If the soup is being prepared a day or more in advance, store the potato leek mixture without the milk product in the refrigerator. On the day of serving, warm the soup first and then add the warm, not cold milk, half and half or heavy cream and slowly simmer for 5 minutes or until thick and creamy. Serve the soup as above with a thick pat of butter and chopped chives for color and taste.
Soups are great for quick, inexpensive lunches and light dinners accompanied by a salad and cheese. There is nothing more comforting than cozying up to a hot, steaming bowl of soup on a cold night or cooling down with a refreshing tureen of cold soup, on a sun-drenched desert day.
One of my favorite soup recipes, “Potage Parmentier” is a hearty, luscious soup that is satisfying in all types of weather. Served hot it is hearty and flavorful, with tiny bits of potato and leek swimming in the bowl. When this hot, savory soup is pureed and chilled it transforms into the mouthwatering and refreshing soup known as Vichyssoise.
The transformation from hot Potage Parmentier Soup into refreshingly cold Vichyssoise is the work of French Chef, Louis Diat, around 1917; who at the time was the head chef for the posh Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City.
There are a many stories about what inspired Chef Diat to convert Potage Parmentier soup to Vichyssoise. Some say it was impulse others point to necessity. This story is my favorite. While the Chef was searching for an exciting, new recipe for the hotel’s summer menu, he recalled his childhood practice of cooling down his mother’s piping hot Potage Parmentier soup with cold milk. Remembering the creamy smoothness that the milk produced in her soup, he added heavy cream instead, for an even richer, more luxurious version, thus giving birth to a new summertime culinary staple called, Vichyssoise. The name “Vichyssoise” itself means “from Vichy”, the village in France where Chef Diat was born; adding his own personal history to the new soup. Hearty Potage Parmentier soup is a classic French recipe from the country villages of France. It can also serve as a base to make other soups by adding watercress or chopped mushrooms, diced carrots, cooked beans, diced cauliflower or whatever your culinary imagination can conjure.
Potage Parmentier Soup
Ingredients:
2 medium sized leeks
½ tablespoon sweet butter
3 three medium sized potatoes, russet preferred, peeled and quartered
1 pint of chicken stock, homemade preferred
¼ cup of whole milk, half and half or whole cream
Salt
Pepper, white preferred
Chopped chives
Finely mince the white portions of the leeks. In a sauce pan, sauté the minced leeks in butter until soft, not brown, add the chicken stock and quartered potatoes, salt and pepper to taste. (Note, warm the chicken stock before adding to the sautéed minced leeks to avoid splattering.) Once the potatoes are cooked soft, remove the pot from the burner and mash them in the pot with a potato masher, wooden spoon or fork. Many recipes suggest rubbing the soup through a fine sieve at this point. I prefer the hearty bits and pieces of the potato and leek swimming in the soup and do not follow this part of the recipe. However, if you prefer a smoother version, now is the time to rub the soup through a fine sieve. Return the soup mixture to the pot and slowly add about ¼ cup of warm, not cold whole milk, half and half or heavy cream, stirring constantly; simmer slowly to thicken for about 5 minutes. Serve the soup in a bowl or a tureen with a thick pat of butter, which adds a nutty richness to the soup. Garnish the soup with chopped chives for added color and flavor.
Vichyssoise
To transform Potage Parmentier soup into refreshing Vichyssoise cook as above. When the potatoes are finished cooking, remove the pot from the burner to cool the soup down to room temperature; then in an electric blender or food processor puree with milk, half and half or cream. Refrigerate and served cold, preferable in chilled bowls or tureens, garnish with chopped chives, omitting the pat of butter. (Note, salt loses its flavor in cold food, adjust seasoning before serving.)
