Potato and Leek Soup

A lovely winter dish to keep you warm when you come off the ski slopes... this is the kind of soup that is so simple to make yet tastes like you really know your way around the kitchen... not just the slopes!

Ingredients:
3 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced or diced
5 leeks, trimmed, cleaned, then thinly sliced, including the tender green part
Salt
4–6 tbsp. whipping cream
2–3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley or chives

Preparation:
1.) Put potatoes, leeks, salt to taste, and 8 cups of water in a large saucepan over medium heat and simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender, 40–50 minutes.
2.) Mash vegetables in the soup with a fork, or pass the soup through a food processor.
3.) Correct seasoning with salt.
4.) Just before serving, stir in the cream by spoonfuls. Pour soup into a tureen or soup bowls and decorate with the herbs. Add a little freshly ground white pepper, if you like.

Leek & Onion Quiche with a twist

Thanks to this week's chain e-mail of recipe exchanges, I am discovering all kinds of fast and easy dishes to prepare for my family. Here's another one from a Spanish friend of a friend of a friend of a friend.

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
2 leek, halved, washed, finely sliced (white and light green parts only)
1 onion
150ggr of smoked bacon, diced
50 - 100 gr of creamy blue cheese, crumbled
a handful of raisins
2 tablespoons of Mango/Pineaplle jam

Preparation:
1.) Cut the bacon into bite size pieces and cook until crisp. Remove and drain on a paper towel
2.) Sauté the sliced leeks and onion in the bacon fat over medium-low heat until tender.
3.) Add raisins.
4.) In an oven dish or oven tray set the pastry and cover with the marmalade
5.) Fill the crust with bacon, leeks, onions and cheese.
6.) Bake at 200°C until the filling is puffed and baked through in the center, around 30 minutes.

Tip: If you wish you can cover the pie with puff pastry and press down edges firmly. Trim excess. Press a fork around edges to seal. Brush pastry with egg. Make a small hole in centre of pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake for 25-30 minutes until pastry has risen and is golden brown.