Leek and potato soup

My philosophy about being gluten free is that I try to make foods that aren't based on wheat at all. So there are a lot of Mediterranean foods, and south Asian, and a lot of soups. I come from a soup family.

Currently, we have ice outside, and it's really not worth leaving the house. The dog agrees, even though the walk was cut drastically short yesterday by rain. Neither one of us likes walking in the rain, so as soon as she's done with her business, she turns around to run for home...and I'm not going to argue.

A well stocked pantry and fridge will get me through a lot of bad weather, though, or nights when I am just Not Going Out. Today, it was that I had picked up a leek at the market a few weeks ago, intending to make this soup as something simple between large holiday meals...and ended up eating a lot of leftovers instead of soup.

This is a smooth, creamy, lucious soup, if you have an immersion blender. Or, it can be a chunky chowder if you don't. Both are tasty. If you're not going to puree, I recommend dicing everything to 1/2" or less chunks.

1 med leek
1 T olive oil.
1 clove garlic, minced
2 med potatoes
1/2 gal milk
1/2 c parmesan
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 t kosher salt
1 t black pepper
1/2 t savory
1/2 t parsley

Chop the leek, discarding the green bits. Saute in oil with garlic in a stock pot, dutch oven, or other 4qt or better stovetop cooking vessel. Throw the potatoes in the microwave for 5 min or so, until they're done. I peel the potatoes here, because I find it much easier. If you're a purist, you can do this prior to cooking (on the other hand, a purist would also insist on boiling the potatoes. I don't want to spend the time or waterlog my spuds). Roughly dice the potatoes, and throw them and everything else into the pot. Take the stick blender to it. I like my version mostly smooth with a few stray chunks left. It gives me the same feeling as the solid bits in homemade mashed potatoes - definitely not from a box. The fancy way is to make it totally smooth - it's velvety and gorgeous and rich and very suitable for company.