Carrot Soup with Fennel and Fresh Thyme with Biscuits (Traditional and Gluten-Free)

It is strange that I had not made this carrot soup yet this year. I usually make it every other week or so during the Autumn and Winter. It is easy to make, totally satisfying and uses ingredients that I always seem to have on hand. I got this soup from a cooking magazine (maybe Bon Apetite?) but I lost the actual recipe a long time ago. Luckily the amounts are not at all important in this recipe. To my palate this simple combination of the flavours perfect.

As far as I’m concerned, all this soup needs to be a meal is a green salad and some biscuits, bread or popovers. I posted a good recipe for gluten-free popovers in the “Menu in Honour of Brocolli Soup” post a while back. I’ll post my favourite biscuit recipes (both traditional and gluten-free) below. Of course, you can just eat store bought bread too, but the fact is that biscuits are easy and can be made from scratch while the soup is simmering.

CARROT SOUP WITH FENNEL SOUP AND FRESH THYME

half a stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
4 carrots, scrubbed and chopped
one large onion, peeled and chopped (the white part of a large leek works too)
2 garlic cloves crushed and peeled
Several sprigs of fresh thyme
a couple of teaspoons of fennel seeds
4 cups of homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock
salt and white pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.
Add the carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, fennel seeds and a small amount of salt to the pot. Cover the pot and allow the vegetables to stew for a few minutes.
When the onion is translucent add the soup stock. Turn the heat up to medium high and simmer the soup until the carrots are totally tender. This is a good time to make biscuits or popovers.
Allow the soup to cool a bit before transferring it to a blender (or use a submersion blender if you have one). Puree the soup until it is entirely smooth.
Season with salt and white pepper to taste. This soup keeps well in the fridge for several days and can be frozen for future happiness.

ERIN’S BEST TRADITIONAL BISCUITS

I used to count my biscuit making abilities as one of my magical superpowers. This biscuit dough can become a cobbler topping for sweet fruit or a savory stew. It can be rolled out on a floured surface for sweet or savory pie. It can accompany breakfast or soup.

2 cups white all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 stick salted butter (cold)
about 3/4 cups of plain whole milk yogurt (milk or buttermilk works too)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Combine the flour and the baking powder in a large bowl.
Slice the butter into about twelve chunks into the flour. Use your fingers to combine the butter and flour until the butter is broken into pea sized chunks.
Add just enough yogurt to the flour to make a ball of dry dough.
Divide the dough into 6 parts and drop them in mounds on the baking sheet.
Bake the biscuits until they start to turn golden brown (15-20 minutes).

GLUTEN-FREE BISCUITS

My friend Katherine gave me this biscuit recipe. I leave out the sugar and add cheese. They are pretty good. I am having a hard time finding sorghum flour right now. It used to be readily available. Maybe the the sourgum crop failed? Maybe the sorghum flour distributor is in trouble with the New York grocery mafia. I don’t know. Do any of you know?

1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup white sorghum flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
a handful of grated cheddar or aged gouda

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
Combine all of the flours, starches and powders in a large bowl.
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using your fingers until the butter is the sizes of peas.
Add the buttermilk and cheese and stir to create a ball of dough.
Divide the dough into 6 lumps on a baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.

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