Red Pepper Vichyssoise - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 medium red bell peppers
2 cups leeks, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper, ground
creme fraiche
chopped fresh chives

Preparation

Cut the peppers into thirds; remove seeds and membranes. Place the peppers in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 6 minutes. Drain and let cool. This will make it easy to remove the skins of the peppers. Remove and discard the skin from the peppers. Place the peppers in a blender, and cover and process until smooth. Make sure you stop at least once to scrape down the sides of the blender. Cover and chill thoroughly.
Saute leeks in the butter in a Dutch oven over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add broth and potato. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes or until the potato is tender.
Place half of the potato-leek mixture in the container of a blender; cover and process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down the sides. Repeat the procedure with the remaining potato mixure.
Stir in the whipping cream, salt, and pepper. Cover and chill thoroughly.
Combine the pepper mixture and the potato mixture. Stir well. To serve, ladle cold soup into individual bowls. Top each serving with a dollop of Creme Fraiche and garnish with chopped chives.