Leek & Potato soup gone brown? (2024)

FAQs

Why is my leek and potato soup brown? ›

Season them before roasting to really bring out their flavor. If you season only at the end, your soup will just taste salty — not flavorful. Why has my leek and potato soup turned brown? Your leek and potato soup may turn brown if your potatoes have oxidized.

The trick is to cook down all your leeks before adding any vegetable stock. The dark green bits will tenderize, they just need a bit longer to cook. This recipe results in a lovely shade of green. Most potato and leek soup is white, with peels and green bits excluded.

Many green ingredients contain enzymes that can turn them brown, either by degrading the structure of chlorophyll or by catalysing the oxidation of phenolic compounds.

Bitterness is best counteracted by salt, so give it a good seasoning. You might also try adding a little mild vinegar like white wine or cider vinegar.

Leek rust is a common fungal disease of leeks and garlic, but also affects onions and chives.

How to salvage burnt soup. EHow recommends adding a teaspoon of a sweetener like sugar or honey to help balance the sharpness of the burnt bits. The site also suggests adding canned tomatoes to soups like chili or vegetable to try to dilute any unpleasantness. A touch of acid can also help reduce the charred flavor.

With leeks, the general trend is to use the white part and throw away the green. This green part contains a lot of vitamin C and it can be used in many recipes. You only have to remove a few centimeters of the usually woody upper part from the leaves. Boiled leaves can be used for sauces, soups or casseroles.

A generous teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and some creme fraiche rescued my last bland batch. And plenty of seasoning. Leek and potato soup needs a good tasty stock to start with, otherwise it is bland.

The bulbs and lighter green leaves are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. The darker green leaves are much tougher and along with the roots, should be removed before eating or cooking.

Look for mold: If you see any mold growing on the surface of the soup, it's definitely time to throw it out. Check the texture: If the soup has become slimy or has a strange texture, it's a sign that it's gone bad. Taste a small amount: If you're still not sure, you can taste a small amount of the soup.

How do you fix bad soup? ›

Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples

Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt. Go ahead—it's ok. Salt perks up flat flavors and helps balance out bitter-tasting ingredients.

It looks as though some of your potatoes might have got a bit scorched. Did you fry them off before adding the liquid? The colour from the browned potatoes could be what is turning it brown.

Why is my potato leek soup gummy? Potatoes should be diced in similar size so they cook evenly, but don't drive yourself crazy getting them teeny-tiny. If they're too small, you risk the potatoes releasing too much starch, which can make the soup gummy when pureed.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

Watery wound rot or leak is a vigorous rot of lifted tubers caused by a fungus. It is widespread and common but only occasionally serious in a crop. Affected flesh can be discoloured grey through to brown with a dark margin. It is moist and quickly liquefies.

Leek Rust. If you start to see orange-brown marks appearing on the foliage, it is probably leek rust, a fungus that develops on the leaves of any alliums – leeks, onions, garlic – and it's not uncommon, especially at this time of year.

As the name suggests, leek rust is a fungus that looks like little orange rust spots and streaks. If the disease is allowed to persist unchecked, it spreads, gradually infecting more of the leaf, until the leaf itself turns brown and withers.

It turns out, then, that contrary to internet opinion, it is possible to redeem your potato leek soup if somehow it becomes gluey. Ladle some into a freezer bag, freeze it flat, thaw it, and pour off the water.