Chef Juliette
Purée de Carottes, otherwise Crécy
Purée de Carottes, otherwise Crécy, turns carrots, butter, rice, and white consommé into a silken soup. The lesson is simple and absolute: blend for smoothness, then sieve for finesse.
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Soupe aux Poireaux et Pommes de Terre (Bonne Femme)
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 751, Soupe aux Poireaux et Pommes ee Terre, otherwise à la Bonne Femme, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Leek whites soften in butter without colour, potato roundels simmer in clear stock, and warm milk with a final butter finish turns this thrifty bonne femme soup quietly luxurious.
Soups & Stews
French
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
20 min
Active Time
40 min cook•1 hr total
YieldAbout 2 quarts (6 servings)
Soupe aux Poireaux et Pommes de Terre à la Bonne Femme (homestyle leek and potato soup) teaches one true thing: leek whites must surrender slowly in butter without taking colour. Browning them would make a perfectly good soup, but not this pale, gentle one. The flavour comes from patience, not caramelization.
The original entry assumed a pot of white consommé never off the fire, milk boiled separately for service, and a flute, the long crisp soup roll, waiting beside the tureen. At home, clear low-sodium chicken stock takes the place of that stockpot, pasteurized whole milk needs only warming, and paper-thin baguette rounds dried until crisp answer honestly for the flute. The stockpot and separate hard boil were brigade scaffolding. The fifteen-minute stewing of the leeks, visible potato roundels, equal measures of stock and milk, and generous final butter are the dish and must stay. The entry's four-leek, three-potato batch already yields about two quarts once the vegetables enter the pot. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Finished, the broth is milky ivory rather than thick, with tender potato quarter-roundels, pale leek, and little butter-gold reflections around the flute. Do not blend it. Keep the heat low during those first fifteen minutes, because pale, thoroughly softened leeks decide the whole soup.
À la bonne femme, literally in the manner of the good wife, belongs to the French cuisine bourgeoise table rather than to one province; the phrase marks careful household cooking without display. Classical kitchens carried this leek-and-potato soup from the family pot into the written repertoire, replacing variable cooking liquor with white consommé while leaving its plain sequence intact. It is the country parent of vichyssoise, but the two are not interchangeable: bonne femme remains hot and unpuréed, with visible potato roundels and crisp flute, while vichyssoise is smooth, enriched, and chilled.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium leeks
Quantity
4, white parts only, about 4 cups (950 ml / 400 g)
thoroughly washed and finely minced
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
for stewing the leeks
medium waxy potatoes
Quantity
3, about 3 cups (710 ml / 570 g)
peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick
white consommé, or clear low-sodium chicken stock
Quantity
2½ cups (600 ml / 600 g)
fine salt
Quantity
1 to 1½ teaspoons (5 to 7.5 ml / 6 to 9 g)
as the stock requires
whole milk
Quantity
2½ cups (600 ml / 620 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
cut into small pieces for finishing
flute or narrow baguette
Quantity
12 paper-thin roundels from 1 roll, about 1 ounce (30 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium leeksthoroughly washed and finely minced | 4, white parts only, about 4 cups (950 ml / 400 g) |
| unsalted butterfor stewing the leeks | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| medium waxy potatoespeeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick | 3, about 3 cups (710 ml / 570 g) |
| white consommé, or clear low-sodium chicken stock | 2½ cups (600 ml / 600 g) |
| fine saltas the stock requires | 1 to 1½ teaspoons (5 to 7.5 ml / 6 to 9 g) |
| whole milk | 2½ cups (600 ml / 620 g) |
| unsalted buttercut into small pieces for finishing | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| flute or narrow baguette | 12 paper-thin roundels from 1 roll, about 1 ounce (30 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4-quart heavy saucepan with lid
- •Small saucepan for warming the milk
- •Rimmed baking sheet for drying baguette rounds
- •2-quart soupière or soup tureen
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the components
Split the leek whites lengthwise and rinse between every layer until no grit remains, then dry and mince them finely. Quarter the potatoes lengthwise and slice them crosswise into even ⅛-inch (3 mm) quarter-roundels. Cut 12 paper-thin rounds from the flute. If using a fresh baguette, dry the rounds at 325°F (165°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until crisp but still pale; the original flute was already dry and crisp, so browning the substitute would change its mild flavour.
Even potato slices finish together. Thick and thin pieces in the same pot leave you choosing between hard centres and broken edges. - 2
Suer the leeks
Suer, to sweat, the minced leek whites in the 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the leeks are soft, moist, and sweet-smelling without a trace of bronze. If the butter begins to colour or the pan looks dry, lower the heat and add 1 tablespoon of the measured stock. Ça se rattrape: the splash arrests the browning and lets the leeks finish softening gently.
The leeks should collapse quietly, not sizzle hard. Colour would dominate the milk and turn this delicate soup into another dish. - 3
Simmer the potatoes
Add the potato quarter-roundels, the white consommé or clear chicken stock, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Bring the liquid slowly to a bare simmer, cover, and cook gently for 12 to 15 minutes. Stir with a light hand once or twice, because the potatoes should become completely tender while keeping their shape. Taste the broth and add the remaining salt only if it needs it; prepared consommé may already carry enough.
- 4
Finish with milk
While the potatoes finish, warm the whole milk in a small saucepan until the edge quivers and small bubbles gather around it. Do not boil it hard. Stir the warm milk into the soup and bring everything just to the threshold of a simmer, then remove the pot from the heat. Monter au beurre, finish by swirling in the 3 tablespoons of butter a few pieces at a time, until the broth gleams and tastes rounded. If melted fat floats on the surface, stop heating and whisk in a tablespoon of cool milk. Ça se rattrape. A hard boil after the butter goes in would only separate it again.
- 5
Serve with flute
Warm a 2-quart soupière with hot water, empty it, and dry it well. Pour in the soup, keeping the potato roundels intact, then float all 12 flute rounds across the surface. Bring it straight to the table while their edges are drinking in the milky broth and their centres remain crisp. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Leek whites hide grit deep between their layers. Split them before washing and fan every layer under cold water; no amount of fine consommé can disguise a spoonful of sand.
- •Choose a waxy or all-purpose potato that holds its edges, such as Yukon Gold. A very floury potato will collapse into the broth, and bonne femme is meant to show its roundels rather than become a purée.
- •The stock should be pale, clear, and restrained. A dark roasted stock or one heavy with herbs overwhelms the milk and leeks; a good low-sodium chicken stock is the honest home equivalent for white consommé.
- •Use whole milk and real butter. The milk gives the broth body without making it heavy, while the final butter supplies the gloss and round finish. We don't apologize for butter.
- •Keep the flute rounds separate until the last moment. Added early, they dissolve into the pot; floated in the soupière, they soften at the rim while holding a crisp bite at the centre.
Advance Preparation
- •The leeks can be washed, dried, and minced up to one day ahead. Keep them covered and chilled so their cut edges do not dry out.
- •The soup can be cooked through the potato and stock stage up to two days ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate, then reheat gently before adding the warm milk and final butter.
- •Finished soup keeps for up to three days when chilled promptly. Reheat it over low heat without boiling, and prepare fresh flute rounds for serving. Freezing is unkind to both the milk and the potato texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 340g)
Calories
280 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
660 mg
Total Carbohydrates
34 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
8 g
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