Fennel Leek Potato Soup

 Fennel Leek Potato Soup

Been too long since I pictured a recipe in my handmade pottery. Yes, that's my soup recipe in my very own soup bowl. 

1 medium fennel bulb and greens
3 leeks
5 medium red potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
12 cups water
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon of Vietnamese red pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon powdered bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar

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Peel the outer dark green leaves from the leeks. Slice the leeks lengthwise in half and in a quarter. Next chop them up in small pieces. Put the butter in a large stock pan and saute the leeks till soft and tender on medium heat stirring so they don't burn. Add the 12 cups of water. Keep the  pan on the heat and chop the red potatoes skins and all in small pieces.

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Chop up the fennel in half and a quarter then in small pieces. I used the whole bulb, stems, greens and all. Add all the other ingredients to the stock pot. Reserve the the vinegar and brown sugar till later. Stir well and turn up the heat till it starts to boil and then turn down to simmer till all the ingredients are soft and flavors melded, at least several hours. While the soup is cooking check the links I've provided. Both leeks and fennel are some of the most healthy foods you can eat. It's amazing how many vitamins and nutrients are contained in each one. Even potatoes have an abundance of Vitamin C, B6, calcium, iron, and magnesium

Towards the end of the cooking stir in the vinegar and brown sugar. While we ate the soup Gary kept saying how delicious it was. I like to make a big batch of soup so we can eat it for several days. This soup is at once piquant with the hot pepper sauce and sweet with the fennel, vinegar and sugar. The fennel is very fragrant and the aromas while cooking are a plus. There are lots of flavors for the palate with every bite.

I sold four snowmen ornaments at the sale and that's it. Someone hung their ornaments in front of each of my rungs and pushed my ornaments back (even though Gary spread my ornaments out on the rungs when he checked on them the first day). Ugh. Also I think my ornament display tree should be painted white so my ornament glaze colors show up better. I had two boxes of items to be rotated through the show but none were taken out of the box. I couldn't be at the show because I had such a bad cold and it turned out when I fell against the door my nose was really hit hard and was unbelievably sore a few days later. (Have you ever had a cold and couldn't touch your nose, not the best thing in the world). Gary took my work and the two packages of chocolate brownies I made to the show for me.

For the past several weeks I've been plugging the show in various venues, hopefully someone benefited from my efforts. I've come to the conclusion pottery doesn't sell well mixed with craft type items, which is mostly what the guild booth was filled with. I didn't have to pay to be in the booth and it was very close to home so that helped. I am sure the snowmen are happy to have new homes.

Up next more new work including a tall tower with an armature to hold the topper while it's fired. Also preparing for the next show, the Kris Kringle Mountain Market, where I'll have my own booth. Thinking of other display projects and I found a box of unglazed pendants I made in Florida. So stay tuned. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Aromatic Fennel and Leek Soup and a Musical Bowl

 

Yesterday was a blustery day and I thought of making a soup. It seemed the perfect meal for the day. I decided to make a soup with fennel (anise bulb) and leeks I had in the refrigerator.

Aromatic Fennel and Leek Soup

2 fennel bulbs sliced thin (reserve the greens)

3 leeks sliced thin

1 small yellow onion chopped fine

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 cups of water

8 small gold potatoes cubed small

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried tarragon

1 teaspoon dried chopped rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried ground chipotle pepper

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot add the sliced fennel, leeks, and chopped onion to olive oil on medium heat. Saute while stirring frequently till all is softened and onions are translucent. Add water and spices and turn up the heat till it boils, then turn down till just simmering. Simmer 1/2 an hour then add chopped potatoes and turn up the heat and cook on medium till potatoes are soft. I left the skins on the potatoes because they are soft and I don't mind the skins but you can peel them if you like. Turn off the heat and with a hand held electric mixer puree the soup till blended somewhat but some of the pieces are left intact. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of the fennel greens on top. Makes eight servings.

I only have one ceramic bowl on my shelves, so I served Gary's soup in a glass bowl. I served my soup in my coliseum bowl (named because the shape reminded me of the Greek Coliseum) to test the usability of this bowl made with a stacked strip construction. Guess what? I discovered it's a musical bowl. When a metal spoon scoops the soup from the bowl and the spoon runs down the ridges it makes a tingling sound. Perhaps the sound isn't proper etiquette but it's quite interesting making music while eating from the bowl. Maybe it's more of an amphitheater bowl? That's it, I misnamed it, from now on it's an amphitheater bowl. I must make more of these.

Amphitheater Bowl

2 inches high by 7 1/4 inches wide

This soup is oh so delicious, perfect for a blustery day. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.