Joan of the Kitchen: Potage Parmentier (Potato Leek Soup served warm)

It is almost the end of winter! Thank goodness!

Meanwhile, it's still warm-soup season and this is a perfectly simple, delicious for this rainy/snowy/wet/miserable day.

Ingredients
4 cups diced potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes)
3 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and tender green parts only)
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 tsp salt, or to taste (if using unsalted chicken broth)
4-6TBS cream or melted butter, for finishing
2-3 TBS green onions, roasted red peppers, herbs or other garnish, as desired

This is a leek.
I'll admit this is my first-ever time cooking with leeks so I asked the internet how exactly I was supposed to approach said onion-y vegetable.

In the case of this soup, you are first supposed to chop off the dark green, leafy parts, leaving the root intact. There is probably too much dark green part left on my leeks but my selection at the store was not too great (you can see there really isn't a lot of white on the stalk - according to the internet, ideally, there should be more white).

Slice the leek down the middle beginning just before the root. The root will hold the leek together as you cut it. Turn the stem a quarter-turn and make another cut of the same length down the middle.

Now begin to slice the leek thinly from end to end.

Add leeks and diced potatoes to a large pot.

Add liquids and salt if using.

Let simmer 40-50 minutes until vegetables are tender.

When cooked to the right amount of doneness, mash with a fork or potato ricer lightly before processing with a food mill. I don't own an immersion blender but that would also work well. You can also blend in batches in a standard blender.

At this point, if you're not going to eat it right away, you can let it cool to store and reheat to a simmer before eating.

You'll see below that this bowl of soup is a little thick. I used less water in my recipe than I would if I made it again. I think that the 3 cups water 3 cups broth would make a very good not too thin, not too thick soup. But please adjust depending on your preference!