Monday, July 27, 2009

Carrot Mushroom Soup & an Award!



Since few days weather here has been gloomy and chilling and what is more comforting than a bowl of bright hot soup? Having run out of sufficient items to fix a proper dinner and feeling too lazy to go for grocery shopping, I had only one choice left-to make a soup. Somehow bright coloured soups seems to brighten me up on a gloomy day and I feel a blast of sunshine seeping through my mind energizing my body, overpowering that extra bit of lethargy! I resorted to making Carrot Mushroom Soup.


Though I followed my usual way of soup making I decided to spice this soup a bit more by adding few more ingredients. Carrot soup, if isnt made spicy would tend to taste bland with the slight sweet taste of carrots. I love mushrooms a lot and incorporated those as well. I prefer making soups without cream to save those extra calories and even without cream it turned out like 'Cream of Carrot Soup'. This soup was quite filling and to us this served best as an entree!


Ingredients:
Carrots - 0.75 lb chopped to small pieces
3/4th White onion chopped to small pieces
Mushrooms - 10 oz(283 g)
Tomato - 1 chopped
Celery stalks - 2
Vegetable broth - 2.5 cups
Additional water - 2 cups(approx)
Italian seasoning - 1.5 tsp
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Garlic salt - 3/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Cinnamon sticks - 2 each 2.5 " long
Bay leaves - 2
Milk - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1 tbsp

Method:
  • Heat a large saucepan and dry roast cinnamon and bay leaves.
  • Add chopped onion, celery, carrots, tomato, broth, water, Italian seasoning, garlic salt, pepper, salt and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to low and cook with a closed lid for about 40 minutes or until the carrot pieces have turned tender.
  • Cool and remove the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.
  • Blend the mixture well. Keep aside.
  • Heat butter in the same saucepan and cook mushrooms well.
  • Add the blended mixture along with milk.
  • Adjust salt and cook for few more minutes until the soup turns creamy.
  • Serve hot with toasted bread or herbed croutons.
Variations:
  • Instead of vegetable broth, chicken broth may be used.
  • You may add chicken cubes during the first stage of preparation for additional flavour.
  • Milk may be substituted with cream.
I'm sending Carrot Mushroom Soup to FIC-Express Your Mood hosted by Nithya of A Culinary Odyssey and started by Harini of Tongue Ticklers.


Parita of Paritas World has passed me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks a lot Parita for considering me. This award means so much to me and I'm very happy to recieve it.


This award comes with the following rules:
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated

Few facts about me that you may find(or I sincerely hope!) interesting:

1.I did never have a passion for cooking before marriage and used to run away whenever called by my mom to offer her a helping hand in the kitchen! I never even knew how to make an omelette and thought cooking could be done only by skilled people.

2.I love to read cookbooks as if they were novels. I even flip through pages even if I'm tired, for the sole reason of glancing and drooling over the pictures of dishes rather than reading.The sight of a cookbook with a tempting coverpage lures me like a magnet.I find it difficult to memorize any recipe until it was tried innumerable times and often refer my notebook which I have kept aside for the purpose.

3.I find it nearly impossible to stick to a particular recipe because I love adding my own ingredients. Hence the reason for numerous kitchen disasters!

4.I love and respect all cuisines and like having a different dish each time I dine out.

5.If I fall in love with any particular dish I make, I end up making it often until my hubby literally asks me to stop making it.

6.I'm a shopping freak and love to wander around in shopping malls though I end up buying less often. I guess I should say I do more Window Shopping! I do not give much importance to branded stuffs because I believe branding is a way to compromise quality for name(there are exceptions though). Now I dont want to turn off any brand lovers here! Since I'm of the perception that price of goods should be worth the quality,I always go for good quality stuffs at an affordable price rather than branded ones.

7. I become restless until I come up with a solution to a problem..let it be a kitchen experiment or a situation at work place, since I believe that solution to any problem lies buried deep somewhere, waiting to be dug out. People say I have tremendous amount of patience!

I guess that is enough bragging for the day. Going on to the next rule of the award ie passing the award onto 7 fellow bloggers, though I would like to pass it on to all my fellow bloggers, I have to comply by the rules here. Creativity is truly a gift of God and I utilize this oppurtunity to pass on this award to the following fellow bloggers.

Ambrosia by Mathew. I should say Mathew is creative at words and is a talented cook too. I like his hilarious writeup and the way he aptly describes and presents the dish to the reader.

Christo of Chez What. Christo is another talented creative blogger who never fails to amaze me. Each and every post of Christo's have something in it for everyone.

Dhanya of My Home Cooking. Dhanya is an expert at cake decorations and she even teaches the basics of cake decorating and is very lucky to have creative and talented students. Do check out Dhanya's dazzling Delights and My Students Works, where she has displayed the work of her students.

Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. Lisa always comes with a tempting, nutritious, vegetarian dish each time and has a huge collection of delectable dishes.I always end up learning something new from each of her posts.

Sailaja of Sailaja's Kitchen. Ms.Sailaja always amazes me with her unique dishes. She creates delicious dishes out of ingredients that I could never imagine and has a huge collection of vegetarian, non vegetarian and baking recipes.

Vineela of Vineela Siva. Vineela is a talented cook and an artist. She is good at needlework too. She can create a simple yet elegant gift and show pieces out of no where! Her jewellery creations are worth checking out.

Vrinda of Sankeerthanam. Vrinda is an expert at baking and cake decorations and her wonderful creations never cease to astound anyone.

Kindly accept the award and pass this on to more creative bloggers!

Pooja.

Other Appetizers:

Squash SoupTomato SoupHummusMinestrone SoupPhotobucket

99 comments:

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Congrats & thanks for passing it to me.Keep rocking....

dsdsds said...

Congrats Pooja on your award and your Carrot mushroom soup looks so delish

Dhanya Ganesh said...

Yummy soup. Congrats dear,and thank you so much for thinking about me. I really appreciate it. Will pick it up soon:).

Dhanya Ganesh said...

Yummy soup. Congrats dear,and thank you so much for thinking about me. I really appreciate it. Will pick it up soon:).

Padma said...

Congrats on your award Pooja... soup looks so yummy and nice click... wish I had a spoon to have gulp some :)

Christo Gonzales said...

your carrot mushroom soup looks great! congratulations on your award and thank you so much for passing it on to me....

Lisa Turner said...

Carrot and mushrooms sound like a fine combination! I adore your recipes. Thanks so very much for passing on the award. That's very sweet and thoughtful of you.

VineelaSiva said...

Wow pooja Congrats for the award and also thanx for sharing the award with me.And so kind of telling abt me dear.U ade my day dear.Sure i will take the award dear.

VineelaSiva said...

The soup is very delicious dear.U r correct when the climate is little cloudy and rainy that time with hot soup its really awesome.Now me too enjoying hot soup dear.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Congrats!
Yummy soup too...

Jenn said...

Congrats on the awards! The soup looks lovely and creamy. Perfect for those gloomy days and maybe sunny days, too.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Pooja thats really nice to know more about you .. Congrats on ur award and really u deserve it. The soup looks so good and mouthwatering

Kitchen Chronicles said...

Carrot soup is yummy. Congrats on ur award.

Anonymous said...

The mushroom and carrot soup looks excellent, great combo! Congrats on your awards!

Kalyani said...

Congrats on the award Pooja .. soup look delicious ......

Unknown said...

Congrats on your award. Nice recipe and good to know about you.

saffronapron.blogspot.com said...

I love that design the milk has made in the soup. Cool recipe and congrats on the award. U deserve it.

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

Congrats pooja. The carrot soup looks awesome

Shri said...

Congratulations on the award!The soup looks so yummy.

Pooja said...

Thanks Ms.Sailaja & welcome :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Hema :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Dhanya :) I admire your talent!

Pooja said...

Thanks Padma :) Sure you may go ahead :)

Pooja said...

Thanks DB & welcome :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Lisa & welcome :) I love your dishes a lot!

Pooja said...

Thanks Vineela & welcome :) Yes its very comforting to have a bowl of hot soup during chilling days!

Pooja said...

Thanks HCOF :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Jenn :) Yes it turned creamy and I didnt have to add any cream! Yeah a bowl of hot soup is so comforting!

Pooja said...

Thanks Pavithra :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Lakshmi :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Natasha :) Yes it is..I tried it for the first time and I loved it!

Pooja said...

Thanks Kalyani :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Sadhana & Muskaan :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Smitha :) Do try it sometime. You would like this!

Pooja said...

Thanks Ms.Shanti :)

chef and her kitchen said...

Congrats on ur award...
thats a nice soup..

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Congrats Pooja. Carrot soup looks so lovely and delicious. Nice click.

Suparna said...

hey pooja,
Congratulations :)u truly deserve it :)
Love the presentation of the soup :) looks damn cool!
Keep going!!
God BLess!!

Pooja said...

Thanks Prathibha :)

Pooja said...

Thanks a lot Suparna for the wishes :)

mathew said...

waah..the soup looks so heavenly...must be great to have on a rainy day..;-P


and thanks a lot for the award..quite honoured to be mentioned up there with people who make genuine wonders in the kitchen! :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Mathew & welcome :) Yes this is nice to have on a rainy day.

