Made potato & leek soup using instant potatoes

[Wawannabe]

Nearly every recipe calls for blending or using a motor boat to “mash” the potatoes to make the soup thicker.

I didn’t use any potatoes until the end when I mixed in instant Idahoans till it was the consistency I liked. Just add a little bit at a time to your already prepared soup base (I used chicken broth and milk after cooking down some leek, onion and garlic).

Topped the bowls of soup with sliced spring onions and crispy bacon bits. Was yummy!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Sounds wonderful!

Now I'm hungry.

And you can keep instant potatoes...well, probably forever.

[niyad]

4. And I just picked up two packages of roasted garlic and Parmesan baby reds.. Instants work well

on shepherd's pie, I am told. It was at my suggestion to cut the stres of prep.

[Wawannabe]

7. Instant taters taste way better

Then when I was younger!

All the Idahoan brand packages are pretty good.

[niyad]

9. I make mine with milk, often add grated cheese or horseradish, as I do with real mash.

[Wawannabe]

5. Hi CAPeggy

Seattle rains make for good soup weather.
Did you see/get any good shots of the super moon April 7? Was awesome but every time I take a pic of the moon it doesn’t come out good. Share your secrets??

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. Alas, we were clouded out for that special moon.

The clouds make me crazy!

Secrets? I'm happy to share!

First, you need a good digital SLR camera. And a tripod and a cable release cord. You also should have either a long lens (300 or
400mm) or a big zoom. I use an 18 to 400 mm zoom. The bigger the zoom, the bigger the image. I also crop my photo to show it off!

As to technique: I normally have the lens wide open, although recently I learned that might not be the best setting. Don't use the auto setting! You need to keep the lens open a bit so that enough light gets in. I typically use 1/60 of a second, or 1/80 of a second. It depends on how full the moon is, or isn't. These settings are the shutter speed.

You also need to set the aperture. It's also called the F-stop. F 11 is for bright sunny days! The moon needs more light than you get at night, so the F-stop needs to be in the neighborhood of F5.6 or 4.0. I often use 6.3.

Since I'm not sure of your level of expertise, this may be overwhelming and too much. Or you might know it already. When you do try, be sure to write down what settings you used, both the F-stop (how big the opening is on the lens) and the shutter speed (how long the lens is open.) Come by the Photo Group (https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1036) to post your photos and to ask for help. It's a great group!

Hope I haven't scared you away!

[Wawannabe]

14. That is beyond my paygrade!

Lol I do not own a real camera anymore.

**You should cross post to photography if you never have so this good info can be found again!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. Ah, I'm sorry!

Photography is a passion of mine......can you tell? lol!

Everyone over there already knows this stuff and more.

We all have our passions.

[niyad]

2. Sounds very yummy. Thanks!(It always cracked me up that Emeril calls them boat motors. I saw him

Doing a segment once at a military base. That huge thing really did resemble a boat motor!)

[Wawannabe]

3. Bam!

[demigoddess]

6. I use those instant potatoes all the time. Thanks for the recipe.

might try this if I ever get my hands on a leek.

[Wawannabe]

8. Yakima fruit market

Opened this week in Bothel/Kenmore. I got great produce Friday mornin.

[dawg day]

10. I made mac and cheese, but here's my secret-

I got bored with just cheddar, so I put in a couple tablespoons of gorgonzola chunks. It gives a very nice little funky taste.

[Wawannabe]

11. Love mac!

And various cheeses make it different any time you want. This sounds good.

[In_The_Wind]

13. Sounds yummy. I'm going to give that a try.

[catbyte]

15. I watched an old Jacques Pepin video on YouTube and that's how he made it.

I was a bit surprised, but it looked great.

[Wawannabe]

16. Wow!

I am surprised as well!
I do like his shows but haven’t seen that one. He is pretty straight forward and presents well usually.

It is a little funny to see the interaction btwn him and his daughter and then he teaches the granddaughter too.

[Arkansas Granny]

18. I watched Jacques Pepin use instant potatoes in a soup one time.

He said that he uses them in different soups as a thickener.

[SheltieLover]

19. Thank you for posting this great idea!

I love potatoes and leeks. I'll have to give this idea a try!

[BarbaRosa]

20. Instant mash works well for thickening soup,

stews or what ever else.

[lostnfound]

21. Sour cream and fresh dill on top

Made some this weekend.