The Suburban Vegetarian: Take a Leek.

INGREDIENTS

3 large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean. Use only the white and pale green parts, chop. (I used 2)
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups water
2 cups vegetable broth
2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces (I used 2 good sized, didn't weigh)
Marjoram - dash (didn't have)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (didn't have either, i used basil and just experimented with diff spices)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Tabasco sauce or other red chili sauce (also didn't have, used cayenne)
Salt & Pepper

(I also added a few drops of liquid smoke)

METHOD

1 Cook leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown leeks! Browning will give leeks a burnt taste.

2 Add water, broth, and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add marjoram, parsley, and thyme. Add a few dashes of chili sauce to taste. Add some freshly ground pepper, 1-2 teaspoons salt or more to taste.

Serves 4-6.

And here are your pictures :)

These are your leeks, they were bigger than I thought they'd be. This was my first leek experience.

This is the part you use and what they look like inside.

You have to wash leeks really well to get the sandy grit out of the layers. refer back to this all about leeks page... http://startcooking.com/blog/183/Leeks

This was right after I added the potatoes to the pot.

It cooks up pretty fast then you just blend the soup. A stick (immersion) blender is great for this kind of recipe but I do not have one so I just ladled half or a little more of the soup into a blender. It works the same. Here is the finished product.