My Welsh love affair. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . with the leek!

I adore this vegetable. I grew up not in Wales where the leek is the 

national emblem, worn along with the daffodil flower 

(known in Welsh as "Peter's leek) on St. David's Day, but next door in southern England. 

There we grew, bought, gobbled up very inexpensive leeks often in my 

childhood household. I love them braised, but my favorite way is in soup, 

especially chilled vichyssoise in the summertime, and this one below, a 

steaming bowl of comforting leek and potato soup on a cold autumn or winter day.

My only disappointment with purchasing leeks here in the US, is the high price.

One local store was actually charging $1.99 per leek a few weeks back!

Most stores sell them by the pound - a few such as Trader Joe's have them pre-packaged 

in poly and priced per bag. If you buy leeks, you know the loose ones, which I prefer, 

have several inches of the tough dark green leaves left on. This part is not edible, 

very tough and stringy, so has to be thrown away. My compost bin loves them of course.

Right now I notice they have come down in price a bit - leeks are best in winter - 

but still they insist on selling them with too much up top which is wasted, and you 

have to pay for all that weight which you end up throwing out. Personally I feel ripped 

off paying for waste. I have visions of sneaking up to the produce display, little scissors 

in hand, and trimming off those dark green bits, before putting them into my bag. 

How naughty would that be?

Oh well, nothing nicer right now in this cold spell than a steaming bowl 
of easy to make leek and potato soup, a true comfort food. 

We had this a couple of nights ago after coming home from SuzAnna's and 

The Vintage Village Holiday Open House which was a great night out. 

We'd nibbled on finger foods and had a toddy, but came home a bit hungry. 

The soup was waiting, just needed re-warming, as I made it in the afternoon. 

I don't puree this soup as we like it chunky, used Russet potatoes. Just mash 

gently with a potato masher, add plenty of fresh ground pepper and a little salt to taste.

I use vegetable stock then add some cream to finish and enrich, and this time 

also some buttermilk.

It was delicious.

Have you ever grown your own leeks? If so, did you get a good crop? 

I have an empty raised bed and am considering trying to grow some.

Any tips would be appreciated. . . . . otherwise I may just consider moving 
to Wales to feed my addiction!!!