Spiced Carrot Soup
We are at that time of year now where our stored and root vegetables are beginning to get tired and no longer at their very best. Too early for the fresh crops, we make do with what we can get . . . I often find that my onions have started to go a bit . . .
I find myself having to peel off and discard several layers before I get to what is good and usable . . . all of these winter vegetables might be a bit past their prime, but they are still fabulous for things like soups and stews.
You are going to love this soup I am sharing with you today . . . Spiced Carrot Soup, or the soup that almost wasn't! Today was one of those days . . . when anything that could go wrong went wrong . . .
Everything for the soup went together quickly and easily . . . it makes good use of onions, garlic, and carrots . . . some grated fresh ginger root . . . warm spices . . .
Ground cumin, turmeric, cinnamon . . . all very aromatic and when combined most delicious . . .
These are cooked in chicken stock until the carrots are meltingly tender . . . be warned it smells heavenly when it is cooking . . .
After that all you need to do is puree it . . . simple. Right??? Right!!! Normally I would use my stick blender, but do you think I could find the motor for mine today???
It was nowhere to be found. All of the attachments were at the ready, but no motor, and I looked every where . . . even in places it couldn't possibly be, but I thought I would check anyways. I even had Todd come in and look . . . sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees and I thought perhaps he could see what I couldn't.
I opened one of the upper cupboards to see if I had crazily put it in there and my pack of Miso Paste flew out of the cupboard landing in the soup and splattering it all over the counter top and back splash . . . dripping off my knife block and cutting boards . . . into our toaster . . . grrrr . . .
You know how turmeric stains . . . BLAH! Most annoying
I could not find it anywhere. I can only think (and I really hope that this isn't what happened) that it got accidentally thrown out the last time I used it, which doesn't make sense, but I don't know where else it could be. I have looked everywhere.
After I cleaned up the mess, I had to dig my big blender out from the back of the wardrobe upstairs, where it is stored. I was quite happy at that point that I hadn't given it away. It did need a good cleaning however.
Its so big and bulky that it just can't live in my kitchen. The stick blender does a great job, takes up a lot less room and is a lot easier to clean, so that is normally what I use. But meh . . . today I had to do what I had to do.
So into the now cleaned blender on the now cleaned counter the soup went. It blitzed up beautifully in about 30 seconds. I threw poured it back into the saucepan and reheated it gently until it was hot again, and stirring in some lime juice and a bit of brown sugar, it was then ready to eat.
With a dollop of plain yogurt on top and a sprinkling of lemon zest and black pepper it was THE BEST CARROT SOUP EITHER OF US HAS EVER EATEN!
I kid you NOT . . . simple to make (aside from the comedy of errors and happenstances), using simple ingredients, but totally, TOTALLY delicious. What a wonderful combination of flavours. Todd had two helpings and I was sorely tempted to do the same!
Spiced Carrot Soup
Yield: 4
You can thicken the soup with a handful of basmati rice if you wish. This soup is really delicious as is. If you don't have or can't find sumac, you can substitute a mix of lemon zest and coarse black pepper for it.
ingredients:
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 2 medium onions, peeled and diced
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger root
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 kg carrots, peeled and sliced (2.2 pounds)
- 1 1/2 litres of chicken stock (about 6 cups)
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 TBS lime juice
- fine sea salt
To serve:
- Plain yogurt
- ground sumac to sprinkle
instructions:
How to cook Spiced Carrot Soup
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan with a heavy bottom. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent without colouring. Add the garlic, grated ginger and all of the spices. Cook, stirring until quite fragrant. Add the carrots and toss to coat them with the spice mixture. Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes until the carrots are soft and meltingly tender.
- Remove from the heat and puree using a stick blender, or very carefully in a full sized blender or food processor. Take care as it will be quite hot and you don't want to scald yourself. Return to the stove and gently reheat. Stir in the lime juice and brown sugar. Taste and adjust seasoning as required with salt.
- Ladle into heated bowls, garnishing each with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of sumac. Delicious!
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