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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