Still using up the Easter Ham… and thinkin’ Jazzed Up Potato Leek Soup with Crispy Ham garnish.
Skill-wise this soup really lends itself to the beginner/non-cook kinda cook. Really. Chandler made it for me last year. She was 5. She wanted to be the next iron chef. I had two broken arms. I needed an iron chef. It was delicious.
So here it is…
Blondie’s Jazzed Up Potato Leek Soup with Crispy Ham Garnish or WTDWLEH Part II
Recipe inspired by Julia Child
- 3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 thinly sliced leeks including the tender greens
- 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 1 Tbl salt
- 1/2 Tbl pepper
- 1/4 cup of milk, cream or half and half
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/3 cup minced parsley
- 1 cup left over Easter ham (ha ha) cubed
Simmer potatoes, leeks, garlic and salt in chicken stock until tender, about 20 minutes. Once tender the fun begins. Choose your weapon… Mine is an immersion blender - I highly recommend this gadget, you just stick in the pot and whirl away to desired consistency. Or go old skool and blend in batches in your blender, but do not fill over half way, unless you want to clean your ceilings tonight (again, I’m speaking from experience). Or go really old skool and pass thru a ricer (does any one have these anymore? I mean non-kitchen geeks)
After you blend/puree/mash/rice(??) return to the pot and gentle rewarm (if necessary), add cream and maybe a touch of butter, a hand full of parmesan cheese and adjust the seasoning. White pepper is purdy in this soup because it disappears… but I didn’t use white pepper in my chicken stock, in fact it’s all full of yummy looking specks - so black pepper it is for me.
In the meantime, heat a little olive oil in a small skillet and fry your ham until it is crispy but not dry. You do not want hard and dried out ham as a garnish, you want nice, moist, juicy, crunchy ham.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the crunchy ham and a sprinkle of cheese and herbs. Yummy.
Next time WTDWLEH Part III : Pasta Carbonara… (ish)
