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Potato and leek soup with chives and chive oil

By: Sam Hayward of the Fore Street Restaurant of Portland

  • 1 large bunch fresh chives
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 very long leeks or 4 short leeks, white parts only
  • 1 1/2 lb potatoes, medium sized, medium-starchy such as Chaleur, Kennebec, Norwiss, or German Butterball
  • 3 tablespoons dry white wine or hard cider
  • 2 cups chicken stock or broth
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  1. Slice enough chives from the thin end to yield about three tablespoons of fine textured ringlets.
  2. Heat 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil to very warm, about 120 degrees.
  3. Coarsely chop the remaining chives and add to the jar of a blender.
  4. With the blender running on low to medium speed, add the warm oil to the chives in a thin stream. Allow the oil to steep with the chives for at least one hour, swirling the mixture occasionally.
  5. Strain the oil into a ceramic bowl and reserve.
  6. Scrub the potatoes, remove any dark spots or enlarged 'eyes', and slice them into 1/2 inch disks.
  7. Place the sliced potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cool water.
  8. Place the pan, uncovered, over a high flame. Monitor the potatoes carefully as the water heats--do not allow the water to boil.
  9. When the water begins to simmer, reduce the flame to low, and cook ('steep' is perhaps a more accurate term for the process) below a simmer until the slices are tender but intact.
    • The optimal cooking temperature is 180 degrees, and cooking will take about ten or twelve minutes depending upon the potato variety.
  10. Remove the pan from the flame and keep the potatoes warm in the water.
  11. Split and rinse the leeks under cool running water.
  12. Split the leeks into thin sections, and slice them into 1/2 inch pieces.
  13. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed non-reacting saucepan over moderate flame.
  14. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, without browning, about five minutes, or until the leeks are tender, nearly transparent, and fragrant.
  15. Add the wine or hard cider and the chicken stock, increase the flame, and gently simmer the mixture, to develop the full flavor and aroma of the leeks, about four or five minutes.
  16. Drain the potatoes, and force them through a potato ricer directly into the simmering leek mixture.
  17. Swirl the pan to blend the mixture into a textured soup, season with sea salt and black pepper, and simmer a couple of minutes to blend and deepen the flavors.

Taste for seasonings again, and add more salt and pepper if needed. (At this point, the soup may be strained through a coarse chinois or wire sieve, but I love the texture of the leek chunks.)

To serve, ladle the soup into warmed soup bowls, swirl a teaspoon of chive oil over each, and finally, sprinkle on the snipped chives.