Name: Oyster Soup with Frizzled Leeks
Yield: Makes 8 servings (about 11 cups)
Ingredients: 2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), trimmed; 4 cups vegetable oil; 1 1/2 cups shucked small oysters (6 dozen) with 1 1/2 cups of their liquor (if necessary, add enough bottled clam juice to bring total to 1 1/2 cups); 2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped; 2 large russet (baking) potatoes (1 pound total); 1 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter; 3 1/2 cups water; 1 cup half-and-half; Pinch of cayenne; a deep-fat thermometer

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Oyster Soup with Frizzled LeeksQuentin Bacon

It's very important to use small oysters — such as Kumamoto or Prince Edward Island — in this soup. The oysters themselves (not the shell) should be no more than 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. When we tested the recipe with larger ones, the flavor was much too briny.

Cooks' notes:

·Fried leeks can be made 3 days ahead and kept in a sealed plastic bag at room temperature.
·Soup base (without oyster liquor, half-and-half, oysters, and cayenne) can be made 2 days ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered.

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