Potato Leek Soup with Hearty Croutons and Creme Fraiche

As my cousin said, "very flavorful and not too rich"

A soup before a meal really does not, and should not, have to be heavy and rich. You want to finish your soup feeling satisfied and ready for your main entree.

I made this soup for a private dinner party that I catered. My ABSOLUTE favorite part of catering is working with clients to come up with a wonderful, creative, seasonal menu.

This party's menu was particularly lovely.

Appetizers:

Buckwheat blini with smoked trout and creme fraiche (recipe)

Baked dates filled with cevre and wrapped in bacon (recipe)

Crostini with Grilled Radicchio in a balsamic dressing topped with shaved Parmigiano

First Course:

Potato leek soup

Main:

New York Steaks (from Prather Ranch)

Point Reyes Blue Cheese Butter

French Fries

Steamed Artichoke with lemon and thyme

Dessert:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

(I'll work on posting the wonderful recipes)

I chose this soup because it does not call for cream, unlike a lot of potato leek soups. I think cream can make recipes too rich and fillling, not what i was looking to do here.

Adapted from Simple Recipes

This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled...

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 Large Leeks, cut lengthwise, white and light green parts only, chopped

2 T butter

2 cups water

2 cups chicken broth (I used vegetarian, hey, why not!?)

2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 t fresh thyme, chopped

salt and pepper

Cook leeks in the butter with salt and pepper

(funny side note, I forgot I added pepper and thought that it was dirt from the leeks not being washed well enough! duh!)

Cook until nice and tender- About 10 minutes- DO NOT brown the leeks. Browning will give the leeks a burnt flavor.

In a stockpot add the water and broth. I then added the potatoes as I was peeling and chopping- keeping them from turning brown.

Scrape all the leeks and their juices into the stockpot of broth and potatoes

Bring to a low simmer and cok for 20 minutes.

I used a hand blender to puree the soup. You can control the chunkyness... I pureed it completely because I didn't want any chunks... up to you though.

Add the parsley and thyme and some fresh pepper (not dirt) and salt to taste.

Croutons:

Preheat 425

Find the hearty-est bread you can

Cut into even cubes

toss with olive oil, garlic oil and salt and pepper

Bake on a cookie sheet, tossing frequently, 15 minutes