Leeks-cream soup
Jun. 6th, 2012 11:17 amI have found out that I enjoy making soup. Go figure. So when I bought a bunch of leeks last week at the Lidl, while I only needed one stalk for my pasta, I went in search of advice and recipes.
Leeks are nice with ham as well as cream, so I bought some vegetarian ham and a little flask of Becel Kookroom light. I might not have bothered with the light part because the recipe for cream soups requires butter to be used. I'm not yet savvy enough in the kitchen to adjust the recipe in this regard.
I cut the leek into tiny rings and fried them in a frying pan for a little bit. In my soup pan I was melting 50 grams of butter. When the butter was completely fluid (but not yet brown) I took the soup pan off the fire and added some 60 grams of flour while stirring vigorously to avoid lumps. This creates a lovely ball of flour-butter batter. You can create a broth in a third pan, but I prefer the easy way of using a water boiler to heat up my water and I'll add the taste maker cubes when everything's mixed together.
One liter of off-the-boil water was added to the butter-flour mixture, again stirring wildly to avoid lumps (go slow, lumps are created when you thin your mixture too quickly). Once everything was mixed together, I put the pan back on the fire, added the leeks, half a bottle (100-150 ml) of cooking cream and the broth cubes (2 cubes on one liter of water).
After tasting I decided the soup could benefit from some pepper and salt, so I added these too and let the soup boil for several minutes. As a final touch before serving, I put in the vegetarian ham cubes (as these don't need to be boiled, just heated, before they can be eaten).
If you use real ham, I don't quite know when you add them. You might also start by frying bacon cubes and using that to fry your leek ringlets in, it will add some lovely flavour to your soup.
I must say the soup is really lovely, the flavour is buttery and creamy but the leeks are still fresh on the tongue. Definitely worth repeating, I'd say!
And since I made two liters of soup, I only get a little bowl now, and the rest will be frozen for impromptu dinners, what with school and all.
(And is it too weird to want to try making a soup of every vegetable now?)
Leeks are nice with ham as well as cream, so I bought some vegetarian ham and a little flask of Becel Kookroom light. I might not have bothered with the light part because the recipe for cream soups requires butter to be used. I'm not yet savvy enough in the kitchen to adjust the recipe in this regard.
I cut the leek into tiny rings and fried them in a frying pan for a little bit. In my soup pan I was melting 50 grams of butter. When the butter was completely fluid (but not yet brown) I took the soup pan off the fire and added some 60 grams of flour while stirring vigorously to avoid lumps. This creates a lovely ball of flour-butter batter. You can create a broth in a third pan, but I prefer the easy way of using a water boiler to heat up my water and I'll add the taste maker cubes when everything's mixed together.
One liter of off-the-boil water was added to the butter-flour mixture, again stirring wildly to avoid lumps (go slow, lumps are created when you thin your mixture too quickly). Once everything was mixed together, I put the pan back on the fire, added the leeks, half a bottle (100-150 ml) of cooking cream and the broth cubes (2 cubes on one liter of water).
After tasting I decided the soup could benefit from some pepper and salt, so I added these too and let the soup boil for several minutes. As a final touch before serving, I put in the vegetarian ham cubes (as these don't need to be boiled, just heated, before they can be eaten).
If you use real ham, I don't quite know when you add them. You might also start by frying bacon cubes and using that to fry your leek ringlets in, it will add some lovely flavour to your soup.
I must say the soup is really lovely, the flavour is buttery and creamy but the leeks are still fresh on the tongue. Definitely worth repeating, I'd say!
And since I made two liters of soup, I only get a little bowl now, and the rest will be frozen for impromptu dinners, what with school and all.
(And is it too weird to want to try making a soup of every vegetable now?)
no subject
Date: 2012-06-06 05:01 pm (UTC)Have fun!
no subject
Date: 2012-06-07 06:32 am (UTC)I make soup about once a week. Lentil-pumpkin soup, lentil-tomato soup, zucchini-rice soup, tomato-bell pepper soup... After some practice it will get easier to make up recipes yourself. I bought organic broth because I hate the taste everything gets from MSG and I think that really brings out the taste of the vegetables.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-07 08:49 am (UTC)A lot of puree'd vegetable soups can be quite creamy in texture without using actual cream. Leek and potato soup, pumpkin soup, celeriac soup etc. can all be made without cream.