Creamy Carrot Soup from Belgium

This soup is simple yet sophisticated - the star of this recipe is the herb "tarragon."  Tarragon is one of those herbs that is either loved or hated - nothing in between.  My in-laws discovered this soup when they were in Europe - they were staying in Belgium at an old Inn and the deal was that if you spent the night then you had to dine in the Inn's restaurant.  Wow am I glad my in-laws stayed there! - This recipe has become so popular with my family that it is now tradition to have this soup with our Christmas Eve dinner.  (By the way - this is not the exact recipe from the Inn - my mother-in-law just figured it out and then I have tweaked it over the years - and she says it tastes the same as it did in Belgium) 

Creamy Carrot Soup from Belgium

                                                                                                                Printable Recipe
6 cups chicken broth (You may use store bought or - Chicken stock from scratch)
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion (peeled and chopped)
3 or 4 large carrots (peeled and chopped)
3 medium potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 1/2 teaspoons (french) dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) ground white pepper (ground black pepper may be substituted)

The soup is fully cooked and is now ready to be blended.

1.  Prepare the vegetables as described above.

2.  Melt the butter in a stock pot and saute the chopped onion for a few minutes.

3.  Add the chicken stock, the chopped carrots and potatoes (another option is to add 1 stalk of chopped celery - but I find that it makes the soup a little runny) and also add the tarragon and pepper.

4.  Cook until the carrots and potatoes are cooked/tender.

5.  Now blend to a creamy texture using an immersible blender (or a regular blender) or a food processor (obviously I prefer the immersible blender because you don't have to ladle the soup in and out of the blender/processor - but if you don't own an immersible one - the other 2 tools will work just fine).

The soup is nice and creamy and ready to eat - ENJOY!!