Comments on Sweet Amandine: My regular seat

yum - carrots in suop are so delicious that subtle...

2011-06-23T07:06:08.103-04:00

yum - carrots in suop are so delicious that subtle sweetness.... mmm hmmmm...

I cannot believe I am just reading your post about...

2010-10-13T23:15:04.702-04:00

I cannot believe I am just reading your post about this soup. I absolutely love and sincerely appreciate that your recipe contains no sugar or pie spices! I am a purist and firmly believe in letting fresh vegetables with natural sugars shine on their own in soups. I work with Eli and had the pleasure of meeting you last year at your lovely Hannukah party and still tell people about your latkes (I was actually telling a recent new employee at MS about them last week). Anyway, I got a large bag of carrots from Wilson Farm this weekend and have been researching Carrot-Fennel soup because I was intrigued by a recipe from their farm and wanted to compare it to others before taking a stab at it. I am so happy to see your recipe and thoughtful notes about your creation. I am going to try a version this weekend and hope to be as pleased with my results as you were about yours. I am not exactly a fennel fan either, but like Eli, I learned that it is one of those things you have to try when cooked properly and paired with the right foods to balance its flavor. So, while this is an old post of yours, I am happy to have stumbled upon it and may bring some of my final product in to the office for Eli to bring home and share! Reading this just reminded me that I should check in more regularly to see what notes you may have on similar recipes and ingredients I am trying.

Oliag - Yes, you must! Shira - Oooh, white wine. ...

2010-03-22T18:35:41.186-04:00

Oliag - Yes, you must!

Shira - Oooh, white wine. That sounds wonderful. I love the vanilla pound cake at Hi-Rise! It's one of three things that I always suggest to friends who are eating there for the first time. (The almond macaroons and the crusty pecan rolls - not too sweet! - are the other two.)

p.s. - I'm not sure how I missed these two comments, Oliag and Shira. I apologize for the delay in responding!

Yelena - Then we're two for two, right? Thank you for taking the time to report back on both the rugelach and this soup. I know what you mean about toasting the fennel seeds. I love how the aroma rises as they brown ever so slightly. I do have one cabbage recipe on this site, right here. Aside from that, I mostly just like to stick it in a pot and braise it.

Once I found your site via the rugelach recipe, I ...

2010-03-22T18:12:50.279-04:00

Once I found your site via the rugelach recipe, I was glad to stumble upon this soup recipe, cause I had some CSA-sourced carrots and fennel sitting in my fridge that I needed ideas for. This soup turned out great! I ended up omitting the tomato paste & I blended only 1/2, leaving rest intact, to feel like I had something to bite into. I think the toasted & ground fennel seeds were my favorite part (to make and to eat). Or, maybe the roasted carrots + fennel :) Thanks again for the ideas! Got anything for savoy cabbage? (figured it wouldn't hurt to ask ;)

Thanks for the recipe. I've been making carrot...

2010-02-28T13:39:10.290-05:00

Thanks for the recipe. I've been making carrot and fennel soup for years now--it's about as close as I come to autopilot cooking. One thing I tend to add is a splash of dry vermouth or white wine. I find it brings out the aromatic side of the fennel. As for Hi-Rise, I haven't been to Boston in the better part of a decade, though I've been craving their vanilla pound cake ever since I read about it in one of Amanda Hesser's books.

Will be telling my daughter about CafeCrema!...

2010-01-21T11:47:59.074-05:00

Will be telling my daughter about CafeCrema!...

I'm so happy to hear it. Thanks for reporting...

2010-01-18T11:19:16.781-05:00

I'm so happy to hear it. Thanks for reporting back!

I just made the soup....it's fantastic!!!!!

2010-01-16T17:04:13.196-05:00

I just made the soup....it's fantastic!!!!!

LyB - Well my gosh, thank you! And about t...

2010-01-15T15:41:02.926-05:00

LyB - Well my gosh, thank you! And about the soup: I will not stop you from doing just as you suggest.

giao - Happy to help. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have. If you do give the recipe a try, I would love to hear how it turns out.

Enjoy the weekend, all.

there was a roasted carrot soup at our local islan...

