Recipes

Potato Leek Soup  - Serves 6

3- T. unsalted butter

4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 in pieces

7 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 t. salt

1/4 t. black pepper

chives, finely chopped for serving

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot.  Add the leeks and garlic and cook stirring regularly until soft and wilted, about 10 minutes but not to brown.

Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down the heat to low.  Simmer 15 minutes until potatoes are very soft.

Fish out the bay leaves and thyme. Discard.  Remove some of the potatoe pieces and puree the remaining soup with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.  Add back the potatoe pieces reserved. Garnish with chives.

This the Lebkuchen recipe that I showed all of you on Dec 6th.  This recipe makes a huge amount but since all the folks that stop by during the holidays love these molasses cookies we need to have plenty on hand.

This makes a soft dough so you have to be very gentle when rolling them out and cutting them.  I use a plastic template to cut the rectangular size.  Then you need to store them in an air tight container with a slice of bread soaked in rum or slices of an apple to give the cookies moisture to remain soft.

LEBKUCHEN

4 cups light molasses
1 pound brown sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 cups sour cream
8-10 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 pound golden raisins
1 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts
walnut halves for tops of cookies

Mix together molasses, brown sugar, shortening, eggs, and sour cream, stirring well.  Add half the flour with the baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon and mix well.  Add the raisins, chopped walnuts and additional flour until the texture is fairly firm.  Chill several hours or overnight.

Using small amounts of dough at a time, roll on a floured board being careful not to let it stick to the board.  Roll to 1/4" thickness.  Cut in rectangles about 2"x 3".  Gently lift to an ungreased baking sheet and press a walnut half in the center of each cookie.  Bake 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Let the cookies set a couple of minutes before removing them from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.