Time to bite the bullet, and admit there are no more farmbaskets for, gasp, the next six months. So what’s an Accidental Locavore to do? First of all it was time to clean out various refrigerators, and put to use the last of the vegetables from farmer Paul. Corn got shucked and frozen for future use, beans were pickled with horseradish and peppercorns, and potatoes and leeks combined with homemade bacon for a lovely soup. Orange and white cauliflower along with pimentos, and green peppers joined carrots and pearl onions to make more pickles. The last of the broccoli and some of the amazing corolla potatoes made a steak something special for dinner last night. Boy, were those great mashed potatoes!
For the soup, I made my own variation of a potage parmentier, which is basically a leek and potato soup, enriched with cream at the end.
- First I slowly sauteed some bacon in a little olive oil to render it. Before the bacon was fully cooked, I added about 5 leeks, the white and pale green parts, cleaned, and sliced into thin rings.
- I cooked the leeks until they started to soften, and then added them to a saucepan with 3 russet potatoes and 2 red skinned potatoes, peeled and diced. To that I added a quart of chicken broth, and a quart of water. That simmered, partially covered, for about 50 minutes until the potatoes were tender.
- Then I attacked it with a stick blender, but you could use a potato masher, or run it through a food processor or blender in batches. I always like soup a little chunky, so I processed it until it was pretty well blended, but not totally smooth.
- After that I added about 1/2 cup of heavy cream to enrich it. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped chives for garnish, and enjoy.
Don’t forget to check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival, there are some great topics, like who actually owns your mortgage? Lots to think about, and let me know what you think of the soup.
