Clue:  Ceramic base 8″ square

When purchased, this mystery object consists of three parts: one red bead, one white bead and a ceramic base.  Raid kitchen.  Add water.  What is the use of this device?  Post your best guess and I’ll return on Tuesday to reveal the answer.

When I first studied French cooking one of the most memorable – and simplest — soups I learned to make was this one. At the time, I was studying with one of my culinary mentors, the late Richard Olney, in James Beard’s kitchen where he was teaching a week-long class.

I was the sub-assistant who grabbed cilantro instead of flat-leaf parsley (I’d never seen it before), didn’t know nothin’ about cleanin’ no sea urchins (which I quickly came to loathe) and  only later made the connection between this soup – which Richard simmered up for lunch one day while we were working – and the canned Vichyssoise my Mom always served.

What impressed me first (all practical knowledge followed) was how delicious a soup made of only 8 ingredients could be, which certainly had a good deal to do with leeks, one of the most underrated members of the onion family in my humble opinion.

Later I learned this was a country soup that anyone made for a family meal – basically hot, unpureed Vichyssoise, minus the cream. And not to be missed.

Leek-and-Potato Soup

Makes 4 servings

1 pound leeks
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 quarts chicken stock
1 pound Idaho potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, sliced
Salt and ground pepper
Fresh parsley (or tarragon) for garnish (optional)

To clean the leeks [see step-by-step photos, below] cut off the root end on each one. Slice each leek in half lengthwise beginning at the cut end of the white part and splitting it up through the green leaves. Then rinse halves thoroughly under running water, separating the green leaves to remove any dirt that collected there. Trim off any dry ends at the top. Cut each leek crosswise in thirds, and then gather the lengths together and cut leeks crosswise into thin slices.

Transfer sliced leeks to a 6-quart soup kettle with the olive oil. Toss to thoroughly coat leeks with the oil then add the butter. Put a sheet of aluminum foil over and touching the leeks, pushing it down onto them. Cover and put kettle over low heat to stew leeks very gently, stirring frequently, for 25 to 30 minutes, until they have given up their liquid. Do not allow them to brown.

Add chicken stock to kettle and stir well. Add potatoes and simmer gently, with cover a jar, 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Leeks and potatoes will be very soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon soup into bowls and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately. (For a cream soup, puree when cooked. A small amount of cream is optional).

Notes from Moi

Here are some photos that provide a step-by-step on how to clean leeks, a technique which is far from obvious and very essential if you don’t want grit in every spoonful:

Remove root from white end

Slit the leek greens vertically

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Rinse, separating leaves to remove dirt

Slice leek segments crosswise

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* Use russet potatoes for this as they don’t take on a gluey texture when they are as well cooked as these are.

* The technique of sweating the leeks with aluminum foil touching the top is useful for any type of soup base. It helps improve flavor but requires watching – you don’t want the fragrant evaporating liquid to fall back into the pot, not go out the vent hood.

* If you want to find out how good the simmer setting is on your stove, cooking the leeks will let you know.

* The soup can be made several days in advance, if you like. It also is very elastic – most any cooked ingredients can be added. It is a leftover magnet.

* If you want Vichyssoise, just puree the soup in a blender and add cream or half&half to taste once it’s cool. Add the cream carefully and taste along the way as it dulls the flavor slightly.

Linking up with the deliciousness of Designs by Gollum’s Foodie Friday

]]> http://www.atticmag.com/2010/03/country-leek-and-potato-soup/feed/ 8 http://www.atticmag.com/2010/03/chalkboard-decor/ http://www.atticmag.com/2010/03/chalkboard-decor/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:30:23 +0000 Allison http://www.atticmag.com/?p=14883

My youngest moved into her new home several months ago, so I have been keeping an eye out for great pieces with good bones – things that can be used in various rooms in the years to come.  Items with a touch of chalkboard have such a classic feel, mixing with most decorating styles.  This solid wood hutch features ten drawers with blackboard inserts.  Its shallow depth makes it a nice selection for the breakfast area to store extra linens and tableware.  The rustic finish gives it that vintage feel she loves.  Best of all, it could function well in any room.

Reminiscent of French Country style, this painted chalkboard cloak rack combo includes space for daily reminders.  It would be cute to cover a few sections with corkboard, fabric memo board or vintage prints, making it one-of-a-kind addition for the back hallway.  Down the road, it could be placed lower on the wall in a child’s room or playroom for drawing and holding dress-up clothes.