2010-01-15T13:51:59.965-05:00

there was a roasted carrot soup at our local island bakery a few days ago as well...and i opted not to go for it. shame on me!! you've conviced me to try your version now. thank u!

My gosh, I do love your photos! And that soup, wow...

2010-01-15T08:48:39.976-05:00

My gosh, I do love your photos! And that soup, wow, the way you describe it, I just want to run out and buy all the ingredients and make it right now! :)

I eat carrots, I know they're good for me, but...

2010-01-15T01:31:58.810-05:00

I eat carrots, I know they're good for me, but it's never something I'd get excited about. Out of all the soups that could possibly be made, I would never naturally opt for one based on carrots. And yet I find myself thinking, this sounds really, really good. Maybe it's the fennel, both vegetable and seeds, which I love. Or the idea of roasting the carrots first. Whatever it is, this soup looks and sounds absolutely glorious.

We are in the middle of summer, but I shall bookmark this for when the weather cools down.

Jess -- I enjoy your blog as well. You convinced ...

2010-01-14T21:44:40.109-05:00

Jess -- I enjoy your blog as well. You convinced me to make this soup. My grocery was out of fennel so will try again next week! Stay warm...

My pleasure, Lizzie. That does sound perfe...

2010-01-14T15:45:19.018-05:00

My pleasure, Lizzie. That does sound perfect.

Jess, Thanks so much for checking! An afternoon a...

2010-01-14T15:20:29.840-05:00

Jess,
Thanks so much for checking! An afternoon antiquing trip (plus soup) sounds perfect.
Lizzie (anonymous because I don't have accounts set up! Will get one some day :)

Hi, Lady Gouda, and welcome. It's always a pl...

2010-01-13T21:14:17.083-05:00

Hi, Lady Gouda, and welcome. It's always a pleasure to meet a fellow Boston-area blogger. And wow - thank you for your very kind words about this site. I've only been around for about a year, so you're hardly late to the party. So glad you stumbled this way.

Jess, I cannot believe I JUST stumbled upon your b...

2010-01-13T19:48:27.944-05:00

Jess, I cannot believe I JUST stumbled upon your blog. I love it. Seriously- your posts, recipes and your photography are a real inspiration. Oh, and I am a big fan of both Hi-Rise and Cafe Crema. Cambridge puts Boston to shame with their fantastic coffee shops and cafes. Looking forward to tucking in and reading more!

Anonymous - Whoops, hi! I missed you, somehow. S...

2010-01-13T14:37:50.187-05:00

Anonymous - Whoops, hi! I missed you, somehow. Such a nice thing to say about Sweet Amandine. Thank you. I would gladly share the name of the shop, if only I could remember it. I just called Eli at work, and we tried to piece together at least the name of the road, but no such luck. I can tell you that we were married up on the North Shore - in an old house near Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA - and that we found our table at a shop by the side of the road somewhere around there. Not very helpful, I know. But there's so much great antiquing to be done up there. I'd suggest just driving around, and you're bound to find something.

Maggie - Yes, the immersion blender is indeed a bl...

2010-01-13T14:05:49.232-05:00

Maggie - Yes, the immersion blender is indeed a blessing for those of us with tiny kitchens. And I love how it turns soups like this one into one-pot wonders.

You're adorable, dear Rosiecat. The suspense is killing me! I guess you'll just have to give this one a try, too, and report back. Enjoy your Texas sun!

Lo - Thank you. It doesn't surprise me that you have had less-than-spectacular carrot soup experiences. Carrots can be so variable in their flavor. I've had (and made!) carrot soups that were everything from bitter, to just plain blah, to terrific. This soup was delicious with organic supermarket carrots, but I bet that with the fresh, young carrots that will come in my farm share later this year, it will be out of this world. If you do give the recipe a try, I would love to hear how it turns out.

Amy - I am a big fan of the immersion blender. Blending hot liquids in a stand blender strikes fear in my heart. (Which is not to say that I never do it.) Happy to furnish an "excuse" to join the immersion blender club!

