Cream of Artichoke Soup

Up until three days ago November has been like a picture post card -- day after day of mild fall weather, clear blue skies, and the sun shining through brilliantly colored leaves that slowly drifted to the ground.  But then we had a day of torrential rain and heavy winds. The trees were stripped of their leaves, and it's been cold and grey ever since which is a good thing because it finally is starting to feel like Thanksgiving.

This year we're having Thanksgiving at our house. My parents will be here, Mike's mother will be here, and my sister and her family including all her in-laws will be here

My sister always makes a cream of artichoke soup for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I come from an artichoke-crazed family so an artichoke soup is the perfect starter for us. I have no idea where this recipe came from but she's been making it for years. It multiplies easily and can be made ahead of time.

Artichoke Soup

serves 4

3 cups chicken broth

1 can artichoke bottoms (8 oz. drained weight)

1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard

3 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup cream

1. Make roux: Heat the broth until it is hot but not boiling. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat, then add the flour one tablespoon at a time, whisking until it's completely incorporated before adding the next tablespoon. Add hot broth slowly, whisking constantly. Cook about ten minutes.

2. Puree artichoke bottoms until smooth as is possible in blender or food processor with garlic, lemon, salt, pepper and mustard.

3. Add puree and cream to butter, flour, and broth mixture.

4. Heat through then serve garnished with slivered artichoke hearts.

OK, let's go through my Thanksgiving check list, shall we?

Large group of people invited to dinner? Check

Turkey ordered? Check

Pounds of butter purchased? Check.

Quarts of whipping cream purchased? Check

Bags of cranberries purchased? Check. (Not that I have any immediate plans for them. I just had this nagging feeling that I need to have an emergency stash of cranberries. Just in case.)

Menu finalized? Not yet. But soon.

Enough oven space to cook everything? God, I hope so.

Enough silverware for sixteen people? I think so.

Enough plates for sixteen people.? Hhmm....no.

Enough serving pieces? Again, no.

A tablecloth?  Not that either.

Enough chairs for all of our guests? Nope...

Gottta go. Obviously I need to work on my Thanksgiving situation.

Comments

[aria]

mmmmm, oh that looks wonderful! i love artichokes so much too, bookmarked! have a great holiday, thx for the recipe :)

[the bee]

Julie - I left msg on wrong board before. I have a set of beautiful white bone china you can use . I am using my rose set this year .
It has matching serving pieces .
Call me !!!

[Tanna]

Julie, if you don't use those cranberries soon, try my juice or I'm going to post on a cranberry coffee cake soon.

[ann]

so simple, so delicious sounding.... this goes into my repertoire, for sure!
thanks and happy turkey day! relax, it'll be fine and delicious!

[lobstersquad]

That´s clever, using artichoke bottoms. Must try. It´s the perfect Thermomix recipe, by the sound of it.
Good luck with Thanksgiving.

[Cazza]

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving with your extended family. And please make sure someone takes lots of photos for us.

[sher]

What gorgeous pictures!!! It looks like my vision of the way Autumn (Winter?) should look. Ahhh, those leaves. And the soup is fabulous looking. I think your Thanksgiving will be terrific. Looking forward to reading about it!

[deb]

Artichokes are my favorite food in the entire freaking world and I must make this soup. I confess to trying a version last year from (shh) Giada DeLaurentis and found it bland. Probably should have seen that coming. I can wait to try yours.

[angela]

Beautiful picture. Keep the articoke pictures coming. I saw articokes the size of my head last week at the market and I have been dying to use them.

[Michelle]

**smile**
This soup sounds delicious - I've never tried an artichoke soup before! I'm sure everything will go smoothly for your Thanksgiving...someday we'll all have enough serving dishes, silverware and plates, right? Gulp...I hope!! Have a wonderful holiday!!

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

Your soup sounds so delicious yet simple to prepare. I've never had artichoke soup before, but I love anything else with artichokes so this sounds like it would be a hit.

Good luck with the family and preparations--these things always come together in the end so I wouldn't be stressed!

[blue plate]

Nice pic of Autumn foliage. And the artichoke soup sounds good, too.

[Vanessa]

Don't worry about it; no one will care what they eat on, nor where they sit with all the good food you're serving! Have a good time!

[vasilisa]

Sounds so simple! I must confess, I've never cooked artichokes. They are a mystery vegetable to me. I never know what to do with it...

And Happy Thanksgiving! PS: Plastic plates? Works every time :-)

[lindy]

Lovely picture, and the soup sounds like one for me, as I too am artichoke crazed. I'm off to pack up pies for transporting. Happy Thanksgiving.

[Anna Maria]

I just found your blog through Tanna's, and I'm happy I did.
From the looks of the preparations, you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

[Lisa]

That looks so delicious! I'm crazy for artichokes, too. Unfortunately, not so my husband -- but I'll just have to make a small amount and eat it all myself.

[Rebecca]

What a great-sounding soup; I am always looking for tried and tested soup recipes as I think it's a wonderful way to start a dinner.

We just dragged in from our Maryland Thanksgiving which doesn't sound unlike yours. We had 18 people basically from Wednesday until Saturday and kept having to rewash cutlery and napkins as one meal just seemed to run into the next. I am counting my blessings on both hands, though, and feeling very grateful.

[Julie]

Aria, it's always good to know there are other artichoke lovers out there!

Bets, thanks for the offer!

Tanna, your cranberry coffeecake recipe looks delicious. Yum!

ann, thanks, it did all work out in the end.

lobstersquad, I've just made an important new discover-- FROZEN artichoke bottoms! Even better than canned.

cazza, we really fell down on the photo thing. Everyone was so busy trying to get dinner ready that we completely didn't get around to pictures. Too bad because the turkey looked like something out of Norman Rockwell.

Sher, it looked like autumn when I took the picture. The leaves have since fallen off the trees making it look like winter but the 60 degree temperatures make it feel like spring.

Deb, artichokes are my favorite food in the entire freakin' world too. I love, love, love them.

angela, you tantalize me so! I know I've said it before but I am so envious of you being able to shop in the markets of Paris.

Michelle, I don't know if you can ever have enough serving pieces for Thanksgiving. Or maybe it's just not having the room to keep them around for the rest of the year. We somehow managed though.

Lisa, this soup is easy to prepare and delicious. Although a little more delicious when my sister makes it then when I do...

blue plate, thanks!

Vanessa, you're right I think. It all worked out in the end.

Vasilisa, artichokes are worth learning to cook -- at least I think so because I love them so much.

Lindy, it sounds as if there are quite a few of us artichoke crazed people out here.

Anna Maria, glad you stopped by. Yes, it was a great Thanksgiving. (But then I say that about every one of them.)

Lisa, that's inconvenient! I have a couple of things I like but I my husband doesn't and I therefore never end up eating them. Luckily, artichoke isn't one of them.

Rebecca, that sounds like a good Thanksgiving. I like the house party thing.

[Paula]

This soup is DELICIOUS! We made it last night -- it was fast and easy -- and we were fighting over the leftovers! I will be browsing your archives for more recipes now! Thanks!

[Marie Westmoreland]

I had been searching for a recipe like this and just made it so that I could sample it before Thanksgiving...its fabulous!! Many thanks.