Soup on Sunday: Chilled Fennel with Crab, Avocado & Grapefruit

While searching for a soup recipe I came across a wonderful new food blog to love! Well, new to me anyway. Not only do all of the recipes look amazing, but the photography is superb. I have yet to try this soup (will later today) but it sounds heavenly. Everything I love in one bowl.

2 fennel bulbs (plus some stalks), roughly chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
2 tsp. cornstarch
3 oz. cream

6 oz. crab meat (or 1 – 2 cooked lobster tails)
a few red ruby grapefruit sections
1-2 avocados sliced
1 tbsp. truffle oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place the fennel and stock in a large pot over medium heat. Cover and let the stock come to a gentle boil. Let cook for 20 minutes, or until the fennel pieces are tender and the stock tastes subtly of it. Using an immersion blender (or food processor), blend the contents of the pot until smooth.

Place a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl and begin ladeling the blended soup into it, using a wooden spoon to push the liquid out of the sieve. You want to remove the fibrous pieces of fennel and leave a silky, smooth soup. This may take some time, just work in small batches.

Once the soup has been strained, add it back to the pot and return to a gentle boil. Add the cornstarch and cream and continue to boil for 5 minutes, or until the soup has thickened a bit and begun to reduce.

Remove from heat and chill in the fridge until you’re ready to eat. Ladle soup into a shallow bowl, then top with some crab, avocado and grapefruit. Use a spoon to carefully drizzle a bit of truffle oil over the top and serve.

Serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a light entree.