leek & potato soup

head of garlic
4-5 red-skinned potatoes
chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 of a bag of baby carrots
2-3 large leeks (white & pale green parts only)
2 tablespoons butter
cup of white wine
pepper (black & cayenne)

Peel all the cloves in a head of garlic and wrap in a pouch of aluminum foil, drizzled with olive oil and a little salt & pepper. Close up the pouch and roast in the oven (or toaster oven, if you've got one) at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or so, until soft and slightly golden.

Dice but don't peel the potatoes, bring to a simmer in water or chicken broth (enough to cover). Dice the carrots and add to the potatoes about 15 minutes later. Leave to simmer until all the veggies are very tender, 10-15 more minutes.

While the potatoes and carrots simmer, rinse and chop the leeks. Heat some butter, a tablespoon or two, in a big soup pot (mine is 5 quarts) and toss in the leeks, cook over medium-high heat until soft, stirring occasionally so they don't burn (a little browning is good though). Pour in about a cup or so of white wine and let boil down until it's reduced by about half. Season with pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon black and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, if you want a little kick).

Mash up the roasted garlic (don't worry about making it smooth, just mash it up a little) and add to the soup pot.

Add chicken broth (I used one of those boxes--Imagine, I think) and the vegetables (with the water if you want, or set aside the cooking water and add later if the soup is too thick). Blend with a hand-held immersion blender (my favorite kitchen item ever) until kind of smooth (I prefer my soup with texture--bits of potato and carrot and leek and roasted garlic in a thick creamy base).

This is delicious plain, or you can serve it with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt and a sprinkling of chopped chives.

We used a Borgo Maddalena pinot grigio for this, which went really nicely with the soup. Had to drink it while we cooked the soup, just to make sure...

Our dinner guests that evening, Julie & Dave, brought fixings for a lovely cheese fondue, and with that we drank a deliciosly sweet and crisp late harvest riesling from Hogue Cellars, one of the bigger Washington State wineries. Scrumptious.

For dessert, a pumpkin bread pudding. Recipe to be added soon.