Kale-Potato-Leek potage

Kale-Potato-Leek potage served around Turnip mash, garnished with roasted kale, caramelized shallots, and crème fraîche.

Believe it or not, Far West Texas is cold in winter, making it a perfect time for a hearty winter soup. My wife and I took a jaunt down to our two local grocery stores to see what was in season.

Kale, Potatoes, Leeks and Turnips were just about the only veggies that didn’t look like they had been as pumped on roids as a 1970s Schwarzenagger. Ironically, what we did with them seems to be more like a dish found in Austria than the high desert of Texas.

My wife, Emily, was inspired by David Lebovitz’ food blog, and his recent entry on potato leek soup.

Being the California boy that I am, I thought the recipe seemed delicious enough but could use some tricked out customizing. The result: Kale Potato Leek potage served around Turnip mash, garnished with roasted kale, caramelized shallots, and crème fraîche.

Recipes:

Potage (fancy name for thick soup):

8 cups of water (you could use chicken stock if you like)

1 bunch of kale de-stemmed and chopped

3 medium leeks

5 red, and 3 medium russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1in cubes

2 tbsp butter (home made is best)

2 bay leaves

1 sprig of fresh thyme

A pinch of cayenne

Salt and pepper to taste

Thoroughly wash and chop leeks. Add leeks and butter to stockpot and sauté on medium heat until soft. Add kale and stir until wilted. Once both your kale and leeks are bright green add your potatoes, water, bay leafs, and thyme. Bring to a boil until potatoes are tender. Turn off heat and remove bay leaf. Stick-blend the potage until you have a creamy consistency. If you don’t have a stick blender a blender or food processor should work, but be careful of the quantity you blend at any one time as you can easily create a mess.

Turnip Mash:

3 large turnips cut into 1in cubes

2 tbsp butter

1 chopped green onion

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil turnips until tender. Remove from heat when done and drain. Place turnips back in pot and add butter. Mash turnips until even and mix in green onion. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish:

Roasted Kale:

4 leaves of kale de-stemmed

2 tbsp olive oil

a pinch of sea salt and coarse black pepper.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and lay flat on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, or until edges of Kale are crisp.

Caramelized Shallots:

2 large shallots cut lengthwise

1 ½ tbsp butter

Place shallots into pan with butter. Cook on medium heat until shallots are translucent with brown edges. Remove from heat when done.

Assembly of potage:

Place a large spoonful of turnip mash in the center of the bowl. Ladle in potage around the mash edges. Drizzle crème fraîche and lay roasted kale on the surface of the potage. Garnish the mash with caramelized shallots. Severe warm.

Serves 6.