Pearls, Curls & French Cuisine – Chapter 3: Potager Parmentier

Siiri
May 26
2 min read

Dearest reader,

It was one of those cloudy spring afternoons in May when I decided to made a potato and leek soup according to Julia Child. Now that I had started learning about the art of French cooking I thought this was the perfect recipe to make on my own as I happened to have all the essential ingredients in the frigde.

So I put on my pearls,

tied back my curls

and opened page 29 of

Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

If I understood correctly, a potato and leek soup, also known as potage parmentier, is a French classic and serves as a base for pureed vegetable soups, which, according to Julia, can be served cold or hot, and is adaptable to whatever vegetables to you have.

The Ingredients

For the very basic recipe all you need is:

Peeled potatos

Leek

Yellow onion

Salt

Water

Cream or butter

Parsley or chive

As I was reading through the list of ingredients I realized I had to make tiny changes since I didn't have yellow onion in the house. To replace it I used 3 shallots which worked very well. Furthermore I decided to use butter instead of cream, which you add in the very end of the soup making, because I had never done a pureed soup with only butter. Finally, I also decided to use 100g of courgette thinking it would go off soon otherwise.

The Process

Then, it was time to start the process of soup making which wasn't that foreign to me as a meek vegetable soup lover. But, basically, I just cut the vegetables, tossed them into the pot (pearls swinging on my neck) and boiled them for 40 to 50 minutes on low heat after which I pureed them and added approximately 3 tablespoons of butter and some parsley. Et voila, simple.

The Result

The end result was a very light, delicate and pleasant rustic style of soup. No over powering flavors. Just pure, simple taste. Needless to say, it was extremenly delicious and exactly what I wanted from Thursday's girl dinner. And I must say, using butter instead of cream might be my new thing! Moreover, I had the soup again on Sunday as a cold dish after my ballet performance and if was equally amazing. This is definetly a perfect summer dish for the up coming season! Until next time!

Yours Truly,

Siiri

P.S. if you liked this post, tap the heart below so I know to make more like this!