Potato and Leek Soup (Vichyssoise) (vish-shee-swahzzz)

What you'll Need:
Soup Pot capable of holding up to 1 gallon
Sautee Pan
Hand Blender / Food Processor / Blender
Cheese Cloth
Food-grade string


Yields 1/2 Gallon

10oz Leeks, white section only, finely chopped
1/2 onion, minced
1oz Vegetable oil
1lb 4oz Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4inch cubes
40 oz Chicken Stock (Homemade Stock or Store Bought will do)
12oz Half and Half, chilled
1bunch Chives, snipped
1tsp Salt
1/4tsp White Pepper

1 satchet containing: 2 whole cloves, 2 parsley stems, 2 peppercorns, and 1 bay leaf

*Satchets can be made by just wrapping the ingredients up in a cheesecloth and tying it up.*


To start, you'll want to take out your sautee pan and heat that up, add the leeks, onion and oil to it and cook until they're
tender and almost translucent (ie. Sweat)

In the soup Pot, add the Chicken Stock, leeks, onions, potatoes, and the satchet and bring them to a rolling boil, then reduce and simmer until
the potatoes begin to soften and fall apart.

Turn off the heat on the soup and remove the satchet, Take your hand blender and puree the soup till its nice and smooth. You can do this with
a food processor or blender, I just find the hand blender so much easier :3

Cool the soup by placing the pot in a sink filled with some cold water and refridgerate the soup until you're ready to eat.

When you're ready to eat your creation, add the chilled half and half to the soup and fold in the chives. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Extras:

This soup can be eaten hot, if cold soup isn't you're thing, feel free to pour yourself a nice, piping bowl of it :3

Cooked lobster meat diced up is awesome with this soup. If you do decide to add it, go with about a nice medium sized lobster tail and add abit of
diced tarragon leaves.

A nice crusty baguette thinly sliced on an angle is great and can provide a good presentation and contrast with the soup texture.

In the picture that i have, i went ahead and set aside a few of the diced potatoes and fried them up in a pan with alittle bit of oil.
I also used a bit of the green leek to add some color to it.


Now for the educational part of this:

Vichyssoise, although being french in name, was actually created in New York City in the early 20th Century). This fact is always debated because
the French already had an established potoato and leek soup recipe going back into the 1800's, but thru improvision on Chef Louis Diat in 1917 at
the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, the regular potato and leek soup metamorphosized into what Vichyssoise is today. The soup is named after Diat's Hometown of Vichy, France

What improvisions did he make you may ask? Originally the soup was to be served hot for a party, but due to some miscommunication, the soup wasn't heated up in time. He also took note of the rather hot summer day they were having and decided to serve the soup cold. He mixed some chilled cream and garnished it with chives.