Cream Of Artichoke Soup With Chervil And Fried Artichokes

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 4 quarts water
• 8 whole artichokes
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 7 cups vegetable stock or 7 cups chicken stock
• 6 slices panera's country bread, crusts removed
• 1 cup fresh chervil, packed
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Recipe

• 1 bring the water to a boil in an 8-quart pot.
• 2 trim the top third off each artichoke and discard, along with the stems. the bottom two-thirds of each artichoke should remain in tact.
• 3 set 2 artichoke bottoms aside, quarter the other 6 artichoke bottoms and toss with the lemon juice and olive oil.
• 4 transfer quartered artichokes, lemon juice, and oil to the water and boil for 10 minutes. drain artichokes.
• 5 melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a 4-quart pot and add the cooked artichokes.
• 6 stir them over low heat for about 10 minutes, be careful not to let the butter burn.
• 7 pour in the stock and boil for 20 minutes.
• 8 melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. dip the bread slices into the melted butter and sauté over medium heat until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• 9 add the cooked bread to the pot with the artichokes and simmer for 5 minutes.
• 10 remove from heat and add the cream.
• 11 season with salt and pepper to taste.
• 12 puree the soup in a food processor, then run it through a food mill until smooth.
• 13 cool 1-1/2 cups of soup in the freezer.
• 14 puree the chervil in the chilled soup (make sure the soup is cold before you puree the chervil, because if it is hot, the chervil will turn brown).
• 15 heat the chervil mixture to 200ºf.
• 16 thinly slice the reserved artichoke bottoms and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• 17 drain on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
• 18 evenly distribute the hot soup among 8 bowls. drizzle the chervil mixture over the soup and garnish with the fried artichokes.