Ida (Vico Girl on Slow Travel) had the pleasure of choosing the last soup of the season. This is what she said:
Here's my recipe which I have been making since 1982. The recipe is from "The Best of Bon Appetit Cookbook" the 1982 edition. I love this soup...but I will warn you it is pretty rich. Hope you all like it.
Cream of Artichoke Soup
Makes 4 to 6 servings:
Ingredients:
3 T butter
4 T Minced Shallots
1.5 T Flour
3.5 C Chicken Stock
3 1-lb cans of Artichokes (drained)
1 C Half & Half (I have tried fat-free Half & Half and it was ok)
Salt & Pepper
Instructions:
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, allowing it to brown just lightly. Add shallots and saute briefly till softened. Stir in flour and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
Heat stock or chicken broth in a 2 qt. saucepan. Add flour mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Puree artichokes in food processor or blender. Add thickened chicken stock and Half & Half. Blend thoroughly, about 30 seconds.
Season with Salt & Pepper. Serve Hot or Cold. I serve it hot.
It can be made ahead, refrigerated, and reheated to serve.
When I shopped for the canned artichokes, I nearly backed out of making the soup at all because they were $4.50 a can! Luckily, I found some on sale for $2.99 a can, so that was a little bit better. This was our very last soup (for this year, anyway), so I wanted to follow thru and finish the soup series.
We had it for dinner, along with next week's salad with blood oranges. I like soup and salad dinners! Thanks, Ida - It was delicious!
I topped the soup with some tarragon sprigs. They tasted pretty good in the soup.
Like all of my Slow Souper compadres, I have really, really enjoyed participating in the soup-making series. I have learned a lot from the experience, and the camaraderie has been great! Now, on to the salads next Sunday!
