Leek and Potato Soup

 I plan my meals pretty religiously each week. I buy mostly what we need for each recipe, but sometimes I buy a bag of carrots instead of just the one or two I need. Who doesn't? Seems normal to me. But it means I end up with weird left over things in the fridge and pantry. I almost always have a potato on hand. They have a very distinct odor when they start to go sour, those darn unused potatoes.

That's why, when I decided to make this soup because I had all the necessary goodies on hand, I decided to just use the rest of the stinkin' (well, not literally thank goodness) potatoes. The recipe calls for two, I used three. What's the big deal? It's just one extra potato. Extra heartiness, right?

Then it hits me. I'm thinking of tweaking this recipe, I'm not doing exactly what it says to do. Whoa. That's big for me in the cooking world, or it would have been in 2006.  I'm still such a.. what's the word? I still have a lot to learn. But I'm much more comfortable these days with using what I have to make a meal. That wasn't the case years ago. I would have just let that potato rot.
Because really, what do you do with just one potato?

I like to keep a tidy workspace. Ha! I was planning to freeze the leftovers and had these containers on the counter, it made for easy and clean prepping!

I have noticed the same thing with my running. I have a lot of gadgets and gizmos for running- gps watch, multiple water solutions, a cleverly disguised fanny pack, tons of technical gear. When I first started really running regularly years ago, I thought in order to be a real 'runner person' I would need some serious gear. Stuff. I read the magazines, they said buy the stuff. I read the reviews, I bought some of the stuff.

I love knowing I'm going to puree a soup- pieces cut funky? Who cares!

Now, like with cooking, I'm realizing that you don't need all that extra stuff all the time. I don't have to follow all the directions I hear and read all the time. The recipes. The reviews. The must-haves. The get-nows. I still love my gps watch just like I love my immersion blender, but I'm not taking it on every run.

People cook without recipes, without all this stuff, and they run without all this stuff as well. What exactly have I learned? I'm not really sure. I feel like I need a big moral of the story here, but I'm still figuring it all out. I'm just now noticing the pattern, that I'm relying less on the stuff and more on myself. It's kinda nifty. Sometimes it rocks, and sometimes I use one too many potatoes and make more of a mashed potato and leek thing than a soup. Then I realize I can just add more stock and a bit of milk and voila! Soup once again.

It was about this point, after simmering for 15 minutes, that I realized I'd made a starchy mess. Luckily, it was a delicious starchy mess.

This is one soup I make pretty often, it's pretty classic. I added some mascarpone cheese and whole milk to up the ante a bit and whoa, it didn't go unnoticed. Even with that extra potato heartiness.

Leek and Potato Soup
adapted from one of those cookbooks without an author that I'm unable to find online. What's up with that? 

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ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 leeks chopped (whatever you can find or have on hand!)
3 potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 1/2 - 4 cups of vegetable stock
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper
chives or green onions for garnish


Melt the butter in your big ol' soup pot. Add the onions, leeks and potatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes until they cook through a bit.

Pour in the 3 1/2 cups of stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

Take the soup off the heat when the veggies are all soft and fabulous. Puree with your preferred method of doing so- immersion blender, blender, whatever you please, then pour it back into the pot and bring the heat to medium low. Add the mascarpone cheese and stir to combine, not that anyone would complain if they got a little chunk of that cheese on their spoon. Add the milk, salt and pepper to taste- as well as any more stock if you desire a thinner soup. Garnish with chives or green onions.

Enjoy!
-m