INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Today's recipe is a simple soup and is our second offering during our
birthday dinner. Although not commonly seen in American kitchens,  it's
a French favorite. It's your choice to prepare the soup in  advance and
serve hot, or cold.  In a large saucepan, melt about 3 tablespoons of
the butter over a  medium heat setting. Add the onions and leeks, and
sauté for about 5  minutes. Add the chicken stock, potatoes, salt, and
pepper. Bring the  mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to
simmer, partially  covered, for about 40 minutes.  Check soup to make
sure the potatoes are tender, then transfer the  contents of the
saucepan to a blender or food processor. Blend soup  until smooth.
(It's easiest to process the soup in about 2-cup  batches, returning
the processed soup to the original saucepan as you  go.) Return the
processed soup to the saucepan and keep warm over a  low heat setting.
To prepare the lettuce, stack several leaves and roll them up
together. Slice the lettuce rolls into thin strips (In French, finely
cut vegetables like this are known as a "chiffonade").  Heat the
remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan and add the  chiffonade.
Sauté for about 3 minutes, until the lettuce is wilted.  Stir the
lettuce into the soup and adjust the salt and pepper to  taste.  Ladle
the soup into six soup bowls (warmed if you elect to serve the  soup
hot) and serve immediately. If serving the soup cold,  refrigerate the
soup for at least an hour prior to serving and served  in chilled soup
bowls. Kitchen Staff Tips: We try to keep a variety  of fresh stocks in
our pantry, so it's easy to prepare a savory soup  from scratch in
almost no time at all. Our favorite Chicken Stock  recipe consists of 2
quarts water, 2 chicken skins and bones from  leftover baked chicken, 3
chopped onions, 1 chopped carrot, 2 stalks  of chopped celery, 3
springs of fresh thyme and parsley (each), a  single bay leaf, and
about a tablespoon of black or white  peppercorns. To prepare your
chicken stock, simply boil the water and  chicken with the chopped
vegetables and bouquet garni (a bunch of  herbs tied with a string),
for about 2 hours over a medium heat  setting. Time and heat will
reduce the original mixture down to about  4 cups of chicken stock. You
may refrigerate for up to 3 days or  freeze the stock for up to 3
months. The Kitchen Staff likes to  freeze our chicken stock in 1-cup
portions because it's easier to use  when pre-measured, then frozen.
Posted to dailyrecipe@recipe-a-day.com by Recipe-a-Day
<recipe-a-day@bignetwork.com> on Oct 2, 1998, converted by MM_Buster
v2.0l.

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 634
Calories From Fat: 260
Total Fat: 29.1g
Cholesterol: 119.7mg
Sodium: 622.8mg
Potassium: 1949.8mg
Carbohydrates: 59.5g
Fiber: 8.9g
Sugar: 4.4g
Protein: 34.8g