Carrot Soup

Mark's Very Messy Carrot Soup - based on Cook's Illustrated Great Carrot-Ginger Soup - serves 6

(and a bonus recipe at the end for croutons)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 onions - chopped fine

1/4 cup crystallized ginger

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves - peeled and smashed

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

2 pounds carrots - peeled and sliced - 1/4 inch thick

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups carrot juice

(a. this will be added  in two 3/4 cup batches  b. I used Bolthouse Farms Carrot Juice)

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Chopped chives

Sour cream

Croutons

See Mark's Notes - there quite a few of these ingredients that I consider 'optional'. 

Instructions:

1.  Peel and chop carrots - place in separate bowl

2.  chop onions - place in bowl

3.  smash garlic cloves - place in bowl

4.  Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat

5.  Add onions, crystallized ginger, fresh ginger, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and sugar.

6.  Cook and stir frequently for 5-7 minutes until onions are softened

7.  Increase heat to high

8.  Add carrots, water, and only 3/4 cup carrot juice, thyme sprigs, and baking soda.

9.  Bring to a simmer.

10.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender, 20-25 minutes.

11.  Discard thyme sprigs

12.  In batches, process soup in blender for 1-2 minutes.  (Warning - this can be very messy)

13.  Return soup to clean pot.

14.  Stir in vinegar and remaining 3/4 cup carrot juice

15.  Return to simmer over medium heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

16.  Serve with sprinkle of chives, dollop of sour cream, and/or croutons.

17.  Enjoy.

18.  Can be refrigerated up to 4 days.

Mark's Notes -

I saw this recipe in my newest Cook's Illustrated magazine.  It looked really good.  I thought I'd try it.  I bought the carrots and the onion.  I skipped the garlic.  I don't know how to mince or smash garlic.  That's on my still-to-learn list for cooking.  Anyway, Abby (10) helped me peel and chop the carrots.  I chopped the onion.  I once read that the best way to not make your eyes water while chopping onions is to wear safety goggles.  Haven't tried that yet.  Just suffered through my eyes watering.  For the crystallized ginger and the chopped fresh ginger, again, I have never worked with either.  I just used a little bit of ground ginger.  So, I made more of a Carrot-Onion-With-A-Little-Bit-Of-Ginger-Soup.

I also didn't have any fresh thyme sprigs around so I didn't use that.  I also didn't have any chopped chives.  So, my ingredient list turned out to be:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 onions - chopped fine

 1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

2 pounds carrots - peeled and sliced - 1/4 inch thick

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups carrot juice (this will be added  in two 3/4 cup batches)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Sour cream

A little bit simpler.  Perhaps not as ginger flavored as the original recipe turns out. 

For the carrot juice, I used Bolthouse Farms Carrot juice.

Getting the soup from the pot into the blender was incredibly messy.  At first I tried pouring it directly from the pot into the blender.  That was a mistake.  Then I tried using a spoon.  Way too slow.  Tried pouring it from the pot into a large measuring cup.  Still very messy.  Then I found a ladle and used that.  That worked.  But then I put too much in the blender and was overflowing for some of the batches.  So, use a ladle and don't put too much in the blender during step 12.

Trish thought this was really good.  I liked it.  Abby and Miriam both tried it and they of course did not like it.  This soup would go really great with a grilled cheese sandwich and would be a great Saturday afternoon lunch in the Fall/Winter.

Now that you've read this far, I'll add a quick recipe from Cook's Illustrated for croutons:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 large slices hearty white sandwich bread cut into 1/2 inch cubes

salt

Instructions:

1.  Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat

2.  When foaming subsides, add bread cubes

3.  Stir frequently

4.  Cook until bread is golden brown - about 10 minutes.

5.  Transfer croutons to paper-towel lined plate and season with salt.

6.  Add to soup.

7.  Enjoy!!!

This is based on Cook's Illustrated Great Carrot Ginger Soup by Sarah Mullins.

Here is a link to a video that will be available for the next few months (it is June 27, 2014).

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/7865-carrot-ginger-soup