April 29, 2004
Soupe de Carotte à la Menthe
[Mint Carrot Soup]
Have you ever noticed how un-photogenic soup is? Well, now you have! The very things that make soup tasty and comforting, all pureed chunks and blended veggies, make it somewhat messy close up.
In this case, I almost didn't post about the soup because I was unhappy about the picture. But then I decided that the dictatorship of beauty would not rule here, and that my soup very much deserved a post. As with pudding, you know where the proof is!
This is a very easy soup to make on a weeknight, and it's a great use for the slim young carrots which are starting to appear in bunches on produce stalls at this time of year. Carrots and mint are a very subtle and successful pairing, the colors are beautiful, and the overall result is very spring-like.
You can choose to stir in a little honey if you'd like, to bring out the carrots' sweetness, especially if you're using thick winter carrots. If you have young spring carrots however, I suggest you let those ladies sing a cappella.
Soupe de Carotte à la Menthe
- 2 onions
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 kg carrots
- 5 to 6 C vegetable stock
- 1 to 2 tsp honey (optional)
- 1 Tbsp crème fraîche
- 5 twigs of mint (to make about 20 leaves)
- salt, pepper, olive oil
(Serves 4.)
Peel and chop the onions and garlic. Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan, and cook the onions and garlic over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until soft and translucent.
Wash the carrots, peel them, discard the ends, and cut them in half-inch chunks. Rinse the mint under cold water, separate the stems from the leaves, and dry the leaves with a paper towel.
Add the carrots and the mint stems (whole) into the saucepan, and pour stock to just cover the vegetables. Reserve the remaining stock, if any, to adjust the consistency at the end (better that way, than ending up with a soup that's too thin). Bring to a boil, and let simmer, covered, over medium heat for about thirty minutes, until the carrots are soft.
Remove the mint stems from the soup, and purée part or all of the soup with a hand blender (or by transferring the solids into a food processor) until the desired smoothness is reached. If the soup is not liquid enough, add stock or water, stir, and reheat again thoroughly. Stir in the honey if using, and the crème fraîche. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Just before serving, chop the mint leaves, and sprinkle prettily on each bowl of soup.
More Entries Like This One:
~ Roasted Patty Pan Squash and Herbed Chickpeas
~ Herbed Couscous Salad
~ Lamb and Orange Khoresh Stew
~ Grated Carrots and Beets
~ Carrot and Rosemary Miniature Scones
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Comments (15)
Permalink | Posted by clotilde in Recipe Inside! - Soups
Mint isn't a heab of my first choice when it comes to cooking, but I usually like carrot soups, especially chuncky ones like yours, so I would give it a try...
Posted by chika on April 29, 2004 7:44 AMChika - perhaps you've used the "wrong" mint. There's several kinds available in Denmark and some of them are quite toothpasty and some of them are very almost sweet and strong.
I like the sweet and strong for food and the toothpasty for dessert - like Jamie Olivers fresh pinapple with mintsugar.
I usually taste all the bunches of mint in the store before choosing.
Posted by Karen on April 29, 2004 8:38 AMMaybe that is why my children hate soup. They're just as esthetic as I am. Although I do have a lovely soup bowl, and I often think my soup pretty.
Posted by eliane on April 29, 2004 4:04 PMTry replacing the mint with coriander and omitting the honey: delicious!
Posted by lisa on April 29, 2004 4:51 PMI have to agree with lisa: coriander is perfect. I start only with shallots cooked at medium heat in butter. Usually I cook the carrots with chicken soup base. After homogenisation add the juice of two limes, some chilli, and acacia honey. Serve this with coriander leaves. But I'll have to try your recipe also.
Posted by christoph on April 29, 2004 5:48 PMWhen I saw the picture of the carrots, I said "yum." :):):) Then I read your comments about it lacking visual beauty. The picture looks wonderful to me-----but I make carrot soup quite a lot, so I guess I'm trained to go into a swoon when I see pureed carrots.
Sher
Posted by Sher on April 29, 2004 7:15 PMSounds good. When, my younger sisters; in younger days, reviewed my inspired recipe attempts as being GOOP, one which was very tastey; but bore a resemblence to the current Tele-Tubbie custurd. and not a dessert.
I am going to try making your recipe and serving it on curried rice or tri-color vegatable pasta.
Posted by Jacob Freedman on April 30, 2004 12:07 AMOh yes! I have noticed! There must be a way to make soup look good, other than swirling creme fraiche in it that is
Here's my latest effort...
The only solution I can think of is next time take a picture of the spoon!
Posted by Amy on April 30, 2004 6:41 AMThis is the most interesting website that I've ever found. I'm a retired flight attendant and have a small catering business. When ever do you find the time to do all your writing?
Posted by babette on May 1, 2004 9:22 AMChika - I'm a big fan of mint in cooking! Hope you like it in this soup...
Karen - The store keepers must love that! ;)
Eliane - Exactly! Usually, the prettiness of soup comes from the bowl...
Lisa - Yes, the carrot/coriander pairing is more commonly found, but the carrot/mint one is a nice change - there's something slightly British about it!
Christoph - I love the lime juice idea, I'll have to try that.
Sher - :) Glad you liked the pic, the soup says thanks!
Jacob - You're right, this 'goop' would be great over some kind of carb!
Amy - Yes, the solution is usually to take a picture of the bowl or silverware instead!
Babette - Thanks, I'm glad you like it! Where is your catering business located?
Posted by clotilde on May 1, 2004 10:18 AMClotilde,
A recent convert here in Edinburgh; your blog is a treasure-trove of amusing anecdotes, new (to me) products, and realistic recipes.
I only stumbled on your blog a few weeks ago, and am gradually reading through the archives, as work and salivation permits.
As for why to post a comment on this entry? Well, it was reading the phrase 'to make on a weeknight'. I read this as wee-knight, rather than week-night.
The further north you go in the UK 'wee' is a common word for small. So I had an image of a small knight in shining armour with a pot au feu atop his head.
Posted by Ford on September 9, 2004 4:27 PMFord - Many thanks for the lovely comment, and thanks for the giggle-inducing wee-knight image!
Posted by clotilde on September 11, 2004 8:50 PMHi Clotilde,
it's a really belated attempt, but I tried your mint & carrot soup the other day. I said I didn't (well, still don't) like mint much in cooking, but the soup turned out to be just lovely. The scent of mint wasn't too strong for me, maybe because you just cook mint stems in the soup and add the leaves only at the very end. Thanks for the great inspiration.
Also, sorry I'm leaving the comment on a wrong place, but I tried your lemon and fleur de sel sable, too, as I recently got fleur de sel de Camargue from a friend of mine (along with one from Guerande). They were just terrific. I loved it.
Thanks millions!
Posted by chika on September 28, 2004 9:12 AMSometimes when you photograph soup it is all about the garnish. you would be amazed at what the stylists do to the food before I shoot it. Marbles, simple green all sorts of tricks up their sleeves.
Posted by slgottula on August 4, 2005 8:58 PMThat soup sounds very interesting, just have 2 questions:
Posted by Sveta on May 20, 2007 3:03 PMWhat's a "C vegetable stock"?
And how much is a 1 garlic "clove"- one small "tooth" of garlic or a "head" of it or is it a "clove"?