Since it’s summer, with the thermometer hovering around the century mark for days at a time, I decided I’d better do some chilled soup recipes. Figuring that Vichyssoise and Gazpacho are the top contenders for that category I flipped a coin and it came up leeks.

Not everyone likes the idea of a chilled soup, my testers were quick to point out, but whether you call this Potato Leek Soup or Vichyssoise, you can serve it hot or cold and it’s good either way.

I like the pale green color of the soup and the creamy smoothness, but it’s one of those things I never got around to making before. Though I often surf the web and dig through my collection of soup books for tips, I had a pretty clear notion of how I wanted to make this, so I just went to the produce section and grabbed what felt right.

One thing that didn’t feel right was the potatoes, because they’re carb heavy, and that’s something I’m avoiding. Still, it wouldn’t be right to leave them completely out, so I settled for a fifty-fifty mix of Yukon Gold potatoes and cauliflower.

Vichyssoise w Potato, Leek and Cauliflower

• 2 qts Chicken Stock (I typically use 2 tbs Better than Bullion Organic Chicken base)
• 1 lg Onion chopped
• 1 lb white boiling potatoes, peeled and sliced
• Garlic 4 cloves (minced)
• Leeks 2.5 lb before cleaning and cutting (yield: 2 qts)
• I lb Cauliflower (broken up into florets)
• 1 tbs kosher salt
• 12 oz Half and Half

I started off by putting the water and chicken base into a stock pot and bringing it up to a simmer. While it was coming up to temp, I peeled and sliced the potatoes, which went into the stock. Then I brought a saute pan with a tbs of olive oil up to temp while I coarsely chopped the onions and garlic and sweated them for about 8 minutes until they were getting soft. Into the soup with them. Next I broke the cauliflower florets off teh thick stem and added them to the stock.

While the stock was simmering, I cleaned the leeks, which are grown in sandy soil, so you can be sure they’ve got sand between their leaves. First you cut the base of the stem off, then the leafy tops, leaving an inch or two of green, but none of the floppy leaves. Some folks suggest cutting across the stalks to open them like a brush and running them under water, but don’t fall for it. Cut the leeks in halves or quarters, separate the leaves, and rinse them. Wash your cutting board between operations that might have sand in them as well.

After they’re clean, crosscut the leeks into one inch sections and saute for about 3 minutes in another tbs of olive oil. Add them to the soup and use some of the liquid to deglaze the pan, which you might as well wash,  since you’ve got nothing to do for the next 20 minutes except watch the pot simmer.

When the simmering is done, it’s time to go to town with your immersion blender. You want this to be a smooth soup, so keep at it until you no longer detect (much) graininess to the soup. Add in the Half and Half and the tbs salt.

Let that simmer for a few more minutes (5 min) then let it rest for half an hour before serving. If you’re going to serve it chilled, of course you’ll need to pop it into the fridge, probably overnight.

Chopped chives make an excellent garnish, and a little sour cream wouldn’t hurt either.

This came out pretty well hot, and I’m looking forward to testing it cold tomorrow.