A warm and creamy soup sure to cure your winter blues

I’m a soup girl. Love a big ‘ole pot of soup on the stove…bubbling away, about to feed me for a week. And when we’re in the dead of winter (and OH MY GAH, it’s cold) I like to make Alton Brown’s potato leek soup. It’s creamy, comforting goodness. 

Make this soup this weekend. And, if you’re not big on cream, use milk…and I also added a scoop of sour cream since I didn’t have buttermilk and it was like 5 degrees out…I wasn’t about to go to the grocery store!

Good stuff. (It’s also good for your budget.)

Alton Brown’s Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients
1 pound leeks, cleaned and dark green sections removed, approximately 4 to 5 medium
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Heavy pinch kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
14 ounces, approximately 3 small, Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 quart vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon snipped chives

Directions

Chop the leeks into small pieces.

In a 6-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the potatoes and the vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes.

Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream, buttermilk, and white pepper. Taste and add salt, if desired. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately, or chill and serve cold.