This Spring, Picky Library Man and I purchased a share of the crops of a group of local farmers. Every week I pick up a bag of produce like a good little hippie, and every week it's a surprise. Last week I got, among other things, leeks. I know exactly one leek recipe: potato soup! I'm probably less than ¼ Irish, but to see the way I eat you'd think I was a redheaded Dubliner named Erin O'Connor. Before I go into a Bubba-like list of all the ways I like to eat potatoes, why don't we just make the thing?
First things first:
First, peel about 2.5 (half a bag) of potatoes. If you like your soup really chunky, you can do more. No biggie. These are pretty big potatoes, so I cut them in half, then I cut each half like so:
Chuck your potatoes in a medium-sized pot and drown them.
Salt the water. Don't worry about overdoing it, b/c it's completely impossible. This is how much I used, and I ended up adding WAAAAAAY more later. So have at it.
Cover that sumbitch up and turn up the heat on those suckers to med-high. They've got to cook for awhile.
Now I want you to take your bacon out of the package, and cut the pack in half.
Put half of it in a Ziploc bag and save it for later. Then hack up the other half into strips about half an inch wide. (You could do it one strip at a time … if you like wasting time.)
Just throw away that last bit that's all fat. You'll have plenty of bacon grease without it.
Dead pig never looked so good.
Now it's time to make that pork fry. Turn the burner on to medium heat, and break up the pieces of bacon into a stockpot. Here's how I do it. Put your thumb under the ridge and flick it in. Once you get the hang of it, you can do it two-handed.
While that's frying, chop up the most frightening thing in Picky Library Man's life.
Duh duh DUUUUHHHH!!!!! Onion. Oh, the horror. Now, if I didn't live with a neurotic onion-hater, I would dice this up. But I do. So I cut it into rings so that I can have my onion and PLM can easily pick them out.
After you're done, you should probably stir up your bacon. Then take your leek and chop off its crew cut.
Peel off the slimy skin.
Then chop it up like so – the white and light green parts. Chop up two leeks.
Awesome, now check your bacon. When it's still looking a little underdone...
Drain out some of the bacon grease, but for the love of god, make sure the bowl isn't meltable. But leave a few tablespoons in the pot.
Fish the renegade bacon chunks out of the bowl of grease. Either toss it back in the pot or munch on it. You're the chef, you deserve it!
Now add in your onion and leeks.
Stir the onion and leeks around and try to break them up. The leeks will get easier to break up as they soften. Sautee until the onions are soft and just starting to turn brown.
Add in a quart of milk. I used 2%, but I'm sure whole would also be delightful. Skim milk in potato soup is an unholy sin.
Just in case it's been too long since you learned this, 1 quart = 4 cups.
Now add in a quart of water. (Again … that's 4 cups. I know what you're thinking – why can't we use the metric system?? So much easier.)
And next, ¼ cup of clucker juice.
Now, add in some salt. I wound up putting twice this much in and it still needed more when it was done. So really, it's hard to overdo it. Potatoes soak up a lot of salt! I'd do AT LEAST 2 Tbsp.
Next add your black pepper and white pepper, and turn up your heat to medium-high.
Now, I want you to get the broth hot, but don't let it boil. See how it's just starting to think about bubbling? It's saying, "Don't tease, baby."
But oh yeah, we're gonna tease it.
Sadly this is the point at which my camera died, so there are no more pictures. Right around this time, my potatoes were done. You can tell by sticking a fork in them – if the fork slides through easily, they're done. Anyway, drain the potatoes and let them sit on a cool surface until we're ready for them.
Next we're going to make a roux! If you've never made one, you're in for a treat. People will be hella impressed over your skills, b/c roux are often used in French cooking. But we're trashy, and just using it to thicken our soup. Melt a stick of butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat and then add in ½ cup of flour all at once. Mix with a whisk until it's incorporated, and keep it hot hot hot, mixing continuously, for 1 minute. It should be pasty and gross looking – don't worry, that's normal. Don't let food snobs give you anxiety over how you're making your roux, it's perfect for this soup, trust me.
Anyway, after a minute of mixing it, stir it slowly into your pot of hot broth. Then add in your potatoes and about 2 tablespoons (total) of some combination of parsley and/or thyme. (I like more parsley than thyme … but make it to your preference.) Put a lid on it, reduce the heat to low, simma down now for about 45 minutes.
Then, taste your broth – does it need more salt or pepper? Tinker to your heart's content! Then plop some in a bowl and garnish with some shredded Colby.
MMmmmmmmmmmm …… potato soup…….
No comments:
Post a Comment