{"id":238,"date":"2015-05-02T22:57:20","date_gmt":"2015-05-03T03:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pcandres.com\/?p=238"},"modified":"2015-11-06T13:57:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T19:57:05","slug":"%e2%80%9cif-i-didn%e2%80%99t-know-this-was-hasenpfeffer-i%e2%80%99d-swear-it-was-carrots-%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/?p=238","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIf I Didn\u2019t Know This Was Hasenpfeffer, I\u2019d Swear It Was Carrots.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none\"><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fthesoupblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D238&amp;layout=button_count&amp;show_faces=true&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;width=450&amp;height=30\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width: 450px; height: 30px;\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-239 size-medium\" title=\"Carrot Blog Image\" src=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Carrot-Blog-Image-232x300.jpg\" alt=\"Carrot Blog Image\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Carrot-Blog-Image-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Carrot-Blog-Image-792x1024.jpg 792w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The title of this posting comes from the Bugs Bunny cartoon \u201cShish Ka Bugs\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lDe8fTgVUZw\">see it here<\/a>) in which Bugs, for obvious reasons, ends up serving a pot full of raw carrots to a king who demands Hasenpfeffer (a rabbit stew).<\/p>\n<p>What the heck does that have to do with a blog about soups?<\/p>\n<p>Well, for one thing this week\u2019s recipe is Carrot &amp; Fennel Soup, which ties into the cartoon pretty directly.\u00a0 It\u2019s also about things (especially carrot-related things) surprising you by not being what they seem.<\/p>\n<p>I had made an incarnation of this blended soup over Christmas, and it resulted in a gentle contrast of the sweetness of the carrots and the sharp licorice bite of the fennel. This time, however, I combined the ingredients in different proportions and the final product turned into a rich, buttery puree reminiscent of the best squash soups.\u00a0 The taste came as a total surprise to me. (Could it have been the 10 pound bag of organic carrots from Costco, my favorite store in the world? Maybe.)<\/p>\n<p>It could also have something to do with my expectations about carrots. This flavor was not something I associated with carrots at all. Of course, I blamed this subterranean vegetable for the confusion, but the fault was all mine.<\/p>\n<p>I did the same thing to the carrot that I complain employers do to me in my job search. I pigeon-holed it.\u00a0 I put it into the box that best categorized it.\u00a0 What I didn\u2019t do was consider the possibilities carrots have that are outside my current experience.<\/p>\n<p>I think we\u2019re all a little guilty of this.\u00a0 We think in stereotypes because it\u2019s easier for us to navigate the world that way. It\u2019s not completely honest or completely fair, but it\u2019s easier.<\/p>\n<p>What we miss is the sense of possibility. We miss the untapped root of creativity that could inspire great things from each of us, employed, underemployed and unemployed alike.\u00a0 In this culture we are what we do.<\/p>\n<p>How\u2019s that working out for you?<\/p>\n<p>If I can be surprised by a puree of carrots and fennel, I think you could probably surprise me too.\u00a0 But your life isn\u2019t about me, it\u2019s about you. Can you surprise yourself?<\/p>\n<p>Or could it be that I just have too much time on my hands?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<p>Note:\u00a0 Perhaps the better title for this post would be \u201cIf I Didn\u2019t Know This Was Carrots, I\u2019d Swear It Was Hasenpfeffer.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s possible too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carrot &amp; Fennel Soup<\/strong><br \/>\n(serves 6-8)<br \/>\n1 tablespoon butter<br \/>\n1 cup onions, chopped<br \/>\n3\u00bd cups carrots, peeled &amp; sliced<br \/>\n3\u00bd cups fennel, sliced<br \/>\n6 cups chicken or vegetable stock<br \/>\nSalt &amp; pepper, to taste<br \/>\nSour cream, dollops (love that word) garnish each bowl<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Heat the butter over medium heat in a 3-quart sauce pot. Add onions and carrots and saut\u00e9 until tender (about 5 minutes) , stirring occasionally.<\/li>\n<li>Add fennel to the pot and continue to heat (5 minutes more).<\/li>\n<li>Add stock and seasonings (You know who you are salt and pepper) bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and continue simmering for about an hour.<\/li>\n<li>Remove from the heat and blend with an immersion blender or in batches using a standing blender.<\/li>\n<li>Serve as a first course or a main dish with a spoonful of sour cream dropped in the middle of the bowl.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Image Credit: Jula Rosenbluh (my daughters\u2019 friend from back in California), copyright 2006.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Comments? Questions? Requests?\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t kidding about your joining the conversation.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be listening <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and<\/span> responding.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The title of this posting comes from the Bugs Bunny cartoon \u201cShish Ka Bugs\u201d (see it here) in which Bugs, for obvious reasons, ends up serving a pot full of raw carrots to a king who demands Hasenpfeffer (a rabbit stew). What the heck does that have to do with a blog about soups? Well, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,25,48,93,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-soups-that-have-been-pureed-blended-pulverized","category-carrots","category-dairy","category-fennel","category-vegetarian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2209,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions\/2209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}