Irish Potato Leek Soup
Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 1:00AM 
All this week, Special Fork bloggers will be sharing recipes for St. Patrick’s Day. And to celebrate, Special Fork is giving away a prize package of a year’s supply of delicious Kerrygold Butter and cheeses, imported from Ireland, courtesy of Kerrygold! It’s easy to enter the sweepstakes.
There’s no better time than St. Patrick’s Day to celebrate the flavors of Ireland, even though they’re delicious year-round. For me, the highlight of Irish food has always been the butter and cheese. The reason is the cows eat the incredibly green grass and are only milked during their natural lactation cycles.
The other great thing about Ireland’s dairy is generations of family farms, many with only a few dozen cows. This means profits go directly to the farmers, the animals are treated humanely, and hopefully future generations of Irish kids will continue in the cooperative, national tradition.
This soup inspires me because it can be served hot as a rustic chowder or chilled as a refined puree, depending on the season and occasion. For this Paddy’s Day, I chose the chowder version and garnished it with crispy bacon and long feathers of shredded Dubliner cheese (remember last week’s post on umami? Dubliner is loaded with umami)!
To get the recipe and shopping list on your smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android device) or PC, click here.
Irish Potato Leek Soup
8 tablespoons Irish butter
4 cups leeks, thinly sliced; about 3 to 4 medium leeks
4 potatoes, peeled and diced; about 8 cups
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups cream or milk
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
4 tablespoons fresh lemon thyme
Fried chopped bacon and shredded Dubliner cheese for garnish
Melt the butter in a large saucepot, add the leeks and potatoes, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the chicken
stock and continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Purée the soup in small batches in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Transfer the soup back to the saucepot and stir in the cream, salt, and pepper. Add more cream if you prefer a thinner soup. Place a tablespoon of fresh thyme in each soup bowl, ladle in the soup and garnish with bacon and Dubliner.
Makes 4 servings
Special Fork is a recipe website for your smartphone and PC that solves the daily dinnertime dilemma: what to cook now! Our bloggers blog Monday through Friday to give you cooking inspiration. Check out our recipe database for quick ideas that take no more than 30 minutes of prep time. Join the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Related posts:
Reader Comments