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This was one of those nights when neither of us wanted to spend time in the kitchen. I arrived home later than usual from work, not feeling especially creative or energetic. Often, dinner on nights like these turn into "Let's send out for pizza." For us, it meant turning to the potato and leek soup that I had started on Sunday and stashed in the refrigerator, knowing that a night like this was likely sometime during the week.

The recipe is from Michael Field's Cooking School via my friend Dave Brunell. In mid-January, we spent a few days in Colorado skiing with Dave and his wife Susan Fayd. We had a lovely time. The weather was perfect, temperatures in the high teens and 20s during the day and lots of snow.

We arrived on a Friday, around noon. After Dave and Susan fetched us from the shuttle bus depot, we had lunch at Freshies, a little restaurant in Steamboat Springs. The menu that day featured a potato leek soup. Three of us ended up ordering it and it didn't disappoint. While we ate, Susan volunteered that Dave had a version of potato leek soup that was just as good as Freshies. I immediately demanded a recipe. Shortly after we got home, Dave obliged.

Dave's version is different from Freshies. At the restaurant the soup was a clear broth with herbs visible in the soup. This version is more like a cream of potato with leeks. It's a great soup. I'm still looking for something similar to what we had at Freshies.

I added a bit of cream during the reheat. And I added a pinch of red pepper flakes. Just enough to give it a bit of a bite. Be careful it you run the veggies through a food processor. If you give it more than a couple of pulses, you'll end up with a puree very quickly. I like the chunks of potatoes and leeks in the bowl.
Ingredients
4 cups of good chicken stock  
4 tablespoons of butter  
2 large leeks, cleaned & chopped (1-1 1/2 cups)  
1 medium onion (about 1/2 cup)  
1 small stalk of celery, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)  
3 cups of potatoes diced  
Salt & pepper to taste  
1 cup cream (or half & half) optional
2 tablespoons chopped chives  

Melt the butter slowly in a large, heavy pan.  Add the chopped onion, celery & chopped leeks. Cook slowly for about 20 minutes until the veggies are soft & translucent. 

Transfer to a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, add the chicken stock & potatoes & bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat immediately, partially cover & keep the mixture at a simmer until the potatoes are soft. 

Put vegetables into food mill or pulse once or twice in a food processor. 

Cover the bowl of soup & chill over night, adding the cream & chives to the bowls just before serving.