I partially picked this recipe because it sounded so fancy…afterwards I discovered it actually is just a fancy term for potato and leek soup…which is apparently still a thing! But at least it was new to me…and to Daniel, which is the important thing. Don’t forget to check out the one minute Instagram version!
Cold Vichyssoise Cream
The Harvey House
19th Century
Step One: Melt butter in a kettle and stir in chopped leeks and onions. Okay, so, I did skip the onions. Even for 19th century recipes, I decided to skip the part I don’t like. But the leeks were exciting. Do you know how long I stood in the grocery store, staring between the picture on my phone and the greenery in front of me, trying to figure out which ones were leeks? I almost selected green onions, wondering if it was just a fancy term for them, until suddenly my eye lit upon them! Clearly a gap in my education there.
Step Two: After cooking the leeks until tender, pour in chicken stock, chopped parsley, celery, and potatoes! This honestly took the most time…chopping all the vegetables. Then season with salt, pepper, nutmeg(!), and bay leaves.
Step Three: Cook until the potatoes are tender and then rub through a “fine sieve”. I take it back. THIS was the hard part, Do you know how long it took to get these potato chunks through this strainer??
Step Four: Return to the fire…I mean stove…reheat, add cream, and then chill.
Step Five: See what my husband thinks! After I set cold soup in front of him, he decided that I had to join him. Which I was less than thrilled about, since potatoes and leeks didn’t sound particularly appetizing to me…but surprisingly it wasn’t bad! Daniel didn’t particularly care for it…and to be honest, we didn’t finish the pot. But really, it could have been worse!
Have you ever tried Leek and Potato soup? Had you ever heard of it before?
Forest Idylls 
Yes, those old recipe books were all about forcing things through sieves. Now we just puree things with blenders. There’s something to be said for time saving appliances.
Yes! I have never been so appreciative of modern appliances after attempting some of these things!!
I’d be willing to try it. I love potato soup And I don’t see why I wouldn’t like leeks in it. To my knowledge I’ve never had a leek but maybe I have and just don’t remember. But I was thinking with the fancy name it would be some kind of dessert so this was a surprise to me too!
Right? Such a simple recipe for such a fancy name! LOL. I definitely had never had leeks before, but I actually didn’t think it was bad, and I also love potato soup!