Soupalooza: Fennel takes potato soup to delicious new heights
Vichyssoise is one of my all-time favorite soups. There's something so satisfying about the combination of potatoes, leeks and sour cream that there's hardly any need for recipe meddling. It's super easy, very affordable and completely delicious.
The hardest part about vichyssoise is spelling it. So why tinker with perfection?
That's why I sort of danced around this recipe for Fennel, Garlic and Potato Soup by cookbook author and New York Times food columnist Martha Rose Shulman. Maybe I'll make it, I thought, followed by nah, I don't think so.
Yet the fennel did intrigue me so I decided to give it a try. Fennel is one of those ingredients I rarely use, but when I do I wonder why I don't use it all the time. The herb has the flavor of anise and is extremely healthy with loads of fiber, potassium, folate, vitamin C and vitamin B-6 and other nutrients.
Best of all, it's pretty versatile. The bulb can be used all sorts of ways — from sauteing to grilling to braising to enjoying it raw. The feathery fronds can be used to garnish soup or add flavor to a salad. And, of course, the seeds are often used in Italian cooking, particularly in homemade sausage.
So the question is, did the fennel improve the vichyssoise? Well, yes and no. This soup doesn't have any dairy so it's a bit lighter than your standard potato and leek soup, with fewer calories and fat. Like vichyssoise, it can be eaten both hot and cold. In the end, it's the added flavor of the fennel that really takes this soup off in a different, but delicious, direction. It might have the vichy vibe, but it really stands on its own.
Shulman suggests garnishing the soup with your choice of chopped fresh fennel fronds, lightly crushed fennel seeds, paper-thin slices of fennel bulb, garlic croutons or shaved parmesan. I topped it off with a Tuscan herb salt blend that included rosemary, salt, garlic and pepper.
It's definitely a new favorite.
• M. Eileen Brown is the Daily Herald's director of strategic marketing and innovation and an incurable soup-a-holic. She specializes in vegetarian soups and blogs at soupalooza.com.