 5 minutes:
1.5 cups cream
Stir some minced chives in; save some for garnish.
To serve: (can be served chilled too)
drizzle lightly with olive oil
add a grind of black pepper
top with reserved chives
TG Leftovers Potato Allium Soup
Sweat over medium heat while forgetting and doing other things:
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 lb leeks, cut into thin slices
4 sweet onions, sliced haphazardly into slices
1 cup shallots, thinly sliced
generous pinch of salt & pepper
Accidentally brown some of your butter, and deglaze with onions. Stir vegetables occasionally and prep potatoes.
Add and saute for a few more minutes:
3 Tbsp chopped garlic
Add:
2 lb potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 cups reinforced chicken/turkey broth
4 cups water + 2 tsp better-than-bouillon chicken paste
3 cups leftover box chicken stock
16 sprigs of thyme, haphazardly tied w/ a sprig of parsley
4 sprigs of parsley, tied w/ a string of parsley
5 bayleaves, floating wildly
heavy cracks of black pepper
Bring to a boil, and lower to a simmer for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender.
Blend soup immediately with immersion blender.
Strain soup through a fine mesh strainer, and reserve the pulp.
Reserve 1 qt of soup in the pot, and return pulp to the pot. Blend again. The smaller volume/thicker liquid will allow the immersion blender to break it down better than the first round.
Strain the rest of the soup.
Return soup to pot, bring to a simmer, and add:
1 cup leftover pecorino cheese
1 cup cream
more salt & pepper to taste
To serve:
drizzle lightly with olive oil
add lots of black pepper
top with microwave-steamed kale chiffonade
Microwave-steamed greens:
I first learned about it from one of Kenji Lopez-Alt’s videos from the early days of quarantine, where he microwaved some gai lan to “blanch it” for his stir-fry. He also writes about it extensively in Food Lab, a recent book purchase of mine. Since March, I’ve done it to lots of sturdy greens and it’s so much faster and less messy compared to boiling water and shocking in an ice bath.
Basically I wash greens, don’t bother draining them super well, and put them on a plate to microwave for 90 seconds + 30 seconds at a time until desired doneness. Usually most veggies are done in under 3 minutes.
My soup was warm and comforting. There’s not really any standout flavors, but a mellow velvety warm thing for the winter + some kale for fiber and nutrients. Very delicious, would make again with actual correct amount of leeks.
Notes:
Adaptation from Bouchon book: blending in a spicy, peppery green like sorrel or arugula.
Personal adaptation for next time: adding less liquid, cooking more (smaller diced) potato, and folding in corn. Maybe even blending some corn. We made a potato and corn chowder at Union Loafers years ago via quite a different method, but I imagine some corn would be nice in a thicker version of this soup too.
I don’t usually use bags for stock, and I find tying the herbs together works well as long as you don’t stir vigorously and remember the number of bay leaves you add. For the same reason, I crack more pepper instead of throwing in peppercorns, even though the flavor might be subtly different.
Lastly, three of the very few pictures from Thanksgiving we took.
