Carrot, Ginger & Black Garlic Soup

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   ["Melt butter with oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sweat with a pinch of salt until soft and golden (but not browned), about 5 minutes.", "Add ginger and continue to sweat for 3-5 minutes before adding both garlics. Cook garlic for a minute, taking care not to burn the white garlic.", "Toss in the carrots and another pinch of salt. Stir over heat to soften briefly, about 3-5 minutes.", "Next add the flour and stir it around to toast briefly as it combines with the fat. Then add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until the carrots are very soft, about 15-20 minutes (the gentler the better).", "Puree the soup in a blender for at least 2 minutes, until very smooth. Ideally at this point you'll strain the soup through a fine-mesh strainer back into a clean pot, pushing on the fibers to have a perfectly smooth soup. But, hey, it's still going to taste good if you ignore this bit.", "Reheat the soup and thin with the apple juice - at this point use your judgment for both taste and texture. If you want a thinner soup you may use even more apple juice (or a bit more veg stock). A good rule of thumb is to thin just until the soup completely disappears when drizzled into itself.", "Season to taste with salt - I needed about 2 ""three-finger"" pinches. At this point the soup can be cooled and set in the fridge if making ahead, and then reheated to continue.", "Just before serving, temper the cream into the hot soup.

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   To do this: remove the pan from the heat, pour the cream into a ladle and then swirl the bottom of the ladle in the hot soup, gradually mixing the two together. This gently heats the cream and prevents it from curdling.", "Finish with a squeeze of lemon and serve."]

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.