Cream of Jalapeño Soup

[labradors]

This is a hybrid from some other recipes I have made. I just adapted them into this when I found some beautiful jalapeños at the store. For being an impromptu recipe, it turned out so well that I will be making it again, just like this.

Cream of Jalapeño soup

Ingredients:

• 3 C Chicken stock
  
• 1 Lb Fresh jalapeño peppers, stems removed, seeded and coarsely chopped
  
• 2 Carrots, peeled and sliced
  
• 1 Heaping Tbsp Chopped, fresh cilantro
  
• 1 C Heavy cream
  
• Salt to taste

Garnish:

• Sour cream
  
• Fresh bacon bits
  
• Chopped, fresh cilantro

Instructions:

1. Place chicken stock, jalapeños, carrots and cilantro into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover. Cook until jalapeños and carrots are tender.
   
2. Purée the mixture in a blender, return to saucepan.
   
3. Add heavy cream and salt, heat through.
   
4. Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream, some fresh bacon bits, and a sprinkling of chopped, fresh cilantro.

Notes:

• Yes, that IS correct: one pound of jalapeño peppers!
  
• The carrots we get here are HUGE (some as big as 11" long and 2.5" thick), so I only used one carrot. I have written the recipe as two for the average-sized carrots one typically gets in the States

[Mare749]

Sounds absolutely delicious! One question though...how hot is it??? I like things hot, but don't want to sweat through my head either.

Maryann

[labradors]

It IS hot, but not as hot as you may think. For one thing, the seeds are not used. Also, the carrots help, and the sour cream garnish cools it a bit, as well. I would not consider it "sweat-through-your-head hot." In fact, I just had a bowl of it, and am not sweating from it (and I HAVE had things that WOULD make me sweat that way).

Of course, standard disclaimer: "Your mileage may vary" - each person has different tastes, so you may want to try it, then experiment from there. For a point of reference, I like things pretty hot, but I'm not the type who eats whole, raw jalapeños or habaneros. After I made this, however, I looked up similar recipes on the Internet, and found that most of them use more carrots (or other ingredients), at least four cups of stock, and only three to five jalapeños. I'm quite satisfied with focusing upon the jalapeños and having used a whole pound of them.

When in doubt with pepper dishes, make sure you have some white rice or plain bread handy. In fact, this would probably be really good with some lightly buttered French bread, anyway.

[Mare749]

Thanks, I think I may try it with the 3 to 5 jalapenos the first time, then take it from there.

Maryann