Leek and Potato Soup Recipes

POTATOES IN LEEK AND POTATO SOUP

Maris Piper, excellent for Leek and Potato Soup

NEW POTATOES
Generally these potatoes tend to be waxy and unless you know a specific suitable variety, our advice would be not to select these for most soups, including leek and potato soup. Some varieties are also described as salad potatoes and these are generally not suitable.

New potatoes, especially those sold in season (late spring to early summer) are also more expensive compared to other varieties.

OLD AND BAKING POTATOES
Many of these are suitable for making soup. We would select the varieties which are good for mashing. These include the following:

Maris Piper
Estima
Valor
Desiree
King Edward

HOME GROWN OR SHOP BOUGHT
Home grown potatoes straight from the garden have more flavour and contain more nutrients. In addition, you know exactly how they have been grown and if any chemicals or sprays have been use. So we would always select home grown potatoes over shop bought ones.

Having said that, we don't all have gardens or allotments so shop bought potatoes are our only choice. You won't go far wrong with these as long as you choose old or baking varieties.

If you fancy having a first time go at growing your own then it couldn't be simpler, even in a tiny garden. First, find a large container, up to dustbin size. There are even potato bags now available to grow potatoes in.

Take a trip down to your garden centre or online shop and look for "seed" potatoes. These are mini potatoes which are primed and ready to grow. Select some of a variety you want and take them home.

Next stage is to chit the potatoes. Chitting is simply getting the potatoes to sprout which starts the growth process off. It's not absolutely essential but it does help. The best time to start chitting old potato varieties is mid to end February.

To chit, get some egg boxes and place one seed potato into each of the egg slots. Examine the potato before placing it into the egg box and look for "eyes". The eyes are where the potato will sprout growth. The eyes (or the majority of them) should be uppermost.

Place the potatoes in their boxes in a light, cool and definitely frost free place. A windowsill will do fine. The position must be light to permit the the seed potatoes to sprout.

After a week or so the eyes will start to sprout growths and the potato is ready for planting outside when the growths are about 1½ (½ inch) long. They should be green from the light and not white.

Place about 30 cm (1 ft) normal potting compost in the bottom of your container, water well. Place the sprouted seed potatoes (sprouts upwards) on the compost and cover with 15cm (6 in) of moist but not wet compost. The container should be in a light frost free position.

When you see growth above the compost, wait until it is 22cm (9 in) above the top of the compost and then gently pour in more compost to about 15cm (6 in) above the top of the foliage. Repeat this every time the foliage reaches 22cm (9 in) above the top of the compost.

Around early July time, stop adding more compost and let the potatoes grow. They should be ready for harvest early September time. You will be amazed at how many you get.

If you fancy potatoes at Christmas then start the process off in mid-August. Your potatoes will be ready for harvest by November, lasting till well past Christmas. Good luck!

Lots of other pages with potato information are shown below:

The Potato Council
Lots of technical and not so technical information about growing potatoes.

Potato Varieties
Everything you ever needed to know about the different varieties of potato.

Growing Potatoes
A no nonsense guide to growing potatoes. From chitting them, planting right through to harvest.

Blackadder and the Potato Film from You Tube
A humorous TV excerpt from BlackAdder on the humble potato.

 

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