Monday, February 25, 2008

A Soup To The Rescue / Une Soupe à La Rescousse

Leek and Thyme Soup


This soup is what helped us, my husband and I, from starving this past weekend after we had a stomach bug. You don’t know how important it is what you put into your body until you find your face distorted with pain.

I had big plans for this past weekend. Plans that involve a Thai lunch with my friend and her family, a Sunday breakfast perfumed with freshly baked cinnamon rolls and an afternoon walk to the park with my daughter and my husband.
Instead, all I can remember from this past weekend is the bathroom, blankets in the family room and questions like: “Are you feeling better? Did you take your medicine? Do you want something to eat?” To which all of the answers was an echoing: No!

It sucks to be sick!
It sucks to be sick on a weekend.
It sucks even more to be sick on a weekend and having to eat a bland, boring soup.
But this soup isn’t boring! No! Although it doesn’t have all the warm spices that I usually put in my soups, it is nonetheless very good, with a hint of sweetness from the leeks and a woody taste from the thyme and bay leaf. Because nobody likes dull soups, especially when you are sick.

Hope you all had a healthier weekend!

Feel Good Leek and Thyme Soup

Recipe: Serves 4
- 3 medium leeks, cleaned and roughly sliced
- 1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 fat garlic cloves, peeled.
- 2 small potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp dried thyme (or fresh if available)
- 1 big bay leaf
- 4 cups water (or vegetable stock)
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic and leeks, and stir to coat them with the oil. Let them cook on a medium heat until lightly browned. Add the potatoes, thyme and bay leaves and stir again. Cover with the water. Add bay leaf, salt and pepper, and cover with a lid. Let simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf and blend the soup using a hand blender. Season if needed, and serve right away.

Soupe aux Poireaux et thym

In Francais Please: Pour 4 personnes
- 3 poireaux moyens, nettoyés et grossierement hachés
- 1 petit oignon, épluché et grossierement haché
- 2 grosses gousses d’ail, épluchées
- 1 petite c.s d’huile d’olive
- 1 c.s de thym séché (ou frais si disponible)
- 1 large feuille de laurier
- 1L d’eau (ou bouillon de legumes)
- Sel et poivre noir fraichement moulu

Faites chauffer l’huile d’olive dans une cocotte. Ajouter l’oignon, les gousses d’ail et les poireaux, puis mélanger pour bien couvrir les legumes d’huile. Laisser dorer pendant quelques minutes. Ajouter les pommes de terre, le thym et la feuille de laurier et mélanger encore. Couvrir d’eau. Assaisonner de sel, poivre et couvrir. Laisser mijoter jusqu’à ce que les pommes de terre deviennent tendres, environ 20 minutes. Retirer la feuille de laurier et mixer la soupe. Réctifier l’assaisonnement si nécessaire et servir tout de suite.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm still nursing the flu from last weekend so I'm making a similar soup right now! It's really the best medicine.

Hope you're feeling better!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

This is one of my favorite comfort soups, especially with the vibrant thyme that grows in my garden. Hope you are feeling better now!

Anonymous said...

I am keeping this recipe handy. Seems like everyone I talk to has the flu. Here's to hoping I won't need to use it.

Gretchen Noelle said...

This soup sure sounds tasty! I hope it helps you feel better soon!

Warda, There is an award for you on my blog today! Congratulations!

Shayne said...

I hope that everyone is feeling better now!
Thai can wait for another time or maybe I will learn how to make it myself someday.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Warda, I'm so sorry to hear you were sick! I had a sort of stomach bug a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't pretty. :S

That soup looks delicious, and would make anyone feel better in a sec!

Helene said...

The rain just started to fall and I was just thinking about soup. Looks wonderful!

Warda said...

- Robin, As soup and a warm blanket is the best medicine indeed. Hope you'll get better very soon!

- Lydia, thank you very much. Sadly, my thyme went to sleep after the harsh weathe we had this year in Michigan. Can't wait for spring! How do you keep yours from the frost?

- Amy, I hope you won't need it in this kind of circumstances too. Still, it's the perfect winter soup!

- Gretchen, I am feeling much better Thanks for your award. I am truly honored.

- Shayne, we hare feeling much better, but still following a strict diet of soups, vegetables, rice and apples. The good part of it is that I will finally lose the last 5 pounds that are hanging on my belly ;) Hopefully!

- Patricia, you are so sweet. I hope this won't happen again. Glad to hear that you are feeling better too.

- Helene, it has been snowing here since yesterday. So soup it is for tonight. As well as some roasted vegetables to warm up our hearts. Happy cooking!

Anonymous said...

I hope you're feeling better today :) I know how it is to be sick, I was, all the past week, caughing and sniffing, and complaining all the time !
I'm sure this soup was just perfectly cheering :)

Anonymous said...

Yummy. I love making soup and just made one last night too--for my mom who just had hand surgery.

All your green looks great! :)

Madame K said...

It doesn't help to hear that this is the worst flu season in a long while - we've had our share of it in my house too.

This soup looks so good and comforting.

Aimée said...

Leek soup is one of my favorites and yours looks like a winner!
Hope everyone is feeling better soon.

Warda said...

- Marion, thank you my dear! We are doing much better. And glad to hear that you are feeling better. Perfect timing for le salon de l'agriculture ;)

- Flanboyant eats, my prayers go to your mother. I hope she'll feel better soon. She must be very happy to have you around :)

- Karen, hopefully, this virus will go away very soon. And we have the soup to fight it, right? :)

- Aimee, thank you sweetie. We are feeling much better. Hope everything is going smoothly for you!

Nora B. said...

Hi Warda,
I hope that you both feel better by now and that the up-coming weekend will be a better one.

This soup sounds so nourishing.

Nora

Lucy said...

Oh, Warda - I do feel for you! It does, truly suck to be unwell on a weekend!

Still, a beautiful, soothing soup. You are one of the best recipe writers out there - and next time I'm ill, this is precisely what I'll be making.

Warda said...

- Hi Nora! thank you very much for your sweet wishes. We are doing much better. Thanks to the soup, and to all your wishes. xoxo

- Lucy, you are so nice to me! But I really don't want you to be sick to try this soup out. It works in fact better on healthy, beautiful and thoughtful persons. Just like you!

Anonymous said...

I love this soup - so simple and so satisfying. It is perfect for the cold and snow we are having!