Sunday, October 25, 2009

A Promise Kept

I believe in keeping my promises. I stated last month that I would post the recipe for Carrot Top Soup, just for Clarity, because she asked so sweetly and politely. Here it is!

CREAM OF CARROT TOP SOUP
From Edible French Garden by Rosalind Creasy
Ingredients:
1 lg yellow onion, cut into ½ in dice
3 garlic cloves, mashed
2 Tbl butter, plus 2 tsp softened butter, divided
1 tsp whole fresh thyme leaves
4 cups chicken stock
6 lg carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 tsp salt, divided
½ tsp ground white pepper
About 1 cup milk or half and half
2 Tbl chopped fresh parsley
3 cups tender young carrot greens
1 ½ c lightly whipped cream

Saute the onion and garlic in 2 Tbl of the butter until golden.
Add the thyme leaves and cook 1 minute more. Add the chicken stock, carrots, potatoes, bay leaf, 1 tsp of the salt, and pepper and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and puree the mixture in a food processor fitted with a steel blade (by batches or in a blender) to the desired consistency.

Return the puree to the soup pot. Thin to the preferred consistency by adding the milk or half and half as needed and bring the soup to a simmer. Stir in the 2 Tbl of softened butter and chopped parsley by bits. Keep the soup warm.

Pick over the carrot tops, removing any stems or yellow leaves. Plunge the greens into 1 quart boiling water; when the water reboils, add the remaining 1 tsp of salt. Remove from heat, drain, and puree the greens in the blender or food processor with 2 cups of the pureed carrot soup.
To serve the soup, fill soup bowls two-thirds full with orange carrot soup, then ladle the green carrot soup in the middle to fill the bowl. Top the soup with dollops of whipped cream.
Serves 6-8.
The only changes I made in the recipe were a couple of substitutions. I switched the milk or half and half for nonfat milk and, in the toppings, I served sour cream instead of whipped cream because that's what we had in the fridge.
In September, I made this recipe again and served the soup with my home made Honey Whole Wheat Bread. The Professor ate a bowl and declared it a keeper! This from the man who doesn't eat cooked carrots.
You will love this Carrot Top Soup, even if you don't love carrots or carrot tops.
I promise!

18 comments:

Dorothy said...

That soup sounds yummy! And I love your photos of it in process. Is your camera all well now, Willow? I hope so.

Clarity said...

This is so darling of you!

Thank you and I am buzzing with anticipation to try this! I owe you one or two...

Peace,
X

P.S. your comment made me smile too

Lovella ♥ said...

That looks just scrumptious. .thank you Clarity for asking so politely and sweetly.

Anonymous said...

That looks delicious Willow. Thanks for sharing.

"Sunshine" said...

Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

Heidi said...

I think I'll try it. Instead of carrot top greens, I'll have to use what is left of my swiss chard from the garden. My carrots don't have their tops on. Now where'd those carrot tops go?

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Carrot top soup....how fun. Now, if only I had a food processor or a blender....

I used to get called "Carrot Top" when I was a youngster due to my red hair. I hated that.

But soup...that's a different story. I looks delicious. And anything with cream in it has to be good!

Unknown said...

wowee...sounds delicious..so I've got to try it :P Hugs...M

Tracy said...

Delicious... thanks so much, Willow! Happy Week :o) ((HUGS))

roxie said...

Wast not, want not. Getcher greens with those carrot tops. sounds rich and yummy!

Those without a blender could just cook everything till very tender, then go for it with a potato masher. The soup might have a little more texture at the end, but that's not a bad thing.

Jane said...

Your soup sounds delicious Willow, i'd like to try it out but i'd need to change the cream etc for dairy-free versions.Jane x

Flower said...

I know!! It's sooo gooood!!

Barbara said...

Well I make lots of soup recipes that have carrot in them but not come across carrot top soup before. It does look good.

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

that's a new idea-using carrot tops in soup!

Knitting Linguist said...

Mmm.... Yummy!

Joanne said...

Thanks for celebrating our heat over on my blog!! The soup looks good. First, I'd have to convince my professor that he'd want to eat soup...then we'd try it.:)

Islandsparrow said...

That sounds delicious - I wonder if you could use not so tender carrot tops? Or would you just leave them out?

And I'm wondering if I asked sweetly - very sweetly - would you post the Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe?

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Looks delicious! Thanks for sharing :)