Soup Experiment: A Success Story!

Soup Aug 8, 2010

Even though it is August here in the PNW, today was not really a summer day.  It wasn’t cold exactly but it was a bit on the cool and dreary side.  It was the kind of day that almost cries out for a warm filling creamy soup.

I had some leeks that needed to be used and a fennel bulb that was starting to look a little past due.  I’ve had leek and potato soup.  Could I make a leek and potato soup with fennel?  What about adding in some carrot and celery too? 

I’m not much for measuring but Tailorbear tried to take some notes so that if we liked it, we could try again.  We liked it. 

In rough format here’s what we used and what we did:

  • 10 potatoes, peeled and chunked
  • 6 carrots, peeled and chopped *
  • 4  celery ribs (sticks.. not 4 whole stalks LOL) chopped *
  • 6 leeks, sliced
  • 1 small fennel bulb (also called anise)
  • water to cover potatoes. plus a little more maybe… I think maybe 8 cups?
  • vegetable broth powder (I just dumped… a couple of tablespoons or so?)
  • salt and pepper to taste (I used some Johnny’s Seasoned Salt and some Sea Salt.. I served fresh ground pepper at the table to taste)

* I used my Slap Chopper to “dice” up the carrots and celery as I wanted smaller pieces than my usual soup slices. 

I sauted (I don’t know how to manipulate my keyboard to make that look right!) the veggies except the potatoes in some oil in the big soup pot until the veggies were limp.  I removed them from the pot and added the potatoes, veggie broth powder and Seasoned Salt.  I added enough water to cover the potatoes by about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.  For a thicker soup, I’d use water to just barely cover the potatoes.  You can always add more if you need it. I brought the potatoes to a boil and then turned it down to less than a boil but slightly more than simmer (I told you I am not precise LOL… I cook by feel, smell, taste and sometimes touch!)

When the potatoes were just starting to think about becoming soft (the point where you could poke a fork in them but they were still too hard), I added the other veggies and simmered until they were all nice and tender.  Be careful with potatoes.  Though for my more traditional potato soup I cook them until they are falling apart, I want these chunks for this soup to hold their shape.

I put several cups (3 maybe?) of soup into my Vitamix and blended it all up to make the “creamy” part of the soup.  Stirred that into the soup and added salt to taste.   It wasn’t quite as thick as I wanted but it had a creaminess that was quite filling and satisfying.

This soup nearly filled my 6 qt pot.  In this picture, the pot doesn’t look as full as we had already started serving the soup. If you look closely, you can see the line where the soup was. 

Soup 8/8/2010

Now, I need your help!  I don’t know what to call this soup.  It needs a name.  “Leek and Potato Soup” doesn’t really work for me and Soup Experiment isn’t really a name.  Please leave me a comment with your name suggestion.   I’d offer a prize for the winner but  instead how about a blog post with a great big thank you?

Comments

  1. Yummm! That looks really good. And it might just be easy enough for me- well, maybe not the potato part...lol
    Stopping by from the It's Cool to Homeschool blog hop.
    I've seen you on the TOS forum as well :) Nice to meet you and I will be following your blog now :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. As for a name...how about Fennel Potato? Eh? I'm not good with that sorta thing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm of the "yummy fennel potato soup" naming variety.

    And, wow that looks good.

    ReplyDelete

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