With a little imagination, anyone can create a treasure.  A $3 garage sale score was vamped up with model car spray paint on the drawers and blackboard paint on the cabinet.  The perfect chest of drawers for a boy’s room, but equally fitting elsewhere.  For a bigger chalkboard statement, jazz up pair of sliding closet doors in an office or playroom or an entire wall in a contemporary  kitchen.  Great ideas, great pieces.

Sources:
Wooden Chalkboard Hutch $592,  Rian Rae
French Country Chalkboard Cloak Rack $79, Wisteria
Flickr, Robot*Jumping*Rope

“Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you”.

March 10, 1876:  With his assistant, Thomas Watson in another room, Alexander Graham Bell speaks into his new invention, the telephone, for the first time. An entry in his lab book on that day describes the results of his experiment:

”To my delight he came and delivered that he had heard and understood what I said.  I asked him to repeat the words – he answered “you said Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you”.

Decades later, as the telephone progressed from wall-mounted to a stationary corded version, furniture makers introduced a combination hall-bench and table to set those heavy phones on.  Gossip (also called Telephone) Benches, allowed the caller a place to sit and talk, and featured a space to hold a phone book. They came in various styles to fit with the decor of the period.

The bench pictured above features a pierced seatback with gothic inspired quatrefoils designs.  Circa 1930’s.  (Photo via GoAntiques).

This Duncan Phyffe style mahogany bench with an inlaid design has both a door concealing an area for storing phone books as well as a pull out writing tray above. (Photo via WorthPoint).

Paging all mid-century modern enthusiasts, this chair-style bench, albeit in need of a good cleaning, is one cool piece of furniture. Fashioned more like a comfy accent chair, this fully upholstered variation in a retro shade of teal dates to the 1950-60’s.  (Photo via WorthPoint).

For the most elegant of spaces, this American Federal Lyre Back bench with scalloping crest rail is made of mahogany and dates to 1920. The padded brown leather seat is framed with upholstery nails.  There is a shelf beneath the seat for storing a phone book. (Photo via RubyLane where the bench was listed at $695 and marked as Sold).

Two vintage 1940-50’s vinyl chair style benches in era-popular colors and trimmed in upholstery tacks. The twist on these benches is the seat lifts up for storage.  (Photo left via Worthpoint, right via Picasa Densel).

Gossip benches are still being produced and can be found in various reproduction styles. Vintage examples like the ones above come up at auction.   The benches pictured here are from previous auctions and (sadly) not for sale.

View Alexander Graham Bell’s Lab notebook

Award winning San Francisco designer duo, Vernon Applegate and Gioi Tran transformed an elongated wall in this Pacific Heights condo bedroom into a modern double-duty storage zone.  Flanked on both sides by a set of doors, the center section’s built in drawers [above] rise halfway up the wall leaving the lighted area above open for display.

A pair of sliders to the right [below] opens to reveal more drawers housing a flat screen television above.   Opaque glass-front French-style doors painted out in white trim are what sets this “closet” apart and keeps the wall looking open and light.

Applegate Tran Interiors

To establish a vintage feel, celadon green for the cabinets was mixed with mint-green for the table and checkerboard floor. Then, a darker “awning” green was added to anchor the beadboard wainscoting.  All three shades worked together and because thy tied in visually with the owner’s  collections of jadeite glass dishware, glassware and vintage accessories.

Cookbooks were stashed in the butler’s pantry [right], just outside the kitchen. While that space is painted a fourth green — one just lighter than the kitchen wainscot [below],  the inside of the shelves were painted blue. Easter-egg-colors also were used for kitchen chairs.

Then there’s the antique 6-burner, 2-oven Magic Chef 1000 from the 1930s [above]. These beauties are not for everyone (pilot lights are on continuously and ovens tend to be small) but this one  helped complete the overall look and fit perfectly in a space between a window and a door.   The painted, checkerboard floor was professionally done .

Open shelving around the sink is used to display the wonderful colors of vintage bowl and glassware collections. How amazing to have everything that well coordinated and edited colorwise.

Filagree brackets add vintage detail below the shelves and, as a practical matter an old-fashioned dishtowel rack was hung directly above the sink. Green milk-glass canisters are displayed in a shelf found at a local antique shop.

(Photos via Country Living)

Please don’t forget to visit our friends at Met Monday and see all the fabulous transformations!