PURELY POTATO LEEK SOUP

I have never understood the need to use stock for soups. Whether you use vegetable, chicken, or beef stock the flavours of the stocks overtake the true flavor of the main ingredient of the soup you are making.

Today it was potato leek soup. I had one leek in the vegetable crisper which had been there for a few weeks. I had only one and thus added two shallots to make up for what would have been another leek. I sautéed these two ingredients in a two-quart saucepan with a pat of butter.

In the meantime, I diced two medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes and added them to the pot along with two sprigs of fresh thyme, two Turkish bay leaves (I find the California bay leaves are too intense in flavour), and sea salt.

After adding a liter of water, I left the pot on the stove to cook until the potatoes were tender. With a stick blender, I blended the soup but left a few large potato pieces. This blending eliminates the need for adding cream to the soup and thus leaves the pure taste of the potatoes and leeks.

This amount was enough for two people so tomorrow I will eat the rest before I make another simple soup.