Simple soup for a cold, wintry day [View all]

It snowed a little last night and more is in the forecast, along with high winds and highs barely above freezing, so I made potato soup for the first time in ages, in my tiny urban kitchenette. I heard people in the hall asking each other what smelled so good but I didn't fess up, I didn't want to share.



So I chopped, soaked, dried, and sweated 3 leeks with a pinch of salt while I peeled and chopped 2 pounds of potatoes. I added the potatoes, gave them a stir, added water not quite to cover, a little chicken stock, a pinch of dry thyme, and some black pepper. I covered it up and cooked it for about an hour, until the leeks were nearly invisible and the potatoes were falling apart.

And then I couldn't find the damned stick blender.

So I hauled out the potato masher to get it started, added about a cup of heavy cream, and used the hand mixer to finish the job.

I'm on my second big bowl and wondering why I haven't made it for two years.

Yum.

Why is the simple stuff always the best?