ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Moroccan Carrot Soup Edition

Recently, I received yet another gift certificate from CSN Stores with the stipulation that whatever I purchase from the site I would then review. This time around I opted for a hand blender, which may seem excessive considering that I already have a food processor, a mini food processor, and a Magic Bullet (with a blender attachment). Here’s the thing though: I love making soup, and quite frequently, I must purée the ingredients. Call me lazy, but I really hate all the transferring to the food processor or the Magic Bullet and then back again. It’s just… annoying. Plus, since I use a big ol’ dutch oven, it’s very cumbersome to pour the soup contents out; so I must use a ladle, which takes an epically long time (at least in my head). Hence, I opted for an immersion blender that I could just insert into the soup and turn on.

So what to test this bad boy out on? Well, as it turns out, there’s a soup that I make more than any other soup, and I realized I’d never documented it here on the blog. What better way to introduce the amazing Moroccan Carrot Soup?

I started making this soup nearly a year ago. I’ve made it with chicken stock, with veggie stock, with butter, with olive oil, with yogurt, without yogurt. I’ve done it all. It’s the first soup that I feel like I know. It’s delicious, it’s healthy, and it’s supremely easy. But would the hand blender do the trick? Results after the jump…

Things start on a tedious note: peeling. I always double the batch; so it’s a hearty two pounds of carrots.

And now chopping.

IndianJones was on camera. I have no idea why he took this picture of my shirt.

Further chopping. If I remember correctly, I may have been hungover, which is sort of amusing. These pics are from December.

After chopping the carrots, it’s time to move on to the wonderful world of onion.

A most successful slice!

Five years ago, I would not have been able to do this simple task.

IndianJones was REALLY fascinated by my onion chopping technique.

Macro shot!

I heat up some olive oil in the pot. The recipe calls for butter, but this is my attempt at being healthier. The difference is barely detectable.

In go the onions!

IndianJones gets into the action by stirring the onions with his small, fuzzy hand.

Showing off my new OXO measuring cup. I’m supposed to review it also. Um, it works.

Nevertheless, after the onions have sweated away a bit, I add the carrots to the pot.

Aw, carrots and onions making friends.

MAN OVERBOARD! IndianJones spots an errant carrot slice that has fallen below the burner. Sadly he’s too close to the flame. We cannot save him without sacrificing the entire mission. He died a hero.

Time for a quick stir.

I should note that we are about halfway done. Super easy soup.

Next comes chicken stock. Sadly, I had none, and I was too lazy to fetch some store bought (sorry, Ina). I instead used bullion to make quick broth. Not the best option, but it works totally fine. Homemade chicken stock does indeed elevate the soup; so try to use that if you can.

Just look at that wonderful mixing cup!

Next step is to bring the soup to a boil, then cover and simmer for twenty or twenty-five minutes — until the carrots are tender.

Fast forward and the soup is ready.

Time to blend.

In it goes. So far so good…

It’s a little tricky: you have to pump up and down, but not too far up, lest you spray yourself with soup. There’s weird suction that happens too. It definitely requires a firm grasp and an inherent manliness that I thankfully possess.

After a few minutes, I’m left with a vibrantly orange purée. Now it’s time to season.

Honey adds sweetness. Obvs.

Next comes lemon juice. It’s better to err on the side of more than less, I’ve found. Don’t mind that box grater. That was the remnant of a random Swedish recipe I made, courtesy of the Ikea cookbook. I suppose I could post pics of that too.

Ground allspice moves this dish out of the ordinary carrot soup realm.

Almost done…

And lastly, some cumin. The recipe calls for toasting cumin seeds and then grinding them, but I don’t have cumin seeds. Regular ground cumin works just fine for me.

Fin.

I swear I have made this soup more than any other. There are no explicit directions on how to serve it, but I enjoy it best chilled out of the fridge. The recipe does encourage readers to place a dollop of plain yogurt in the soup, which I’ve done several times. It’s delicious. However, if you want to cut down on fat (or if you simply don’t have any on hand), the soup stands up perfectly fine on its own. You can also just add the yogurt to the soup pot ahead of time, and that works too. It’s a very flexible dish. One warning is to check the seasoning before putting the soup to bed. I’ve found that sometimes I need to up either the lemon or the honey or the allspice or the cumin or all of the above. It’s different every batch.

As for the blender, I’m happy to report that it did a fine job. It perhaps did not yield as consistent a texture as the food processor or as smooth a texture as the Magic Bullet, but it got 95% there, and the convenience was much appreciated. So far, I’m quite happy with the purchase.

Again, if you want the recipe for Moroccan Carrot Soup, check it out here.