Wednesday, May 12, 2010

LOCAL WEDNESDAYS*: ROASTED POTATO LEEK SOUP WITH ARUGULA

     I have free cable! Actually, I have one free cable channel: the food network! I know for all you foodies, the food network is like Disney Land, super cheesey, but I love it and over the years have learned so many great trick and techniques from absorbing hour after hour of cooking shows. Watching is learning.
     I love every show, except Bobby Flay, I kind of think he is douchey a little. I just think that throw-down show is so rude. Its like, "Hi. You have been perfecting pies your whole life. Your entire identity is making pies and everyone in your small town loves you for this. Well, I am going to figure out, in my a-hole test kitchen, how to make a pie better than you, in like one day, then I am going to come to your hood and embarrass you in front of all your friends and family!" Needless to say, I love it when he gets his ass whipped, which isn't often enough.
    So let's talk about Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. She is a total Hamptons snob and I want to steal her life. This is her everyday, "I'm gonna wake up and open my blinds in my big fat giant house and wow, its the perfect day again, everything is in bloom, then I'm going to buy some really gourmet shit while I stroll around the Hamptons because I can do that because I don't have to work except cook for my cooking show, then I am going to take all this gourmet shit home, make the best meal ever, go into my killer sick garden to get some gorgeous flowers for the table, invite all my gay friends over and have an awesome candle lit dinner party on my awesome deck or better yet, pack it up in cute chinese food take-out containers and let's have dinner on the beach while the sun is setting."
    This blogger lives in a cave in Queens and watches this and wonders, what am I doing wrong with my life? Ina save me!
    I think that Markus has a crush on Ina. He at least has a love jones for her food and after we drooled watching her make this amazing Roasted Potato Leek Soup with Arugula, he wanted to give it a shot. I think he also loves any excuse to use the hand blender; it is an awesome device.
    We had everything we needed in our little winter share box plus some greens from the Farmer's Market. This recipe is really simple and hard to screw up. You roast the leeks and potatoes until they are caramelized, then throw the arugula in there for a few minutes. Scrape up the good bits from the bottom of the pan with some white wine. Add some stock and blend it all. Add some creme fraiche (we used cream cheese and I snuck in some extra butter) more wine and a ton of parmesan cheese. We didn't caramelize shallots as a crispy topping, but we should have! This soup was excellent. Thanks Ina, free cable and Markus for this keeper!
*All ingredients from this post are from local season produce.

7 comments:

Rocco Galatioto said...

I know that the peasants on this side of the pond call it ARUGULA. It derives from the way some southern Italians, not Sicilians, of course, called it when they Americanized it. The proper way to spell it RUGOLA.
Arugula offends my sensitivity; as you know I'm a person of refined taste and sensitivity!

Jennifer Galatioto said...

sorry. i didn't mean to offend your greatness.

Jennifer Galatioto said...

and i am sure it was the sicilians who bastardized the word :-)

Mister Meatball said...

Now, now, let's place nice. There's plenty of rugola, arugula, rocket, etc. to go around without fighting.

Besides, it takes the focus off of one fine-looking bowl of zuppa!

Madonna, that's gorgeous!

Jennifer Galatioto said...

mr. meatball, can u be the referee? we need one!

Rocco Galatioto said...

My greatness is such that it precludes offense from mere mortals.
Or it can be that I love you too much to be offended. There, that's better.
PS
It was Neapolitans who bastardized the word, BTW.

Mister Meatball said...

I'm probably not qualified to be referee here. I come from Neapolitan people. The ones who, it is alleged, don't know their rugola from their rumps.

Best you Sicilians fight amongst yourselves.