Chef Kev has been at it again! Soup in da’ house! I’ve told Chef Kev that if he ever tried out for “Master Chef” (I’d totally make him if it came to Canada) then he’d HAVE to audition with one of his soups. He rolled his eyes at me as usual, but I ignored him. He’s really perfected his soups and they are G.O.O.D! Here is his latest…
Potato Leek Soup
You will need:
3 large leeks
6-7 large yellow flesh potatoes
chicken bouillon (Chef Kev likes ‘Better Than Bouillon’ brand)
Salt and Pepper
thyme (dry or fresh)
2-3 garlic cloves (minced)
1/3 cup ‘table’ or ‘heavy’ cream
1/2 package bacon
2 shallots
flour or cornstarch (used for dusting)
chives
paprika
To make:
Cut the bottom section of the leeks into 1/4″ rings. You only want to trim the bottom part of the leek (which is the ‘white’ part) up to where the leaves meet the stalk. You discard the leaves as well as the bottom ‘bulb’ bit. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the leek sections, seperating them into rings in the water. Let sit for a bit so that the dirt falls to the bottom of the bowl.
Peel your potatoes and place them in a pot of chicken stock (follow the direction on the bouillon container to make enough stock to boil your potatoes in). Place on high heat to start boiling.
In the meantime, heat some vegetable oil in a sauté pan on medium-low heat. Once the pan is hot, drain the leeks carefully (so as not to disturb the dirt that has sunk to the bottom of the bowl). Pat the leek rings dry and add to your pan to sauté. Season the leeks with salt, pepper and thyme. Just as your leeks start to darken/caramelize, add the minced garlic. Once the garlic cooks down a few minutes, add a cup of water to the pan to deglaze it. Turn heat off.
Once your potatoes have boiled (you want them to be soft enough so that you can push a spoon right through them) drain some of the stock, but make sure there is enough in the pot so that your potatoes are still fully submerged.
Add the leek mixture into the pot and simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until leeks are really soft.
Use a hand emulsifier blender and blend it (right in the pot) until you achieve a creamy texture/consistency. If you don’t have a hand emulsifier blender you can use a regular good quality blender but be really careful transferring your soup and also blending. Hot contents like this can cause your blender top to blow! As needed, add more water to get the right consistency (you are aiming for something along the lines of a pea soup thickness). Add your cream. Spoon in bouillon a little bit at a time as needed to achieve the right salt level for your taste.
To make the bacon bits you will want to cut up your bacon into ‘bit’ sized pieces and fry. The crispier the better 🙂
To make the crispy shallots. thinly slice your shallots into rings. Separate and dust them (all over) in your bowl of flour or cornstarch. In a hot pan on med-high heat, cook the dusted shallots in the leftover bacon grease (or vegetable oil would work too). The shallots cook really fast so keep your eye on them (you only need about 30 seconds to 1 minute). Remove from the pan as soon as they brown.
Serve your soup topped with bacon bits, crispy shallots, chive and paprika.
Enjoy!
Like what the chef is serving? See all of Chef Kev’s creations here.
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