Potato Leek Soup - French Fridays with Dorie

It's been very cold and sometimes raining in Seattle. I know I have nothing to complain about with everyone else having to dig out from that horrible storm that hit across the United States. I grew up in Pittsburgh and I remember those storms. What I romanticize about the most is that first snowfall of the season-when it would sneak in during the wee small hours of the morning. We were night owls in those days and as soon as we saw it falling we would bundle up and go out for a midnight walk. It was quieter than I ever remember the world being during those walks. You could barely hear the snow falling. It was that thick steady snow that stuck to your coat and hat so that by the time you walked a block you looked like a little snowman. The tree branches were thick with the snow and fire hydrants wore little snow caps. It was fun to be the first human to make tracks in the snow. Sometimes it was so thick and so steady that by the time we turned back our tracks had disappeared. I miss those midnight snow walks. We knew we could count on everything being shut down the next day.

Snow days were fun even as adults-you could cook up a good pot of soup, make some homemade bread or experiment with some new cookie recipe. Or pull out the cross country skis and blaze trails with the sun shining !

Well I don't have snow here but with the cold chilling my bones I knew it was time for some soup. And not just any ordinary soup-but Dorie Greenspan's Potato and Leek Soup. The Potato Leek Soup was one of the recipe selections for my French Fridays with Dorie Group. I couldn't wait to make this, it sounded like the perfect soup to take the chill off.

As usual, I wasn't disappointed. Dorie gives you the choice of leaving the soup chunky with the luscious bits of leeks and potatoes still intact or whirling it all together in a food processor resulting in a smooth creamy soup. I opted for chunky-I love to have a good hearty chewy soup. Tell me is there anything that Dorie cooks "not so good" ? I don't think so, every recipe I have tried turns out with ohhs and ahhs around the dinner table. I added a nice crisp homemade crouton topped with some fresh shaved Gruyere cheese. Then I remembered I had bought some White Truffle Oil from La Buona Tavala at Pike Place Market. A few drops of that was the perfect finishing touch to this soup.

Each time I cook something from Dorie's latest book Around My French TableI encourage you to go out and buy the book-this recipe is no exception. Buy the book and start enjoying some of the most delicious recipes you will find. Bon Appetit !