Potato Leek Soup

So today I had one of those Julie and Julia moments, though not as well written. I was out in Venice and stopped at one of the many local farmers markets. I decided to pick what was fresh, in season and just looked good. I choose a long white to pale green leek and a bag of fingerling potatoes. Then a quick phone call to SB to ask him to look at Ina Garten's potato leek soup recipe so I could get the missing ingredients. Cream and creme fraiche, arugula, I forgot the arugula, although I thought I had some at home. Yeah no. So I did without the "color" and got home to chop up the potatoes and leeks and seasoned them with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Ok so here's where I'm crazy. We have an event tomorrow, my hair must be dyed, yeah I hate when I start showing any greys. So I do this while I'm roasting veggies for 40 minutes. Then I wait the needed 20 minutes, for the hair dye, and watch a Champion League soccer match. Buzzer rings, for my hair, not my veggies. I sure take my time getting in the shower thinking I'm being so efficient. Not so much, seriously as soon as I turn the shower on SB comes in "hey there is a timer going off, what's that for?" Aaacccckkk. Dye in the hair, shaving and washing to be done, so I say, with frustration at my poor time management, "take them out, oh no, please flip the p&l's and I'll hurry up and finish my meal." Now I'm rushing, I quickly finish a not so relaxing shower and grab my clothes and bee-line it for the kitchen.

I take the sheet pan out and light up two burners, I add wine and chicken stock to the pan, but there aren't really any good bits that she described to scrape up. I grab my food processor and in batches I puree the veggies while adding chicken stock, and then into a stock pot. I had to add more chicken stock then I thought as it was way to thick for soup. I bit of heavy cream, creme fraiche and parmesan cheese (I used pecorino, seriously, that's all I had) and simmer till the soup is warm and everything is incorporated. I have to say it was quite tasty. I needed to add a pinch more of salt. However, next time I'll try to remember the arugula as I think a bit more color and another flavor might be good. I ate this with a glass of wine and a couple of slices of rosemary La Brea bakery toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.

Thankfully nothing burned during my multi-tasking moment. I do have to say at the very moment I sat down to eat this soup we had a nice little 4.4 earthquake that had my heart going. And, as all seasoned Californians, we keep on sipping our wine and go one with the task at hand.

Oh and the hair, it'll do. That is until the budget allows for a real hair salon visit and a proper hair style. This is not Mastering the Art of French Cooking, or styling by Rachel Zoe, but Ina's a good place to start if your wanting to cook great easy meal.