Two Sides of the Coffee Cup and Roasted Garlic Potato Leek Soup

So you know how I stopped drinking coffee for about a minute? Well that died. I spent one short week at work decaffeinated and realized that my job requires a rather high degree of patience something I was very short on during this brief stint. Plus the stuff is frigging delicious and I missed it. So I'm back. Once again I am nice to the people I work with and happier about life in general. You steaming little cup of goodness, you!

Me enjoying my first, LARGE cup of coffee after a week. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

 On another note, yesterday I frolicked at a farmer's market and spent some of my budget for the next two weeks. Farmer`s Markets are magical little places especially in harvest season. I got 2 leeks, some sugar beets, and a bunch of enormous and sweet carrots for about $5. I also picked up 5 pounds of potatoes at my local grocery store for $3. So last night I made Potato Leek Soup!

Clean the leeks: Pull of the tough outer layers, chop off the rough green bits and throw them aside (but not away), cut the remaining stems lengthwise and then in 1 inch half rounds. Immerse all the bits in cold water. This is the best way to get any remaining soil out of the layers.

Sauté the leeks in oil until they're soft and smell intoxicating. 
Add some garlic (I added 4 cloves at this point but you will see that I add more at the end, oh how I love GARLIC)
Put in some peeled, cut up potatoes and I threw in a couple carrots because I have so many and they add a nice sweetness to this soup though the orangeness makes the dish a slightly off-putting colour... I'm not going to lie before it was completely pureed it strongly resembled vomit...

Cover the whole mess with water and bring to a boil. You will also want to put in generous portions of both salt and pepper and then probably add more after you puree.

Once the potatoes are soft turn off the soup and go to yoga class!

Well okay, that's what I did. You can if you want to but you could also do something else while the soup cools enough to puree. Like hunt rabbits or do a little dance, make a little love... really whatever you're in the mood for.

When I got home I set to pureeing. Since I was nice and tired from work and all that pretzeling I decided to use my food processor first, have it leak (or is it Leek? haha sorry) all over the counter and then switch to the blender. I like to make extra dishes for myself. Doing dishes is zen... grrrrarghblech OH NO!! Being my response to soup all over the everywhere!

Two hours of relaxation efficiently nullified.

That said I was glad to have something warm to eat once I got home. And then came the tasting once pureed and seasoning adjusting. Oh it was so bland!!! I couldn't STAND it... so I added a whole bunch of fresh cracked pepper and then it was bland and overly peppery. Damn it.

Solution? Roast an entire head of garlic, (in a square of tinfoil with the top cut off, drizzle the head with oil and cook fro 40mins at 425. When I put mine in a cold oven and left it in for 40mins while the oven heated up it worked just grand!) mashed up with a fork and stirred it into the soup.

Solved!!! And I had so much soup that I put three containers in my freezer with enough for dinner that night and at least two lunches in my fridge.

I'm so glad it's raining cause all I want on a rainy fall day is nice warm garlicky soup!!