Chicken, Leek and Potato Soup in honor of my father

My dad used to make this incredibly delicious soup. Every pot was delightful, magical and soul satisfying. Tender shreds of chicken, soft potatoes and delicate leeks floating in a fantastically scented, slightly creamy broth.

There are a few foods that I think of as belonging to Dad. Barbecue and especially the sauce, chili, boiled dinner and spaghetti sauce that took three days to make.  I can oven roast some damn fine meat, fake a sauce that doesn't compare to his but is still good, make pretty darn good chili and my spaghetti sauce is awesome even if it doesn't take three days to make.

I've made the soup the way my dad did for years. Although I am always willing to explore new flavors and recipes, there are some foods that are hard wired in my brain. The way they are is the way they are and you just don't mess with them.

But one of the ingredients for the soup became increasingly difficult to find. I could never find it when I wanted it and when I did find it it was usually mid July and soup was not at all what I was craving.

So one winter day I became desperate enough to commit traditional recipe heresy. See, the secret to my dad's soup was Knorr Leek Soup Mix. Three stores and no luck so I just bought 3 large leeks and decided to fake it. (ha ha I faked the fake stuff)

By  the way it is considerably easier to find Knorr Leek Soup these days thanks to the interweb but I tend to stick to my newfangled version.

Chicken Leek and Potato Soup

3 large leeks, cleaned and diced
1 small onion finely diced
2 medium carrots finely diced
2 ribs celery finely diced
4 oz button mushrooms finely diced
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Large sprig of fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 quarts of chicken stock*
 *This can be homemade, or made by boiling a chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper in 3 quarts of water reserve the chicken for the soup, or canned or boxed low sodium chicken broth.
1 6 oz chicken breast boned or deboned (unless boiling a whole chicken to start)
2-3 or 4 or 5 or 12 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cut into large cubes. Honestly, there never seems to be enough (You can peel them if you like, my dad did, but I am lazy and like the skins)
4 cups whole milk or 3 1/2 cups skim milk and 1/2 cup cream.
8 oz sour cream

In a large pot, over medium heat, sweat the vegetables with the rosemary in the butter and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the chicken broth, and chicken breast, bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside to cool.

Add the potatoes to the pot with a generous amount of salt and  bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, shred (and debone if on the bone) chicken breast. When the potatoes are tender add the chicken to the pot. Test for seasoning and adjust to taste.

Slowly whisk in the milk and sour cream and bring up to temperature. Do not boil.

Serve in large bowls with a spoon. You can have other stuff like bread and/or a salad too if you like.

Shrimp Bisque

Thursday was our 9th wedding anniversary. (Viva la love!)

Being an awkward day to go out to eat we opted to stay home and have pan seared steaks, prickly potatoes and spinach. Because really who wants to spend $80-100 on dinner when you know you can cook better at home? I like to go to expensive dinners for food that I don't cook such as sushi and uh...sushi.

The day before we had shrimp and grits for dinner and I had a little less than a  pound of shrimp leftover. Since they's already been thawed once I decided I would cook them up as an appetizer for our romantic dinner.

I realised I also had all the shrimp shells and decided to make some stock to freeze. While I was making the stock it hit me that I should make shrimp bisque. Having never made it before I perused the intewebs for recipes then just made something up. Something pretty awesome.

Shrimp Bisque

2 lbs easy peel shrimp peeled and shells reserved. (You only need one pound of actual shrimp for the recipe but you need the two pounds worth of shrimp shells for the stock. You could poach or saute the remaining pound as a second course. Or perhaps plan this over two nights. One night make a shrimp pasta or shrimp and grits the second night the bisque. You could also save shells from easy peel shrimp in the freezer and make a larger quantity of stock then freeze and strain that stock and freeze it in quart baggies. After all that you will need about 6 cups of shrimp stock for this recipe and 1 pound of raw shrimp.)

The Stock
Reserved Shrimp Shells
One half of a large carrot finely diced*
One half of a stalk of celery finely diced*
One shallot finely diced (or you can use the green leaves from the leek)*
1/2 cup dry sherry (you may substitute white wine here but the sherry is better)
1/2 cup brandy (the only acceptable substitute here would be cognac)
One tablespoon tomato paste
Seven cups of water
One Tablespoon of olive oil
Salt to taste

In a large pot over medium heat saute the vegetables in olive oil with a pinch of salt until tender and translucent. Add the shrimp shells and cook until shells turn red. Add the sherry and brandy. Ignite and let the flames die off if you like, otherwise cook for one or two minutes. Add the tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
Remove from heat and salt to slightly under your taste. If using immediately-ish pour stock through a strainer into a clean bowl or pan. Press on the veg and shells to extract all the stock. If doing ahead allow to cool for one hour before refrigerating shells and all.When ready to use pour stock through a strainer into a clean bowl or pan. Press on the veg and shells to extract all the stock. (Keep in coldest part of fridge one or two days max. Can be frozen once strained)

The Bisque
1 pound of raw shrimp
*The other half of carrot chopped
*The other half of the celery chopped
*One leek white part only, cleaned and chopped (Leeks are very sandy rinse them extremely well. You can  use the green part as a substitute for the shallot in the stock recipe above.)
Heavy pinch of red pepper flakes
Small pinch rosemary
Two Tablespoons butter
One Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup flour
Two Tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups shrimp stock (If you have less than that from the above recipe add enough water to make 6 cups. If you have more just let the soup reduce slightly.)
1/2 cup dry sherry (you may substitute white wine here but the sherry is better)
1/2 cup brandy (the only acceptable substitute here would be cognac)
Pinch of sugar (may not need)
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pot over medium low heat saute the vegetables, in butter and olive oil with a pinch of salt, the red pepper flakes and the thyme until they are tender and translucent. Add the flour and cook and stir two minutes. Remove from heat and when it stops bubbling whisk in the stock, tomato paste, sherry and brandy. Put the pot back on the high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Give the broth a taste, there is a faint inherent sweetness that shrimp have, you are trying to echo that in the broth. If it's missing add a small pinch of sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a minute and test again. You can add one more small pinch of sugar if needed.

Add the shrimp and cook 2 minutes until shrimp just begin to curl and pinken. The shrimp will not be fully done but the hot broth and final heat will finish them, pinky swear. Remove soup from heat and either puree to desired smoothness in the pan with a stick blender or in batches in a blender or food processor. Return to a bare simmer and stir in cream. Serve immediately. Can be made ahead and very gently reheated.