Cream of carrot soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped finely
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled if needed and sliced thinly
• 1 large potato, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I only used 2 cups stock + 1 cup water)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• Salt to taste
• Chives, chopped (I subbed with parsley)

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Preparation

• 1. In a large sturdy soup pot (or Dutch oven), melt the butter on medium heat. Cook the onions, carrots, potato, and garlic in the butter for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and pepper and bring the soup to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the soup is just barely bubbling. Cover the pot and cook the soup for 30 minutes.
  * I used a pressure cooker and the soup was done in 15 minutes.
  
  2. Remove the soup from the heat and allow it to cool enough so you can comfortably puree it, using either a food processor or blender. Work in small batches and watch out for hot splashing soup! Once it is pureed return the soup to a pot. You can also puree this soup using a stainless steel food mill for a very smooth soup.
  * I used a potato masher followed by a whisk. You'll get a slightly textured soup this way.
  
  3. When you are done pureeing all the soup, stir in the whipping cream and season to taste with salt and additional pepper. You can further season this soup with such things as powdered dry ginger, cumin, curry or cayenne. All of these flavors go very nicely with carrots.
  
  4. Heat the soup to serve. Serve in bowls and garnish with chopped chives.