Mushroom Leek Soup

½ cup butter

2 bunches leeks ( 4 - 6 stocks)

½ lb. mushrooms, chopped or sliced thin

¼ cup flour

1 tsp. salt

Dash cayenne pepper

1 cup chicken broth

3 cups milk

1 tbsp. dry sherry (or lemon juice) or 1/4 cup white wine

Wash leeks very well; slice and use white part only. In ¼ cup butter, sauté leeks until tender but not brown.  Remove and set aside.  In remaining butter, sauté mushrooms until soft, about 10 minutes.  Blend in flour, salt and cayenne.  Gradually stir in broth and milk.  Cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil.  Add leeks, sherry, salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with thin slices of lemon and sprinkling of parsley, if desired.

This is my favorite Thanksgiving weekend recipe.  Make it ahead so that it's ready when the weekend guests arrive and serve it with turkey salad sandwiches on Thanksgiving Monday.

Don't be afraid to lighten the soup.  You don't really need a whole half a cup of butter to sauté the leeks and mushrooms.  You can do that in the chicken broth if you wish.  I have very successfully used 1- percent milk and also a combination of skim milk and evaporated skim milk.

Serves:  6

Serve With: Cheese and baguettes or turkey sandwiches