Roasted Potato & Leek & baby onion soup with Arugula

• 
  
  I am fortunate to have access to a number of farmers and outdoor markets.Come May,I eagerly wait for the Mount Joy Farmers Market to start- this market though small(it is in the parking lot of a Union National Community Bank) has a variety of interesting produce.
  
  Last week,when I stopped by,I picked up a couple of baby red onions- not to be confused with spring onions.Earlier in the week,I had picked up leeks,arugula and baby potatoes from Central Market(a must see if you are in the Lancaster area).
  
  Some of the leeks went into a quiche,however I had a bunch still remaining.Unsure of how to finish up the rest of the bunch,I turned to the internet for inspiration.After looking browsing through a bunch of posts,I decided to try Ina Garten Roasted potato and leek soup
  
  I tweaked the recipe a bit as I didnt have chicken broth,creme fraiche or sour cream and the only white wine I had was a Riesling which I didnt think would pair well. I figured since the broth & wine were used as thinning agents,they could be replaced with water and that whole milk could take the place of cream.
  
  So,this is what I did
  (1) Preheated oven to 400F
  (2) Cut potatoes (about 2cups)into medium pieces,3 leeks (white part only) & 3 baby onions into thirds.
  (3) Added garlic about 4 big cloves to the mix.
  (4) Drizzled with Olive Oil.Add salt and pepper and mixed well.
  (5) Arranged the vegetables on baking tray and roasted for about 18mins.
  (6) Added a couple of handfuls of baby arugula and put it back in the oven for about 5mins
  
  I transferred the roasted vegetables into a big mixing bowl.Added water and used the immersion blender to make a puree.You could use the blender as well.The reason I went with the immerssion blender is I wanted the soup to have some texture and didnt want it to taste like baby food.
  
  Next,added a half cup of whole milk and the whole mixture went back on to the stove to heat through.The soup seemed to be missing something,so I added a couple of tablespoons of Beef Demi Glace and that seemed to fix it.
  
  The original recipe called for serving it with caramlized shallots,since I didnt have any shallots handy,I served it as is,with a dash of sirarcha sauce- YUMMY!
  
  The next day,I topped the soup with some chopped some kiebalsa - this was delicious as well,as the kiebalsa added a nice smoky flavor to the soup.
  
  

Potato and Green Bean Salad

This recipe was heavily inspired from
Smitten Kitchen.

It makes for a delicious side or a light lunch.

Hello!

Cooking is never a solitary task,even when you are the only person in the kitchen(paraphrasing Molly Wizenberg) . It connects me to my family,friends and the times we spend together.This blog is my attempt to chronicle all my culinary adventures and experiments.