"James Silverton" wrote
> cshenk wrote

>>> If you ask nicely, cshenk might post her carrot soup recipe. Don't mess
>>> with it because it's OMG fantastic just the way it
>>> is and dead easy too.
>
>> LOL! Can't find it in my recipe base! But i have several. I
>> suspect this is it:
>
>> 2 cups stock (chicken or dashi)
>> 1 cup chopped carrots (maybe a bit more)
>
>> Crockpot that and add butter (about 1 TB to start). Once
>> carrots are soft, put in blender and puree. Serve with a bit of butter
>> and you can add other spices if you wish.
>
>> That the version you mean SF?

BTW, probably suggested a little powdered ginger (1/8 ts) or chinese 5 spice
(1/8 ts) to that serving. Another option is a pinkynail sized knob of fresh
ginger then lifted out after cooking the soup before blending.

I have too many variations this time to be sure which one she means (grin).
But, the basic is 2 parts stock, 1 part carrot and some butter. Blender and
then reduce if desired or just add butter and have at it. If just butter, a
bit of sour cream works nice too!

Some folks over fancify that dish and it is no better, just harder to make.

>> BTW, I agree that boxed Dashi is good. In fact, it may need a
>> little kombu added but overall it is as good as home made and bought in
>> bulk, quite cheap. I used to make my own, but that
>> was before I had access to the boxed granules.
>
>> ---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
>
>> Title: Dashi
>> Categories: Xxcarol, Soups
>> Yield: 4 Servings
>
>> 1 sm Kombu piece (seaweed/kelp)
>> 2 c Water
>> 1 c Katsuo bushi (dried bonito)
>
>> The kombu piece will be about 4-5 inches square.
>
>> Place on heat, remove kombu when it comes to a boil and add Katsuo
>> Bushi.Once flakes sink, pour through strainer and
>> discard flakes (or save forsecond soup use!). Can be made
>> without Katsuo Bushi, with Shiitakemushrooms in it's place for
>> a less salty and vegetarian type but it needs a
>> good 2 hours gentle boil to taste right.
>
>> Optional additions galore! Top picks are little chunks of
>> Tofu, greenonions, mushroom bits, shrimp, and shredded
>> cabbage.
>
> Thanks, some very interesting ideas! One of the things about the Wash Post
> recipe was the large amount of ginger (and I doubled it!). As I said,
> commercial dried dashi is available so why bother spending the time with
> your own bonito flakes and kombu? Incidentally, Ajinomoto also makes a
> very good dried vegetable stock that I frequently use.

For a long time, you cou;dn't get it boxed in the USA. Had to make it
straight and I did it that way for over a decade until we got to Japan and
discovered the boxed version. Once we came back stateside, it was here too.

Oh the above dashi is 'first use'. You save the dried bonito in the fridge
and reuse with fresh kombu for up to '4th use' dashi. Once you figure that
out, it's not all that expensive to make there in Japan were dried bonito is
pretty cheap. Thats also a 'deep dashi' for that amount of fish to water in
'first use' though not far off what you'd do with 3rd use.