Curried Carrot Soup, version 1

I thought to post this recipe because I tried a "thai-inspired" chicken curry from Anne's Food that burnt my lips off. I overdid the red curry paste and though it was tasty -- how can chicken breast, zucchini, baby corn, red bell peppers and coconut milk be otherwise? -- I had to call on some leftover whipped cream with ginger thins to rescue my charred tongue. I'll be more careful in the future. However, the general seasoning reminded me of the best soup I'd ever had when I was in Stockholm in 2001. It was a curried carrot soup made with coconut milk, and I've tried to recreate it several times, usually without success. Most recipes that I used as a jumping off point were too sweet, and it was hard to call up a clear memory of the soup, anyway. (I just remember loving it.) Anyway, I think I found an equivalent, slightly modified, at whfoods.org (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=27) but may try it again with the red curry paste instead of cayenne in the future. Here's version 1:

Ingredients
3 cups vegetable stock
1 large onion chopped
2 TBS fresh ginger sliced, or 1 tsp dried
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups sliced carrots
1 tsp curry powder
5 oz canned coconut milk
Healthy dose of cayenne (according to your preferences)
Salt and white pepper to taste

Sauté onion in a medium sized soup pot for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and fresh ginger and continue to sauté for another minute. Add curry powder and dried ginger if you are not using fresh, and mix well with onions. Add stock and carrots simmer on medium high heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add coconut milk and blend in batches making sure blender is not more than half full. When it's hot, if blender is too full it can erupt and burn you. Salt, pepper, and add cayenne to taste. Return to soup pot and reheat.

Jessica