LAST EDITED ON 12-30-09 AT 07:58 PM (EST)I finally had an opportunity to give this one a go today. I had lots of leftover potatoes from Christmas Eve and I happened to pick up some leeks at the store last time I was there. Both kids went for a nap around noon so I had the kitchen to myself, so I figured, now or never!
Look, mise-en-place! With photos! I never have my act together enough to do mise-en-place, much less take pictures of it.
My changes/substitutions:
- I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I don't really like vegetable oil. Olive oil worked fine.
- I didn't have fresh herbes, and I didn't have thyme, but I did have a spice blend called Parisian Bonnes Herbes which has dill and other stuff in it which seemed appropriate.
- I used white pepper instead of black.
- I used 6 potatoes. Three russet and three yukon gold. I like mixing up the potato population.
- For the stock I used two tablespoons of this concentrated vegetable soup base mixed into two cups of hot water. My dad gave me an assortment of different concentrated soup bases for Christmas and I was delighted to find that vegetable was among them.
- I used a combo of heavy cream and 2% milk, and I did not put it into the crockpot. I think I've read that milk/cream doesn't do well in a crock pot so I saved it and added it when I blended it all up.
- I threw in about a tablespoon of prepared horseradish. I just think it goes well with potatoes. It was not really detectable in the finished product except I do think it added just a hint of bite to it, which I really like.
I sauteed the leeks and onions together, like several other folks did. I did them low and slow so it was more of a sweat than a sautee so they didn't really turn brown. I then removed them to the crock and deglazed the pan.
At this point I decided to add the potatoes to the pan with the stock and par-boil them for a little while. I was afraid that I hadn't left myself enough time to really cook them well in the crock pot so I decided to give them a jump-start. I boiled them for about 10 minutes in the stock - they didn't really get soft but they weren't super crunchy anymore either.
After the par-boil I threw everything into the crock pot and let it go for 4 hours on high.
When it was done I used the immersion blender to zhuuzh it all up into smooth, creamy deliciousness. (I zhuuzhed, added the cream/milk, and zhuuzhed again.)
I poured it into a taster mug and had a bite. Delicious. Then, I decked it out a bit with some crumbled bacon (leftover from yesterday's spinach salad with bacon dressing) some grated extra sharp cheddar cheese, a dallop of sour cream, and a sprinkle of chives.
Edited to add: I just realized that the above photo looks like Yosemite Sam's face in the mug. *snort*
Really yummy. Really, really yummy.
My daughter asked for a taste. She then asked for her own bowl. Then, a second bowl. So, this is toddler approved! I also gave my 9-month old a taste since he kept trying to grab the spoon from my hand. He liked it, too.
Thanks, Slicey! This one may have to make an appearance as a starter for a holiday meal!
