We were asked to teach a holiday cooking class at church a while back (apparently I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut about how much we love to cook and eat, so the good folks at church decided we were the perfect suckers to ask…?). We decided to go with a “wow your holiday guests with these seemingly fancy dishes that are actually simple in the extreme” theme. We think soup looks elegant served in glass shooters for a party, so we wanted to feature a very smooth and simple soup that can be served hot or at room temperature, making it an easy thing to serve at a get-together (your stress level is significantly lower when you aren’t serving something that must be hot and have some leeway on the temperature).
We tried a couple of vichyssoise recipes and they were good but not great (vichyssoise, pronounced vee-she-swah, is a soup that is usually made up of potatoes, leeks, cream, stock, and cream and is traditionally served chilled). Then we came upon this recipe and it. was. amazing. It is rich without feeling heavy and it is thin enough to drink easily out of a shot glass – it’s a pleasant consistency for drinking at room temperature. It is one of the kids’ favorite soups and we eat it quite often and never without toasted peasant bread with olive oil (Costco’s is beautiful). And, by the way, it’s meatless.
Have your kids help you peel the dirty top layer off of the leeks and add the spices and stock to the pot. Let them sprinkle each serving with chives. As you prepare and enjoy this meal with your family, teach them about some of the health benefits of some of the ingredients:
- Leeks are high in B vitamins, which are good for your blood circulation.
- Potatoes can help to lower high blood pressure.
- Allium vegetables like chives may help prevent cancer and tumors.
Tip (unsponsored): Trader Joe’s leeks are usually fresh and crisp. They come in pairs and are very clean.
If you make smooth soups pretty frequently, an emersion blender is a very useful tool. You simply submerge the top into your hot soup and blend until smooth – much less complicated than blending piping hot soup in batches in a stand blender:
A few facts about France and it’s people (it is unknown whether vichyssoise originated in France or the U.S., but we already know about our own country, so let’s learn about France):
- It is traditional on Christmas to eat a creamy spread of duck liver.
- The French are extremely proud of their country and language.
- Most kids in France go to school from 8am-4pm and get 2 hours for lunch.
- 3 cups leeks, cleaned and chopped
- 3 cups russets, peeled and cubed
- 2 T butter
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 pinch dried thyme
- 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 5 cups chicken or vegetable STOCK
- 1 cup heavy cream
- chives, for garnish
- Saute the leeks and russets in the butter until leeks are just tender.
- Add the garlic clove and the salt, pepper, thyme and nutmeg; cook 5 minutes.
- Add the STOCK; boil until potatoes are tender, then puree.
- Add the cream.
- Serve in 2-3 ounce shooter glasses and top with chives.
- (This soup is even delicious served at room temperature.)
