Crema Verde - Green Cream Soup

We had some new friends over for dinner last night, and I have to admit, for the first time in a really long while, I was a tad intimidated
and nervous about pulling off the perfect meal. See, this new friend happens to be a professional chef and culinary artist in the Bay Area.

Given these circumstances, one might imagine that it would be best to stick with recipes one has made in the past, perhaps several times, and has always been successful with. But then one wouldn't have any new recipes to write about and really, it's silly to not be a little bit adventurous!

So, along with a menu of other previously made dishes, I selected a new soup recipe from SS, the Crema Verde. This soup was an easy selection because I've recently begun getting a CSA box from the quite wonderful Eatwell Farm and had recently received some leeks and some spinach.

The recipe was very easy and left me plenty of time to get everything else finished, the table partially set (for some reason, I forgot to put spoons and wandered off leaving the silverware in an unsightly pile in middle of the table), and check out Big E's new P-to-B web application (more on that soon).

I melted two tablespoons of butter and added 3 thinly sliced leeks (white to light green parts only, although the recipe said white parts only, but the light green bits looked so fresh and yummy, I couldn't bear to leave them out). I cooked them over low heat for about five minutes, then added 3 diced potatoes and 4 cups of chicken stock. The recipe actually called for vegetable stock for a change, but I was all out. I cooked these for about ten minutes then added 3 cups of chopped spinach and a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg. SS says you can use either spinach or watercress for this recipe.

Ten minutes later, I puréed the mixture with my immersion blender then added some cream. Here, the recipe called for 2/3 of a cup of heavy cream, but that seemed like a lot and I'm on a bit of a reduction campaign, so I just added a dollop, mixed it in, tasted it, added another dollop, and so on. I'd imagine I didn't put in more than 1/2 cup, but probably more like a 1/3.

Finally, after seasoning it with some salt and a good grind of pepper, I added a generous splash of sherry, because after all Everything Tastes Better with Booze (That's ETBB, for those of you who are keeping track.)

The soup was delicious! It tasted very green and fresh. The addition of spinach to a regular potato leek soup was a great change both in terms of flavour and added nutritional value. It definitely did not need quite as much cream as the recipe called for. It was a great beginning to our meal.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Less cream and ETBB. Actually, the recipe also called for buttered, toasted croûtons to serve, but one of my dinner guests has a wheat allergy, so I hadn't bought any bread that day.


The rest of the meal consisted of this delicious lamb shank recipe, slow cooked with red wine and caramelized shallots and onions, a parsnip purée from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook and a mâche salad with Argan oil and a splash of sherry vinegar.

PS: I forgot to mention, this post is another entry for Veggie Venture's Soup's On Event.