Leek + Other Vegetable Soup

The Goods:

2 good-sized leeks
3 red bliss potatoes
1 portabella mushroom cap
1 small shallot*
2 cloves garlic
1 handful fresh italian parsley
1 small pad butter
1 spritz olive oil
1/3 cup arborio (or any other, really) rice
6 cups vegetable stock/water**

Add the butter and oil to a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan and set to medium heat. After washing the leeks, trim off the ends and slice them until you reach the solidly green portion of the steam. Discard the tough green part. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt to the pan. Saute the leeks on medium heat for a few minutes, then turn the heat down to low to continue sweating them. Slice the mushroom cap and finely chop the shallot, garlic, and parsley. As the leeks sweat, add the mushroom, shallot, garlic, and parsley in that order. Add a bit more salt and some cracked black pepper. Once the vegetables are soft, but before they've begun to burn and/or liquefy***, add the water/stock and potatoes. Bring the liquid to a boil (turn up the heat), then simmer on low for about half an hour (adding the rice after about 15 minutes), or until the rice and potatoes are cooked.

*One can always substitute any manner of onion for shallot, though I must say that once you get on the shallot train, it is really hard to get off (or, if you prefer the Rachel Ray vernacular, "THEY BRING A LOT TO THE PARTY." They really do.).

**In this case, I only had 3ish cups of vegetable stock on hand, so I made-up the rest of the liquid with water. Obviously, the more stock you use the greater the flavor of the soup. I made the stock based on Michael Ruhlman's procedure in Ratio. If you're not familiar with Ratio, it is an excellent book on the subject of cooking. Ruhlman's deal is that rote following of recipes is bad form. Rather, you should just learn the fundamental ratios that underpin all of the key preparations in the kitchen. He tries to peel back the unnecessary ingredients to arrive at the things that fundamentally make up the character of something. Anyway, it is absolutely worth purchasing if you do a lot of cooking. Ruhlman delivers a particularly searing invective against store-bought stocks of all stripes.

***A big key here is to not burn the garlic. Nothing ruins things (read: Dinner) like burning up the garlic. I like to usually add it after I have plenty of other stuff in the pan so that it is not subject to big swings in heat from the burner.