When you move to a new town you start exploring the place, finding your new favorite places to eat, drink, and just have a good time. After a period of time spent doing this you start to realize that none of these new places have been able to replace favorite places from back home. There are a few of those places for me now that I have gotten settled into Missoula. I miss my favorite Chinese place, China Wall, I haven't found any Chinese worth eating here, partly because I usually make my own and partly because I haven't tried. I also miss having a grilled chicken sandwich from Frugal's with french fries dipped in fry sauce. But most of all I miss the "soup shack" which is what I affectionately called Cafe Max Soup. I worked about three block from the place and I ate there several times a week. After spending a day craving some of their creations I decided it was time to make some soup for myself. After creating this delicious dish and getting the seal of approval from my brother I have decided it's time to share it with you.
You Will Need:
Olive oil
2 leeks chopped (white and light green parts only)
2 cups chicken broth
2-3 russet potatoes diced
diced ham
1 small carton heavy whipping cream
corn starch
salt
pepper
Heat your olive oil in the bottom of your pot, add the leeks, sautee about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth and half of your diced potatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through. You can use a blender to blend the mixture, I didn't have one so I used a potato masher on the concoction. I then added the remaining potatoes allowing them to cook through (I wanted actual potato chunks to bite into, if you don't care you can cook them all at the same time). Add the ham and cream. Allow soup to simmer. If your soup isn't as thick as you would like you can use corn starch to thicken it. I used about 1 T. and mixed it with a bit of the broth in a small bowl before adding it to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste. I then garnished mine with parsley but that part's up to you. If you're like me you'll pour a glass of wine to enjoy this with, if you're like my brother you'll stick to beer, either way it's tasty!
For a GF/DF option you can omit the whipping cream and corn starch. Instead after sauteeing the leeks and boiling potatoes in chicken broth put them in a blender and liquefy them (you may need to use more potatoes). Reheat the blended mixture in a pot on the stove and add the remaining ingredients.
Megan S.
