Three for Three

With family in town, who like to eat, today has been a frenzy of cooking. Three dishes in three hours.

• Leek and Potato Soup
• Boeuf Bourguinon (ala Julia Child)
• Stuffed pork shoulder (ala moi)

We'll deal with the second and third dishes in later posts.

The Method (Leek and Potato Soup)

With an hour's notice, I was asked to make soup for lunch. This is a simple recipe for that yields a creamy, fresh soup.

1. Chop four slices of bacon into 1# pieces.
2. In a soup pot, brown the bacon in 2 TBs of butter.
3. To the pot, chop and add:
   • 3 large leeks
   • 1 large onion
   • 2 stalks celery
4. Saute the vegetables - without browning - until tender.
5. Add 2 quarts chicken stock.
6. Add 5-6 potatoes, roughly chopped. (I used yellow potatoes, which resulted in a light green color to the soup.)
7. Bring soup to a boil then simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 15-20 minutes).
8. Blend or mash the veggies to create a smooth soup. (I used a potato masher, leaving the pot on the stove.)
9. Optional: add 1-2 C heavy cream at the end. If you do, however, the soup will not freeze well.

The Result

Everyone enjoyed this light (we omitted cream), flavorful soup. I like mine with a heavy grind of black pepper. There's plenty for another meal.