If you don’t know I’m doing a professional cookery course at Westminster Kingsway. And I’m loving it. Basically, you learn the hardcore basics of cooking. So how to properly cut vegetables, how to handle a knife, how to make stocks and lots of other fancy French-worded things. Here I’m showing you the secrets of a delicious and veggie-packed potato soup: Potage Julienne Darblay.

Potage actually means a category of creamy soups, stews, or porridges most likely made with vegetables and meat. This soup is white/green as all the ingredients are green and white.

• 

A potage julienne Darblay is a Parmentier soup (parmentier means “made of potatoes”)
mixed with a julienne of vegetables.

You’ll need:
Potage Julienne Darblay
2 tablespoons butter
0.75 pound white leek, washed and finely chopped
2.2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
8 cups vegetable stock
Bay leaves
Thyme
Small piece of carrot, cut into julienne (5 cm)
White leek, cut into julienne (5 cm)
Celery, cut into julienne (5 cm)
Salt to taste

How to:
Mise en place: Prepare your station and make sure you have all the ingredients available.
Wash and cut all the vegetables.

Make the Parmentier: In a saucepan over medium high heat, sauté white leeks in butter until soft but not colored.
Add sliced peeled potatoes, bay leaves, thyme and stock. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim the top surface if necessary.

Remove the bay leaves and thyme. Puree the mixture in a food processor. Pass through a sieve and return to the saucepan. Taste and rectify the seasoning.

Make the garnish: In a small pot, bring water to the boil, and add the julienne vegetables.
Cook the julienne on low heat until tender making sure that the vegetables do not loose color.