Vichyssoise

Dear diary,

Vichyssoise is admittedly a soup with a catchy name, but it's in fact quite a humble -yet tasty- soup made of potatoes and leeks.

Moreover, despite the... frenchiness of its name, the soup is said to be of american origin, although some people question it and noone knows for sure where it came from.

Another debate on this soup, is whether it should be served cold or warm.

The prevailing opinion is to serve it cold, as the milk or heavy cream is added in the end in order to cool it down.

I chose to serve it warm - and we were not disappointed by the choice!

I am encouraging you to try it out, since it only requires a few everyday ingredients, plus the fact that the potatoes make it a copious serving.

Ingredients (for 2 servings)
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• 3 medium sized potatoes or 2 big ones
• 3 leeks
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt
• pepper
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1 cup heavy cream or milk (for a lighter version)

• half a chopped onion (optional)
• a pinch of nutmeg (optional)

1. We melt the butter in a saucepan and we add the leeks we have chopped into circles beforehand. We sprinkle salt and pepper and leave for 2-3 minutes in medium heat (we have to be careful not to burn them). If we are using onions, we should add them at this point.
2. We add the potatoes chopped into cubes and let them soften up for 2-3 minutes. We keep stirring so they won't stick.
3. We add the bouillon cube boilling broth. Alternatively, we can add 2-3 cups of readymade chicken broth.
4. We cover the saucepan and let the vegetables boil and soften up (around 20-30 minutes).
5. After they boil, we add everything to a blender.
6. After blending, we put everything back in the saucepan and add the milk (or the cream), along with the nutmeg.
7. We keep cooking for another 5 minutes and we serve.

I decorated with some chopped slightly roasted turkey bacon and some basil to add some color.

Would you like to taste?

Yours,
Jenny