Potato Leek Soup

With Laurie Lufkin

According to Laurie Lufkin, the creator of this recipe, with the predicted rainy and damp weather potato and leek soup is perfect for this weather! She …”loves this recipe because not only is it hearty, it is easy to make and healthy.  The tangy tarragon drizzle on the top is icing on the cake...or the soup as the case may be."

Somehow leeks and potatoes are a match made in heaven, and this delicious and hearty soup is just the thing on a cold or damp evening. Leeks are a source of dietary fiber and contain large amounts of folic acid, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C.

Some chefs, especially in Europe where leeks have long been a staple for cooking soups and other dishes, think of leeks as a poorer form of asparagus. Asparagus is connected to the leek, being in the same family as onions.

The Tangy Tarragon Drizzle may be worth getting a copy of this recipe by itself since it is fat free (using fat free mayonnaise and buttermilk in the recipe) and it has so many other uses on salads and grilled summer foods. A great number of vegetables go well with the nuances of tarragon. Onions, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts go well with it, either cooked briefly or uncooked.

Tarragon has been around and used in cooking for over 2,000 years and is one a few herbs still in use that seem to have no medicinal benefits, so the taste must be good. French tarragon is the strain that we mostly use today.

Ingredients

For the soup:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 large leeks, cleaned, white and light green parts thinly sliced to yield 5 cups
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1/2 cup diced onion
5 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 8 to 10 ounce russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4” slices
2 bay leaves
1 slice whole wheat bread, lightly toasted and torn in to small pieces
1 cup low fat evaporated milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Tarragon leaves for garnish (if desired)

For the Tangy Tarragon Drizzle:
1/2 cup reduced or fat free mayonnaise
3/4 cup fat free buttermilk
2 teaspoons freshly chopped tarragon
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the soup:
1. In a large Dutch oven melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat.  Add leeks, shallot and onion and stir to combine and coat with melted butter.
2. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper.
3. Reduce heat to medium and cook until vegetables are softened, stirring frequently, about 10-15 minutes.
4. Increase heat to high and add chicken broth, sliced potato and bay leaves.
5. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until potato is soft and tender, about 12-15 minutes.
6. Add toasted bread and cook until bread begins to dissolve, about 5 more minutes.
7. Remove bay leaves.  With an immersion on conventional blender, puree soup until smooth.
8. Stir in evaporated milk and re-season with salt and pepper if desired.  

For the Tangy Tarragon Drizzle:
1. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Serve soup in a bowl and drizzle some of the Tarragon Drizzle on top. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Laurie Lufkin, Host of Inspired Cooking, 2011.

From Food For Thought Column about Laurie by Heather Atwood:

Her mother and grandmother taught her to cook. She is teaching her daughter, 9-year-old Lilly, to cook, but the sensible checkered-apron imagery stops there when describing Essex resident Laurie Lufkin. The energy spilling from her Cape Ann TV cable access program, "Inspired Cooking," should be harnessed and re-sold by National Grid. Admittedly unschooled in culinary arts, Laurie Lufkin, 44, is an example of someone who has found her niche and is powered by her passion. Her instincts for a good recipe, for taste and texture combinations, make up for her lack of formal education.

Her vivacity is clearly fueled by love; Laurie loves and is brilliant at recognizing a good recipe, and then making it a blue-ribbon winner. Her grandmother's Essex clam cakes for example: Two years ago Laurie took this recipe, added clam broth and cream to her version, and turned it into something Food Network-competitive, landing her on the program's "Ultimate Recipe Showdown — Hometown Favorites." Laurie didn't win the $25,000, but getting to be one of four finalists from around the country wasn't bad for a girl who runs a silk-screen business and whose hobby seems to have long ago out-raced her vocation.

When she insists I understand that her mother taught her how to cook, that she makes wonderful chicken soups, legendary pumpkin and date nut bread, that she made a great dinner every night with few resources, I listen.

The apple does not fall far from the tree as Laurie's daughter Lily recently appeared on national TV and a national parenting magazine with a recipe she created called "Monkey Business Chocolate Rice Pudding."

Laurie's recipes have appeared in such publications as "Taste of Home," "Family Circle" and will she will be featured in an upcoming issue of "Yankee Magazine."

Contact Heather at heatheraa@aol.com. Her blog is at gloucestertimes.com/foodforthought