Saturday, April 25, 2009

Long Tall Sallium

I've had my eye on this one tall leek plant in the garden.
It was supposed to be a whole bed of leeks, but the guy who sold us the seedlings made a mistake.
That's OK; it would have been too many leeks. Which reminds me of the comment my mom made the first time I planted a bed of leeks: "That's going to be an awful lot of vichyssoise!"
I assured her that you could eat leeks in many other dishes that didn't have fancy French names for humble peasant fare. I mean, leek and potato soup? How fancy is that?
Even so, the humble fare today was indeed vichyssoise.
I won't bother to tell you how easy it was to cook. No recipe. Just the fresh veggies, some stellar vegetable stock made from cilantro and pea pods, and a sinful glug of cream. Take that, humble peasants! (Oh, you have your own dairy cow? Pardonnez moi. Je suis jalouse.)
After the blending, I wanted to amp up the allium flavor, so I raided the now-flowering chive bed (might as well put the would-be "leeks" to some use), and topped the soup with spring colors.
Because it is still spring, and it is still soup season.

16 comments:

Zoomie said...

That is perfectly lovely - colors so fresh and bright, like the flavors, I'll bet.

Zoomie said...

Oh, and the title...so clever you are!

kudzu said...

This is almost heartbreaking, it's so pretty. And I know the flavors were j-u-s-t right.

Welcome back! Spring is here.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

Vichyssoise - il est merveilleux.

Kate said...

Love the picture. Summer seems to have arrived overnight, and well ahead of our average last frost date. Cold soup sounds wonderful right now. My chives will be blooming shortly. Maybe I'll find some potatoes next time I'm at the store. Mine are only good for planting at this point.

Anonymous said...

Oh you little punster you. And pretty soup!

I think a bed of leeks is someone everyone should aspire to have, but that could just be me. I made a leek galette last night with a lard/bacon fat crust; c'est magnifique peasant fare, I think. (In fact, I think it might be breakfast too.)

But personally I am beyond soup season! Too much winter/cold weather this year; don't need reminders.

meathenge said...

Hm, I'm never dated a Sallium. There's always tomorrow!

Sunday is Bacon Day.

Biggles

cookiecrumb said...

Zoomie: It ended up being a little "breathy," I'll admit. But so yummers. And... thanks. I do it for you. ;)

Kudzu: Ah! One of my favorite adjectives, "heartbreaking." Yes. I think I am ready to feed people.

Mouse: C'est si bon! (Si bon, si bon.)

Kate: You go to summer with the army you have! I am armed.
PS: I have a fridge crisper filled with sprouting taters that need planting. I'll race ya!

El: I know, soup season around here is strictly mental therapy. And French toast for lunch today. Go figure. But I feel well. Must be the spring. xx

Biggles: Yes you have. Remember Mustang Sallium?

Kailyn said...

Love the title. Just like I love leeks. Yum.

Sweet Bird said...

Alliums make me happy.

...except when they make me cry.

Greg said...

Ride Sallium ride. The addition of the flowers makes the photo.

Zoomie said...

Love the "conversation" between you, Biggles and Greg. We laughed out loud.

cookiecrumb said...

Kailyn: It's a nerdy little plant, but it packs the required punch. I should tell you about the time my French gardener wondered if I was going to ever harvest the leeks... which I didn't recognize. This was when I had a rich caretaker.

Birdie: Sur la Table has cute (pink) onion goggles. Got some for Cranky; he's adorable.

Greg: You are correct, sir! And the flowers taste really good.

cookiecrumb said...

Zoomie:
We are... boomers.
Is there anything better?

Anna Haight said...

Beautiful! Simply beautiful!

cookiecrumb said...

Anna: I totally winged it, and then I checked Julia Child to see how far off I was, recipe-wise. I was Right On! I amaze me.
Thanks for the compliment.