My dear Char, you are far from horrid. But about that fennel aversion: This recipe may just work for you. Eli is not a fan of fennel, and was wary of the soup, but in the end, he loved it. I think he had only ever eaten raw fennel, which has a much stronger flavor. The roasting mellows it out a lot. You don't really experience a mouthful of fennel at first bite. Rather, a delicate fennel flavor kind of sneaks up on you at the very end. (There. I've made my case.) Also, roasted garlic soup? Yes, please.

Mia - Hello! I have a feeling that this soup is, indeed, right up your alley. Maybe you'll allow me to make it for you one of these days?

Maybelle's Mom - Ah, but there are plenty of uncivilized moments around here, too. I promise.

Megan - You are going to love this soup. I know it. Yes, I guess language and idea exchanges are really what we graduate students do all day. (Cool day job, eh?) Maybe the difference is just doing it in an informal setting. Over food and drink. Don't tell me that you can't find a single worthy cafe over there! What are you doing there? Come back!

hayleygolightly - It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your lovely note. Your kind words mean a lot. Truly. And I'm thrilled that you'll be trying the carrot cake cupcakes! I could use one of those right now. If you think of it, I'd love to hear how they turn out.

Rogue Unicorn - I wonder if we come by this tendency naturally, or if it's the years of graduate school that have turned us into sometime recluses! (In my case, I think it's a little bit of both.) It's nice to hear that I'm not the only one who's fed up (ha!) with too-sweet orange soups. "Curried baby-food" - you totally nailed it! That made me laugh out loud. About the tomato paste: I added it because I was worried about my carrots. (See my response to Lo, above.) They seemed a little weak on flavor, and so I thought that tomato paste would add some not-necessarily-tomato-specific depth. (As opposed to in my tomato soup recipe, in which the tomato paste is there to boost the tomato flavor.) It's a small enough amount in this recipe that you don't actually taste anything tomato-y. Instead, you just get a nice, subtle layer of "something else" in there, together with the carrots and the fennel. (Of course, I would have to try the recipe without the tomato paste and compare to verify all of this...)

Carrot and fennel are two of my favorite things an...

2010-01-13T13:35:28.487-05:00

Carrot and fennel are two of my favorite things and this is one of my favorite blogs.

Now I want afternoon tea and a red kitchen table too. Just out of curiosity, where did you find it again, if you don't mind sharing?

Thanks!

Jess, You really are a woman after my own study h...

2010-01-13T11:15:01.024-05:00

Jess,
You really are a woman after my own study habits. I have not left the house in, oh, about 40 hours. Thank goodness there are groceries to be bought and new Indian places to check out, otherwise I'd never leave.
This soup definitely goes on my "must make" list. "Orange soups" are ubiquitous around here and I'm longing for one that isn't thickly cloying and reminiscent of curried baby-food. Your carrot soup sounds like just the remedy. What made you add tomato paste? I would think that it would cloud the roasted fennel flavor. Guess I'll have to try it for myself.
Best.

Jess, I just wanted to stop by and tell you I lov...

2010-01-12T23:24:21.809-05:00

Jess,

I just wanted to stop by and tell you I love your writing and I think your writing is inspiring and lovely. I just printed off your carrot cake muffins with maple icing recipe and am going to make them with my mom sometime next week. We're looking forward to it! Cheers!

-Hayley-

Yayyy! I was hoping for a savory one! Now I need...

2010-01-12T21:55:56.723-05:00

Yayyy! I was hoping for a savory one! Now I need to figure out who has a blender I can use...

Laughing out loud, a girl after my own heart and my own sense of adventure...language exchange sounds great - maybe I can try it with different artistic media? Or maybe that's what I'm doing every day already? Too bad we don't have a Hi-Rise or Cafe Crema around here...

xx
megan

its a civilized life you lead. lovely dish.

2010-01-12T21:02:50.124-05:00

its a civilized life you lead. lovely dish.

I'm at work right now, absolutely starving, an...

2010-01-12T18:35:14.128-05:00

I'm at work right now, absolutely starving, and this soup looks like exactly what I want for dinner! And it's OK to eat the same thing many days in a row - every week I like to make a big batch of soup and then eat it every day for lunch!