St. Germain Potage

Traditionally, St.Germain Potage is made with dried marrow fat peas. Marrow fat peas are green mature peas that have been allowed to dry out in the field, rather than be harvested right away. One of the classic French preparations is the combination of fresh peas, soft lettuce, and onions to make Potage St. Germain, named for a count in the court of Louis XV. Over the past few years potager gardens have become extremely popular in the garden design world.

The potager kitchen garden (pronounced poe-ta-zhay), initially developed by French monks, became popular in the 16th century in France. The potager was quite widespread, from large chateaus to the common farmyard. Strictly speaking, the potager is really just a garden, but it now often means a decorative vegetable garden. The traditional potager garden contains symmetrical, geometrical garden beds, with the vegetables planted in patterns or groups rather than in rows, often with herbs and fruit intermingled.

Here is the recipe for my soup.

1 1/2 pounds of fresh peas
1 leek sliced thin
1 head of butter lettuce, chopped
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
4 oz of potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup of heavy cream
4 small sprigs of fresh mint

Shell the peas and drop them into boiling water for a minute or two. Then drain them and set a few aside to add to the soup later. In a sauce pan add the butter and leeks. Saute until the leeks are clear. Now add the remaining peas. Then add the potatoes, lettuce and stock. Cook for about 15 minutes and then process for a minutes in a blender. Season the soup with salt, pepper and reserved peas. Stir in the cream and ladle into bowls. Garnish with fresh mint.