Creamy Potato Leek Soup

• 6 large boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 8 leeks, green trimmed off, washed, and chopped coarse
• 3 stalks celery, chopped coarse
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, put the potatoes, leeks, celery, onion, bay leaf, and chicken stock over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a gentle boil and cook about 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. (Don’t boil too hard or the potatoes will break up and get foamy and watery.)
Put the flour and butter together in a small bowl and mash together with a fork until combined well.
When the potatoes are fork tender, put this flour/butter mixture in the pot, add the cream, fresh thyme, and salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine.
Now, remove the bay leaf and blend the soup until it’s smooth. You can do this with a ‘stick’ blender (immersion blender) if you have one or ladle the soup into your food processor in batches. If you want the soup to be less smooth, you can always just use a potato masher or even a hand mixer to blend the ingredients.
Once your soup is as smooth as you want it, put it into a medium soup pot and put over very low heat and simmer slowly just until the soup thickens up and is nice and hot. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes. Be sure to stir it frequently and keep the heat very low so the cream doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pot.
Serve in bowls and sprinkle a few chopped chives or green onions on top with a sprinkle of paprika to make it even prettier.
This will serve about 4 people depending on other dishes served alongside.

In the French countryside, you will often find these simple ‘garden harvest’ style soups. There seems to be an abundance of gardens and dairy products, so these creamy soups are served often on family tables.