Potage aux Poireaux et au Gingembre

Description
I found this recipe in "Elle" magazine and just had to try it. This is a great comfort food recipe for cold & flu season, as it helps fight those bouts of the chills! It's also a nice recipe for dinner parties because, although it's a little time-consuming to prepare, it is easy to make, and is quite filling, so a little goes a long way. Hope you enjoy it!



Ingredients

 * 3 leeks
 * 3 potatoes
 * 1 liter chicken bouillon
 * 2 teaspoons butter
 * 1 piece ginger
 * 1/4 loaf stale French bread
 * 1/2 bunch fresh chives
 * 1 cup sour cream
 * 2 tablespoons olive oil (approx.)
 * salt and pepper

Directions
Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into small chunks. Wash and chop leeks. Peel and chop ginger (I couldn't find whole ginger in the supermarket, so I just used regular ground ginger, 1 to 1-1/2 tsp, I think.) Cut or tear the bread into small pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan and add bread. Brown bread until just toasted. Move bread onto a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. Wash and chop chives (here again, I just used dried chives as the store was out of fresh). In a large saucepan, cook potatoes in the bouillon for 25 minutes. In a sautée pan, melt butter and stir in ginger. Then add the leeks and let sautée 8 minutes, stirring often. When the potatoes are ready, add the leeks and the bread to the saucepan. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into soup bowls. Sprinkle with chives and serve topped with a spoonfull of sour cream.