Cream Of Carrot Soup (Potage Crécy)

Here is something I made a few days ago. It was a toss between Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting or Cream of Carrot Soup. I bought two packets of baby carrots, not realising I already had some in my fridge. Then my mom came over with some foodstuff AND a packet of baby carrots. So, that makes 2kgs of carrots!!! Chomp chomp chomp ... what's up, doc?

In the end, it was Cream of Carrot Soup because of popular vote. My children love the soup at Parkway Parade's Caffe Bar better, but this version was good on its own too. Well, not a drop was left after lunch, so that says a lot, doesn't it?



This is also my first time embellishing my photos with word fonts. I like the effect but I can foresee myself doing this only if I have got time on my hands. It takes effort to select the right type of fonts to complement the photos.

Anyway, here you go ... Cream of Carrot Soup, or if you want it more classy, say it in French - Potage Crécy!



Recipe
(from Easy French Food)
Makes about six 1-cup servings.

- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped finely
- 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled if needed and sliced thinly
- 1 large potato, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I only used 2 cups stock + 1 cup water)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- Salt to taste
- Chives, chopped (I subbed with parsley)



1. In a large sturdy soup pot (or Dutch oven), melt the butter on medium heat. Cook the onions, carrots, potato, and garlic in the butter for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and pepper and bring the soup to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the soup is just barely bubbling. Cover the pot and cook the soup for 30 minutes.
* I used a pressure cooker and the soup was done in 15 minutes.

2. Remove the soup from the heat and allow it to cool enough so you can comfortably puree it, using either a food processor or blender. Work in small batches and watch out for hot splashing soup! Once it is pureed return the soup to a pot. You can also puree this soup using a stainless steel food mill for a very smooth soup.
* I used a potato masher followed by a whisk. You'll get a slightly textured soup this way.

3. When you are done pureeing all the soup, stir in the whipping cream and season to taste with salt and additional pepper. You can further season this soup with such things as powdered dry ginger, cumin, curry or cayenne. All of these flavors go very nicely with carrots.

4. Heat the soup to serve. Serve in bowls and garnish with chopped chives.