Recipes, re-invented from cooking shows
Leek & Potato Velouté
Prep. Time:
Baking Time:
Total Time:
25 mins
45 mins
1 hour 10 mins
Serves:
4 starter bowls
Keith created this dish for America's Culinary Cup Season 1. Built around the leek as one of the farm's most sustainable ingredients, his velouté drew warm praise for its velvet-smooth, lump-free consistency — Padma Lakshmi called it a beautiful example of the style. This Fix-It reconstruction keeps...
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Ingredients
FOR THE VELOUTÉ:
Leeks, white and pale green only (about 4 large) — 1⅓ lb / 600 g
Yukon Gold potato, peeled, skins reserved — 10 oz / 300 g
Unsalted butter — 2 tbsp / 30 g
Fine sea salt — 1 tsp / 6 g
Light vegetable or chicken stock — 3½ cups / 830 ml
Heavy cream — 3 tbsp / 45 ml
White pepper — ¼ tsp / 0.5 g
White-wine vinegar, to finish — 1 tsp / 5 ml
FOR THE CHIVE OIL:
Fresh chives, plus reserved leek greens — 1 oz / 30 g
Neutral oil (grapeseed) — ⅓ cup / 80 ml
Fine salt — a pinch
TO FINISH:
Reserved potato skins (from above)
Neutral oil, for crisping — 2 tsp / 10 ml
White truffle oil (optional, a few drops) — ¼ tsp / 1 ml
Flaky salt and snipped chives — to taste
EQUIPMENT:
Heavy-based saucepan or small stockpot
High-speed Blender
Fine-mesh sieve or chinois
Small saucepan and fine strainer (for the chive oil)
Squeeze bottle or small spoon (for dotting the oil)
Small frying pan or air-fryer (for the potato skins)
Method
STEP 1: PREP THE LEEKS AND POTATO
Halve the leeks lengthways, rinse out any grit, and slice thinly. Peel the potato, reserving the skins in cold water. Cut the potato into small dice so it cooks quickly.
STEP 2: BUILD A LEEK-FORWARD BASE
Melt the butter over low heat and add the leeks with a pinch of salt. Sweat gently for 12–15 minutes until soft, sweet and barely coloured — this is where the leek flavour is won. Set aside two tablespoons of the sweated leek to finish the bowls.
STEP 3: SIMMER
Add the diced potato and the stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 15–18 minutes, until the potato is fully tender. The potato is here for body only; resist adding more.
STEP 4: BLEND TO SILK
Blend the soup on high until completely smooth, then pass it through a fine sieve. This is the step that earns the velvet texture both judges praised — do not skip the sieve.
STEP 5: ENRICH AND BALANCE, LIGHTLY
Stir in the cream, season with white pepper, and adjust the salt. Finish with the white-wine vinegar a few drops at a time, tasting as you go — it should brighten, not announce itself. The acidity is what keeps the bowl from reading oily.
STEP 6: MAKE THE CHIVE (AND LEEK-GREEN) OIL
Blanch the chives and any tender leek greens for 10 seconds, refresh in iced water, then squeeze dry. Blend with the grapeseed oil and a pinch of salt for 1 minute, then strain through a fine sieve into a squeeze bottle.
STEP 7: CRISP THE POTATO SKINS
Pat the reserved skins very dry. Toss with the 2 tsp oil and crisp in a hot pan or air-fryer until golden and shatteringly crisp; drain and salt.
STEP 8: PLATE WITH RESTRAINT
Ladle the warm velouté into bowls and spoon a little reserved sweated leek into the centre. Dot — do not pool — the chive oil around the rim, add only a few drops of truffle oil if using, and crown with the crispy potato skins, flaky salt and snipped chives.
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Instructions
FOR THE VELOUTÉ:
Leeks, white and pale green only (about 4 large) — 1⅓ lb / 600 g
Yukon Gold potato, peeled, skins reserved — 10 oz / 300 g
Unsalted butter — 2 tbsp / 30 g
Fine sea salt — 1 tsp / 6 g
Light vegetable or chicken stock — 3½ cups / 830 ml
Heavy cream — 3 tbsp / 45 ml
White pepper — ¼ tsp / 0.5 g
White-wine vinegar, to finish — 1 tsp / 5 ml
FOR THE CHIVE OIL:
Fresh chives, plus reserved leek greens — 1 oz / 30 g
Neutral oil (grapeseed) — ⅓ cup / 80 ml
Fine salt — a pinch
TO FINISH:
Reserved potato skins (from above)
Neutral oil, for crisping — 2 tsp / 10 ml
White truffle oil (optional, a few drops) — ¼ tsp / 1 ml
Flaky salt and snipped chives — to taste
EQUIPMENT:
Heavy-based saucepan or small stockpot
High-speed blender
Fine-mesh sieve or chinois
Small saucepan and fine strainer (for the chive oil)
Squeeze bottle or small spoon (for dotting the oil)
Small frying pan or air-fryer (for the potato skins)
Heading 5
Ingredients
STEP 1: PREP THE LEEKS AND POTATO
Halve the leeks lengthways, rinse out any grit, and slice thinly. Peel the potato, reserving the skins in cold water. Cut the potato into small dice so it cooks quickly.
STEP 2: BUILD A LEEK-FORWARD BASE
Melt the butter over low heat and add the leeks with a pinch of salt. Sweat gently for 12–15 minutes until soft, sweet and barely coloured — this is where the leek flavour is won. Set aside two tablespoons of the sweated leek to finish the bowls.
STEP 3: SIMMER
Add the diced potato and the stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 15–18 minutes, until the potato is fully tender. The potato is here for body only; resist adding more.
STEP 4: BLEND TO SILK
Blend the soup on high until completely smooth, then pass it through a fine sieve. This is the step that earns the velvet texture both judges praised — do not skip the sieve.
STEP 5: ENRICH AND BALANCE, LIGHTLY
Stir in the cream, season with white pepper, and adjust the salt. Finish with the white-wine vinegar a few drops at a time, tasting as you go — it should brighten, not announce itself. The acidity is what keeps the bowl from reading oily.
STEP 6: MAKE THE CHIVE (AND LEEK-GREEN) OIL
Blanch the chives and any tender leek greens for 10 seconds, refresh in iced water, then squeeze dry. Blend with the grapeseed oil and a pinch of salt for 1 minute, then strain through a fine sieve into a squeeze bottle.
STEP 7: CRISP THE POTATO SKINS
Pat the reserved skins very dry. Toss with the 2 tsp oil and crisp in a hot pan or air-fryer until golden and shatteringly crisp; drain and salt.
STEP 8: PLATE WITH RESTRAINT
Ladle the warm velouté into bowls and spoon a little reserved sweated leek into the centre. Dot — do not pool — the chive oil around the rim, add only a few drops of truffle oil if using, and crown with the crispy potato skins, flaky salt and snipped chives.
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