Julia Child's Potato and Leek Soup but It's Completely Different but Also Still Her Recipe
Do you think Julia Child would have liked Brat?
Julia Child, oh how I love you. You might be the only person on the planet who could convince me to share a cigarette with them. It’s brick out and after a day of digging through a private collection of archival cookbooks in Greenpoint, all I wanted when I got home was a big bowl of soup. All eyes to the queen and her Potato Leek soup recipe. Potato and Leek soup or Potage Parmentier if we are being fancy and French, is one of those recipes where simplicity triumphs. Remove the garlic and bay leaf from the following recipe, and you have Julia Child’s exact recipe (she would definitely use more butter).
When I make this at home, I always use an immersion blender for simplicity’s sake. If you really want to impress whoever you’re feeding and do it the “chefy” way - pass the cooked potatoes through a ricer then mix all the components together and finally pass the entire soup through a chinois. This method creates the most velvety smooth soup texture you will ever experience, at the cost of having to wash two of the most annoying kitchen utensils imaginable. This soup can be served hot or cold, if served cold it is known as vichyssoise in French (you may need to season more aggressively if served cold).
Potato Leek Soup (Potage Parmentier)
Serves 6
This recipe is basically Julia Child’s with the addition of a couple garlic cloves and a bay leaf. You can use chicken or vegetable stock, I typically go for whatever jar of Better Than Bouillon I have in the fridge at the time. You also do not have to use white pepper, it just helps the soup maintain that really nice pure white color. Potato and Leek soup is the epitome of how good simplicity can be!
4 tbsp butter
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 pound leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, smashed
6 cups vegetable stock
Kosher salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup crème fraîche
Fresh nutmeg, to taste
Fresh chives for garnish
Melt the butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the leek has begun to soften and shrunk by half in size, about 8 to 12 minutes. No color should be put on the leeks. Add the smashed garlic cloves and continue to cook for another couple minutes.
Add the potatoes and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. A fork should easily be able to pierce without any resistance.
Blend until smooth, either using an immersion blender or by carefully transferring to a blender.
Add the cream, and season to taste with salt, white pepper, fresh nutmeg, and lemon juice.
Ladle into bowls, and garnish with a dollop of crème fraîche and a healthy sprinkling of chives.