Ganga Sreekanth said...

soup looks delicious pooja...
congrats on your award

Parita said...

Congratulations on the award my dear, the soup looks gorgeous, lovely presentation! Loved reading your titbits :) i am a shopping freak too always end up buying more things than required :)

Saritha said...

Congrats pooja a very well deserving award and carrot soup looks yummy :)

Sushma Mallya said...

congraz for the award pooja...this soup looks really healthy and delicious...

Vrinda said...

Congrats on ur awrad Pooja and thanx a lot for thinking of me..got the same award from Pavitra also..enjoyed reading abt u,keep up the good work..

Prasukitchen.blogspot.com said...

Congrats on ur award pooja with a nice soup

Bergamot said...

Congrats.. the soup looks yummy... like the way the cream has made white swirls in it.

Doloncookbook said...

Congrats for the award ... The soup looks delicious & healthy too ....

Hari Chandana P said...

Congratulations on your Award!!.. Nice to know all those interesting things about you... keep rocking.. :)

Faiza Ali said...

Congrats for the Award and yeah the soup looks sooo yummmy and mouthwatering :)

Pari Vasisht said...

Congrats for the award and I must say a very tempting soup and a perfect entry for FIC.

Gita Jaishankar said...

The soup looks so comforting Pooja...congrats on your award :)

Kalaivani said...

Soup looks awesome.Congrats on your award.

Prasukitchen.blogspot.com said...

Pooja , its like reading my self on your blog almost all the points u mentioned are als similar to mine ...
i just love reading yours ......

Pooja said...

Thanks Ganga :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Parita :) Hey I'm glad you liked it! Nice to know that you also love shopping :D

Pooja said...

Thanks Sushma :) Yes dear, since I have refrained from adding any artificial ingredients here, this is great for kids too!

Pooja said...

Thanks Vrinda & welcome :) Glad you liked it :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Prasu :) Hey great to hear that you too have a similar personality :D

Pooja said...

Thanks Bergamot :) Actually its milk :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Dolon :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Hari Chandana :) Nice to hear that you liked it :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Faiza Ali :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Gita :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Kalai :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the award Pooja..enjoy

your soup looks rich and awesome too.!!

Ashwini said...

soup presentation is awesome.. congrats for ur award!!

Mangala Bhat said...

SOUP LOOKS aWSOME ..Congrts on ur weldeserved award ..:) hey nice to know about u ..keep rocking :)

Bhawna said...

Hi pooja, Nice soup. What is more comforting on dull chilly day than hot bowl of tempting soup.

Preety said...

lovely soup..love the color with carrot gives to the soup

and congrats for the award dear

Renus Kitchen said...

nice recipe....and very nice clicks !

ARUNA said...

soup looks amazing dear and congrats on ur award!!!!

Divya Kudua said...

A hot bowl of soup is always welcome..:).Love the addition of Mushrooms..:).

Congrats on your award.I agree with point # 1&2 ;)

Pooja said...

Thanks Ann :) Do try it sometime. You will like it :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Mangala :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Bhawna :) Well said!

Pooja said...

Thanks Preety :) Yes and its highly nutritious too!

Pooja said...

Thanks Renu :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Aruna :)

Pooja said...

Thanks a lot Divya for dropping by :) Haha happy to know that :D

Pooja said...

Thanks Faisal :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on ur award dear!
Healthy&colorful soup!

Nithya Praveen said...

Wow it looks so good.Thanks for sending it to FIC.Appreciate it.Congrats on ur award too:)

ashsdelicacies.blogspot.ca said...

u have a award in my blog dear

Rahin said...

hi pooja , the soup looks nice n comforting, Congratulations on the award !

Uma said...

Soup looks so gorgeous and refreshing Pooja! Congrats on the award :)

Archana said...

Congratulations and thats a wonderful combination for a soup ! Looks lovely..

Hb said...

That's a unique combination. I love carrots so this would be in my 'to-make' list!

Pooja said...

Thanks Sangi :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Nithya and welcome :)

Pooja said...

Thanks a lot Aysha for considering me and passing the award :) Will pick it up soon :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Arch for dropping by :)

Pooja said...

Thanks My Experients With Cooking :) Do try it. You would defintely love this! You may spice it up a bit more too if you like spicy soups :)

Sig said...

It is not even close to soup weather her, but still I could have some of this now.. Looks delish!

Pooja said...

Thanks Sig :) Yeah I know..summer is not a time for soups, but here in IL we are experiencing mild summer with temp in the 60s for most of the days! And I resort to making soups as it requires less effort :)

Vikis Kitchen said...

Soup looks so comfortable. Enjoyed reading about u dear:)

Usha said...

This is such an interesting combination and soup, love it ! Congrats on your award...