Carrot Soup with Cilantro Ribbons

Heather was cleaning out their stash of cookbooks a few years back and gave a bunch of them to us. I think all of the books have now been passed onto other kitchens except one, A Good Day for Soup, by Jeannett Ferrary and Louise Fiszer. So far we have only made a few of the recipes, but I have loved everyone. I've never been a big soup fan. I think I grew up with soup being too hot, too healthy and too bland. With time, and living in a cold climate, my opinion of soup is gradually changing.

Two nights ago Isabella and I finished the Sweet & Savory Sausage Sauce (see previous post) but Brian was coming home late from work and the gym--hungry, as usual. Carrot Soup with Cilantro Ribbons became Brian's 9pm dinner and the next day's lunch with my good friend, Angela.

It is a great, simple recipe that tastes fantastic. The only difficulty I have had with it is trying to puree it. The first time I made it I tried to put it in the Cuisinart, but it came flowing out of the center whole. So now I do it in the blender, but I sometimes have to do two batches (depending on how generous I get with the veggies), which means more dishes. And every extra dish used counts since we don't have a dishwasher--and I really, really don't like doing dishes.

I like this soup, Brian likes this soup and Angela said she really enjoyed it yesterday. Isabella wouldn't even try it. If I held her down and smeared some into her mouth I bet she'd be begging for more with her mouth wide open. But I decided to spare Angela the abusive feeding show. :)

Oh! Another thing about this recipe...I always run out of cilantro ribbons before I'm done with the soup. Maybe I'm using more ribbons per serving than what they are thinking or I'm not slicing them small enough. But I would suggest doubling the cilantro ribbon part of the recipe. They are really good and are fantastic in the soup.

Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
1 stalk celery
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons flour
5 cups chicken stock
1 lb carrots, sliced
4 tablespoons heavy cream
salt & pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Add onion and celery and cook until soft. Stir in curry, coriander, and flour and cook another minute. Add stock, bring to a boil and add carrots. Simmer, partly covered, 15 minutes. Ina blender or food processor, puree the mixture with cream. Taste for salt and pepper.

Ribbons: (I suggest doubling this.)

2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

Ina medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, milk, salt and pepper. Stir in cilantro. In an 8-inch skillet, preferably nonstick, heat oil. Pour in egg mixture, tilting pan back and forth. Cook until batter is set. Turn over to cook other side for 1 minute. Slide onto cutting board and let cool. Cut into thin strips and set aside.

To assemble: divide ribbons about 6 bowls, ladle soup over them and serve.