Golden Vegetable Bisque

This recipe comes from Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection, by Jessica Prentice, co-founder of Three Stone Hearth and The Local Foods Wheel.

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2-3 leeks, sliced into rounds and well rinsed
1 small celery root (aka celeriac), peeled and cut into chunks
1 parsnip, cut into chunks
1 rutabaga, cut into chunks, and/or 1 golden turnip, cut into chunks
1 carrot, cut into chunks
1 bouquet garni (see below)
1 quart chicken stock or filtered water
3/4 cup raw cream, crème fraiche, yogurt, buttermilk, raw whole milk, or half-and-half (or more as needed)
Salt and pepper to taste
A dollop of crème fraiche for garnish
Finely minced rosemary, thyme, sage or parsley leaves (or a combination of these herbs); or a grating of nutmeg; or a grind of black pepper, for garnish

1. Heat the butter or oil in a medium-sized soup pot. Add the leeks and sauté until tender.

2. Add the vegetables one by one, sautéing each for a moment

3. Add the stock or water to cover the vegetables by about 1/2 an inch. Add the bouquet garni, cover, and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until all is tender, about 15 minutes.

5. Turn off the heat. At this point you can let the soup cool a little by letting it sit uncovered or transferring it to a serving bowl. If you are using raw or cultured dairy, this will help to preserve the enzymes.

6. Remove the bouquet garni.

7. Puree the soup with an immersion blender (or in a standard blender) adding the cream, or other dairy, until the soup is the consistency you like. Add a big pinch of salt and pepper as you blend. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.

8. Serve with any of the garnishes above.

Serves 4 to 5

Bouquet garni: This is a classical element in French cookery, and I use it all the time. It is a little bundle of herbs tied together. Because you remove it before pureeing or serving, it makes use of the tough stems of herbs and saves the trouble of removing leaves from fresh herbs. You can buy them already made at specialty food stores, but I just make one whenever I'm cooking. The classic herbs in a bouquet garni are:

Bay leaf
Parsley
Thyme
Sage

You can also add:

Oregano (stems with or without leaves attached)
Marjoram (stems with or without leaves attached)
Rosemary stems (needles removed)--rosemary has a strong flavor and I usually only use it for chicken or beef soups or stews.

All of these herbs can be fresh or dried. I just lay a twelve-inch piece of string out on a cutting board and add the bay leaf and whatever other stems I have on hand across it on the perpendicular. (I often don't have parsley stems, so I just skip that herb.) Then I wrap the string around the middle of the bundle a few times and tie a bow. My usual bundle has just bay leaves, thyme stems, and sage stems and is about as thin as my pinkie finger, if not thinner. A bouquet garni infuses your soup or stew with wonderful flavor. Once you get the hang of it, it is very easy. It is a great way to use herbs from your garden.