An Illustrated Recipe: Potato & Leek Soup plus the start of National Poetry Month!

This week I'll be sharing one of my favorite recipes that's easy, comforting, and flavorful and I'll be including a series of illustrations I made to go along with it. Plus, a poetry reading!

Hey y’all! It’s National Poetry Month (and my birthday month!) and I”m so stoked to take a few moments every week to share one of my favorite art forms. For the entire month of April I’ll be including a recording of me reading a poem with each week’s newsletter.

This week’s reading is inspired by the recipe included in this edition of the studio life. It’s titled Onions by William Matthews.

You can find the recording below (just hit play) and you can read along HERE.

I really enjoyed making a recording for this week’s newsletter and can see doing more of that in the future, even after this month is over. What did you think? Do you like listening to poetry being read aloud? Let me know in the comments.

Also, I wanted to share an update on the Manzanita triptych I’m working on for my Oregon landscape series. Here’s a progress shot:

The clouds are almost finished, then it’s on to the grasses and the sand. Once these are complete I will start the next painting in the series. It’s been a little more slow-going than I had initially hoped, but the pieces are progressing and that’s a win as far as I’m concerned. I’ll take slow progress over no progress.

Now, on to the cooking! I’m all about creativity seeping into every part of my life and cooking is one of my favorite ways to facilitate that. What I love about the recipe I’m sharing with you this week, is that it is inexpensive, simple, and flexible when it comes to ingredients and modifications. The only two things that I’d say are non-negotiable are the potatoes and the leeks, which I hope is obvious given the title of the recipe.

I love to cook. Probably because I also like to eat. So it was important that I learn my way around the kitchen so I am capable of making whatever dish my palate happens to fancy. It’s worked out pretty well. Especially considering J also loves to cook and is good at it. We eat well. And food is one of the many ways in which we connect. It’s a passion we share, though admittedly we’ve yet to have a kitchen large enough for us to cook together comfortably. Instead we take turns preparing meals.

This week I want to share with you one of my go-to recipes for an easy and comforting meal that you can make right up until the last spring frost (or anytime for those like me that enjoy soup no matter what time of year it is).

Potato and Leek Soup

There’s so much to love about this recipe. It’s a classic and is really simple to make. It comes together quickly for an easy midweek meal and the ingredients are inexpensive, which means you can enjoy this nourishing soup on a pretty tight budget.

All you need to make potato and leek soup is:

• 3 large leeks

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 4-6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

• about 2 pounds yellow potatoes (Russet or Yukon are also fine)

• salt and pepper

• fresh or dried thyme

• 1-2 bay leaves

All of those ingredients are either things you already have in your kitchen, or things that can be acquired relatively inexpensively. I try to keep the cost per serving on my recipes below $4 per serving. A batch of soup like this would feed 4 people easily and it costs around $10-$12 to get all of these ingredients if you don’t already have some on hand. $3 a serving for a hearty soup like this is a great deal in my book.

Some optional things you might add to the dish (and I do add them) to make a more complex flavor are:

• fresh or dried tarragon

• a couple of thinly sliced shallots or minced garlic cloves

• a sprinkle of fennel seeds

• a few finely chopped carrots (add them when you add the leeks)

Once all of the ingredients are assembled, prep the veggies or other ingredients beforehand if they need to be trimmed or cut in any way. The prep work on this recipe is actually very simple and goes relatively quick.

First, cut the tops and bottoms off of the leeks. For the top, cut off the green fibrous part up until where it gets a little softer on the stalk. Then slice each stalk into rings about a 1/4 inch thick. Set these aside.

Next, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes roughly an inch in size. Set those aside.

If you have chosen to work with fresh herbs, you’ll want to roughly chop those as well. I am pretty generous with my use of fresh herbs, so I don’t usually worry too much about the measurements of them. If you were to insist on a measurement, I’d say you’ll want a loosely packed palmful of each fresh herb.

If you’re working with dried herbs, I’d just have them open and ready to add a couple pinches of each as the shallots or garlic are sautéing in the butter. Keep in mind that dried herbs are less potent than fresh, so you’ll need to be pretty generous with them.

Once everything is prepped, start melting the butter in the pot. I always start out low and wait until the butter starts to bubble slightly in places. That’s when I add the shallots or garlic and the fresh or dried herbs, also the fennel seeds if you’ve chosen to include them. Let them fry up for a minute or so, tossing them together repeatedly, infusing the butter with their flavors.

Once the air is fragrant with the smell of the butter and herbs, I’ll add the sliced leeks to the pan, giving it a good toss or two to coat them in the butter. If I’ve opted to included finely diced carrots, I’ll add them at this point as well. Next turn the heat up to about medium and let it all sizzle for about 5 minutes until the leeks start to soften. Once that happens add the chicken or vegetable broth, the potatoes, and the bay leaves and turn the heat up to medium high until it just starts to boil. Then, turn it down to a simmer and put a lid loosely on top so the steam can escape.

Let it simmer for about 20 minutes before beginning to test the potatoes with a fork. Once the potatoes fall apart easily when speared, you know they are done. Test this out on a few different sized pieces before deciding it’s finished. If it is, turn it down to low and start to mash the contents with a potato masher. Most recipes have you ladle a portion of soup into a blender and blend it until smooth, however, I prefer the texture the potato masher produces. It feels heartier and more rustic.

At this point you can optionally add a splash of heavy cream. This just increases the richness of the soup. I’ll finish it off with any salt or pepper it may need as well and then give it a good stir.

Then it’s finished! This soup is delicious all on its own in a bowl topped with croutons or in a cup paired with half of a grilled cheese (I like a salty white cheddar with this one).

I hope you enjoyed this very first recipe edition of my newsletter. It was a fun way to tie together my drawing practice with my creativity in the kitchen and I hope to make this a monthly or bi-monthly occurrence. What did you think? Did you enjoy seeing the illustrations along with the recipe?

What are some of your favorite spring dishes? Any events you’re looking forward to that come around every spring? Tell me about them in the comments section.

As ever, thank you for being here.

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