Carrot Ginger Soup & Crème Fraiche

Carrot Soup

Serves 10

2 Uli’s Merguez sausages, casings removed

¼ Cup dry white wine

1 leek, white and light green part sliced

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp ground ginger

1 orange, zested & Juiced

2.5# carrots, peeled and chopped

2 quart chicken stock

3 Tbs butter, cut into pieces

Olive oil

Salt

1 T aged balsamic (for garnish)

1 T cilantro or chives to garnish

Prep Vegetables - Clean and slice leek. Rinse, peel, and rough chop carrots.  Chop onion. Zest orange and reserve zest for garnish.  Precise knife work is not necessary as all of these elements will be blended.

 Roast carrots for 25 minutes until brown and caramelized in oven at 375 degrees.

 Brown Sausages - Remove the sausages from their casings.  Heat a Tbs of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Brown the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks. When fully cooked, remove with slotted spoon and reserve. 

 Cook Vegetables - Add additional olive oil if needed.  Cook onion and leak over medium heat until translucent.  Add spices and garlic and cook until fragrant. Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add carrots and stock.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the carrots are just tender (roughly 20 minutes)

Blend & Emulsify - Squeeze in orange juice.  Transfer the soup to the vitamix.  If it is more than 2/3 full, blend the soup in batches as overfilling a blender with hot liquid can result in a hot mess.  With blender running add the remaining butter. 

 Strain and Season – Pass the soup through a chinois into a clean pot.  Using a small ladle, tamp down on the bottom of the chinois to most efficiently pass the soup through.  Taste the soup and add more salt or a splash of acid if necessary. Keep warm until service.

Prep Garnishes - Mince the cooked sausage and Recrisp it in a little olive oil in a small sauté pan. 

Crème Fraiche

1 Cup heavy cream

2 Tbs cultured buttermilk

 Gently whisk buttermilk into cream.  Store in nonreactive container and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for 24 hours – or until cream is thickened to your liking (anywhere from 8 hours to 3 days).  

Refrigerate for up to 1 week.