Potato Leek Soup

In honor of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day, here's a recipe that our family thoroughly enjoys!
Based off a recipe from The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors.

Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients:
4 TB butter
2 medium leeks, sliced (or onions)
2 lbs potatoes, sliced
3 cups milk
5 1/2 c. vegetable stock (or chicken)
1/4 c. chopped fresh chives
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 c. heavy cream (or light cream)
salt & pepper to taste

Roux (2 TB butter, 2 TB cornstarch)

Instructions:
(1) Heat a 6-8 qt. stockpot and saute butter and leek.
(2) Add potatoes, milk, stock, and herbs. Cover and cook gently for an hour.
(3) Prepare the roux by melting the butter in a small saucepan and whisking in the flour. Let it bubble for 2 mins on med-low heat, stirring constantly.
(4) Add roux to soup to thicken, whisking to avoid lumps.
(5) Cook for 5-10 mins, and then puree the soup with stick blender.
(6) Add cream and gently reheat, but do not boil.
(7) Season with salt and pepper. Serve!

Make it a Crock Pot dish: 
This can be done in the crock pot, which is actually the only way I've ever done it! In lieu of cooking for an hour on the stove, I cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or on HIGH for 4-6 hours. You can do the first step as written, or skip it completely and just add the ingredients into the crock pot sans sautéing! Step 3 must be done as written. For step 5, I just leave it in the crock pot to blend it, and make sure the crock pot is on LOW when I move onto step 6. After adding the cream, I let it cook for another ~15 mins, and then turn the crock pot to WARM.


** DISCLOSURE NOTE: The above recipe contains an Amazon Associates link. **