RESEARCH:
INTRO:
In class this week we will be cooking Leek & Potato soup! Although I have never made this type of soup before, I am very ecited to actually get in the kitchen this week and cook!
My learning objectives for this class is to learn to keep up with the fast pace. I tend to get overwhelmed when there is a lot going on,and I am looking forward to getting in the kitchen and keeping up with our fast paced culinary professor!
RESEARCH:
We recently researched about clear soups that are made from broths and stocks like our minestrone soup, and this week, we will be making another thick soup!Instead of a cream soup like last week, it will be a purée soup mixed with potatoes & leeks! The biggest difference between cream soups and the purée soups is the way the soup is thickened. While cream soups use roux or even pureeing with starch to thicken, purée soups rely solely on pureeing starchy vegetables or legumes in order to thicken. The scientific principles behind this dish include sweating the mirepoix, boiling and simmering the ingredients, and puréeing the soup.
B A C K G R O U N D I N F O R M A T I O N
Leek and potato soup is a culinary staple that goes back a couple of centuries. Often times in my research, I noticed that potato and leek soup is often referred to as vichyssoise, which is normally a soup served cold. Regardless of the name, leek and potato soup began in 19th century France. Sometimes, leek and potato soups are also referred to as "Potage Parmentier"after the French man, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, who popularized potatoes in 18th century France. In the US, the leek and potato soup was popularized by a French chef in the early 1900s.
The base for leek and potato soup requires a stock of your choice, so this must be made before making the soup. Variations of this classic soup include adding cream to make cream of leek and potato soup, substituting onion for leeks (or a combination) to make onion and potato soup, or simply adding any diced vegetables on hand to the soup.
LEEK AND POTATO SOUP
serving size: 2
Ingredients
Vegetable oil, as needed
1/3 ea onion
3 oz potatoes, diced
2/3 ea leeks, sliced
14 fl oz stock
salt and pepper, as needed
1 ea bouquet garni
1 sprig rosemary
Parsley (for garnish)
Directions:
Sweat onions in oil in a pot for 2-3 mins over medium heat (do not color).
Add leeks and continue sweating for 2-3 mins.
Add potatoes and continue sweating for 2-3 mins.
Add stock and bouquet garni.
Gently simmer until the potatoes are soft (approximately 10-15 mins).
Puree with a hand blender or in a standing blender.
Place into a clean pot, season to taste.
Prep List:
COOKING OUTCOMES:
The lab went great! I was so excited to get in the lab and cook hands on. I like my soup more thick and chunky rather than liquid style so I didn't puree my potatoes and leek mixture as much. I had never had a leek before but after tasting this soup I know I will be making this recipe in the near future with the temperature decreasing as we close in on Fall. The croutons we added were amazing and truly put the finishing touch to the soup! We did also make a beef consume first because it took long to cook. The consume reminded me of a miso soup mixture with the garnishes I added. While it was good, I enjoyed the potato and leek soup mug better!
Finished Potato & Leek Soup!
Finished Beef Consume!
FOOD COST:
RESULTS:
We used a variety of techniques to perform this lab! Timing played a large key in the recipes. There was a lot of simmering to be done, but with time management we were able to have a successful outcome. Part of the soup's success came from not browning the onions and leeks at the early stages of the cooking process. I think the only thing that could be done to improve the outcomes would be to constantly be moving your ingredients as they cook in the pot. The final texture could be improved, depending on your texture preference, by straining the soup to make it an even smoother final product. I of course, chose a thicker texture to my liking for the soup.
Our Mis En Place. Adding the Potatoes. Pureeing the Soup
CONCLUSION:
My main goal for this lab was to keep up in the fast paced environment. There were times where I was going to get behind, but I managed to complete the lab on time! I really enjoyed being able to cook in class with my friends. Overall, this lab was easy yet difficult to keep up with. Although I tweaked a few of the instructions to my liking (like the thickness of my soup), when making a thick purée soup, all I would have to do is incorporate potatoes (a starchy vegetable) with another vegetable of my choice that would pair well in taste to make a delicious thick soup. In the lab, we learned how to make a cartouche with a piece of parchment paper. This can be useful for many reasons, including using this process to make parchment circles to put onto pastry cream to keep a skin from forming or just to line circular cake pans with parchment. For our next lab, I plan on working on my knife cuts because I had a little trouble with my cuts.
WORKS CITED
Labensky, S. R., Hause, A. M., & Martel, P. (2019). On cooking: a textbook of culinary fundamentals. Pearson.
LEEK & POTATO SOUP RECIPE WITH VARIATIONS, PARMENTIER. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.e-rcps.com/pasta/rcp/soup/leek_potato.shtml
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