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Vichyssoise or Potato-Leek Soup
by Christian Wise, from the October 2004 newsletter
Fall, then winter, are coming just around the corner and soup sounds more like a good idea than during the hot summer. The versatile elements about vichyssoise are several; one can serve it chilled or hot and the base for the soup can be made into a variety of other soups or side dishes. As a professional chef, I am very interested in bases and parts of entrées that can be kept for some time and can be used in a variety of ways. At home, during a lull in one’s busy life, making a good sized amount of a dish or base saves time throughout the week giving one the opportunity to eat well even though the week goes by in a flash.
The soup base I am going to describe can be combined with just a few other ingredients like apples and pears to make different soups and/or potato pancakes (flour and an egg). In addition, using the base can be good for stews and many casseroles.
Vichyssoise
Enough base for 10 servings
2 tablespoons of butter
5 leeks (large)
2 large potatoes (18 ounces or potato) sliced in half inch slices
0.5 cup of diced fresh onion
4 cloves of garlic (about a tablespoon minced)
1 medium cucumber
1 cup of chicken stock (broth)
0.5 teaspoon of white pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh dillEnough water to cover potatoes, leeks onion and cucumbers in the size pan you select.
1 quart of heavy cream (half and half, whole milk or even skim maybe substituted)
To begin, choosing a 5 or 6 quart pot is suggested. A food processor is nice to have on hand; however a hand sieve (strainer) is also necessary.
As you begin to prepare your vegetables, rinse them thoroughly, peeling the potatoes and onion. After peeling, the onion may be coarse diced and the potatoes cut long ways and sliced in half inch half moons. Cleaning the leeks takes a bit more explanation. Where the roots begin on the leek, follow up the leek (into the white) about a quarter to a half inch in the white and slice the end of the leek off to completely remove the root system. Next, as you go from the root system up the leek, the color of the leek begins to change from white to light green and then to the green leaves. At the point that the white changes completely to light green, slice the leek and remove the leaves from your cutting board. Now take the leek and slice down the middle of the leek long ways. In the center of the leek, take the first couple of layers and feel those layers. If the core of the leek is hard, remove as many layers as necessary until the layers are soft and pliable. If the core is hard, that hard portion will be bitter and give both your base and soup an unpleasant flavor. Once the leeks are cleaned, slice them in quarter-inch half moons.
Cucumber should be washed, peeled, and de-seeded. To de-seed a cucumber, a small spoon works really well to scoop the seeds out of the middle of the cucumber without losing very much meat of the cucumber.
Place butter, onion, and leeks in the pot and sauté at medium heat until the onion is almost transparent. Add garlic and cucumber to mix for about a minute, then add chicken stock/broth and potatoes. Finally top off the vegetables so they are completely covered with liquid (just covered). Add salt and white pepper to the mixture. Adjust the heat up slightly and bring to a boil, then adjust heat slightly down to maintain a slow or light boil. Cook until potatoes are completely breaking apart and about a third of the liquid as evaporated. The cooking process should be about 45 minutes to an hour. At about the thirty minute mark add the dill weed and stir in mixture.
When vegetable mixture is finished cooking, place in food processor and blend, then run the blended mixture through a hand strainer to remove any leek or onion pieces that are present. The desired end should be a smooth base. Once the base has been strained, it should be refrigerated. The base will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week and can be frozen for keeping up to several months.
Traditionally, vichyssoise is served chilled. Once the base has been chilled thoroughly, place about 3 ounces of the base in bowl and whip in chilled heavy cream of about the same amount to the base. The amount of cream to base is a matter of taste and one should experiment.
The traditional garnish if finely chopped chive; however a dill sprig is a nice addition to the chive.
Christian Wise, after spending a little over a decade as a lawyer, decided to go back to his roots. He started working in food service at age 12 and is now the executive chef at the University of Idaho having moved from Missouri two months ago.
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