Leek

Adding potatoes to the puree reduces the amount of cream needed to give this soup its thick, creamy texture.

Apples and apple cider lend a pleasant sweetness to this beautiful soup.

The broth can be served on its own as a light starter with or without the vegetables in it. It can also be used in recipes calling for canned vegetable broth.

For bigger matzo balls in this soup form mixture into 12 rounds and cook them for one hour ten minutes.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Chef Louis Diat created this famous cold soup (without the peas, which are a nice addition) during his tenure at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York. Diat named the soup after Vichy, the resort town near his boyhood home in France. Hot potato-leek soup had been popular with French chefs for centuries, but Diat-inspired by his own childhood habit of adding milk to hot soup to cool it of-served his version cold. Exactly when vichyssoise first appeared on the hotel menu is unclear, but British food writer Elizabeth David claimed that it debuted in 1917.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The pink-peppercorn garnish gives this chilled soup a pretty spring look.

Leave the roots on the leeks while simmering them so they don't fall apart. Afterward, trim off the roots very close to the bulb end.

The mild flavor of leeks adds a nice touch to the pasta's tomato-based sauce.

This easy—to—make soup is a terrific Saturday lunch, especially when accompanied by crusty bread, a salad and beer or apple cider. If you're serving people who don't like spicy foods, eliminate the cayenne pepper.

The fruity flavors of pear nectar and Port enchance a sage-accented gravy. Pour a rich Pinot Noir throughout the meal. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.