Cream Of Artichoke Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 cups chicken stock or 2 cups chicken broth
1 (13 1/2 ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Garnish
lemon slice (thinly sliced)

Preparation

Bring 1 cup of chicken stock to a boil over med-high heat in a saucepan.
Add in artichokes; lower heat to med-low and simmer, uncovered, for 6-7 minutes.
In another saucepan, melt the butter.
Add in onion, celery, and garlic; stir/saute 5-6 minutes.
Add in flour; stir until bubbly.
Add in artichoke/stock mixture and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened.
Transfer mixture to a food processor or blender and process until chunky (may have to do this in batches) (also may use a stick blender).
Return to saucepan; add in remaining stock, half-and-half, salt, and pepper; simmer 5-10 minutes or until flavors are blended.
Ladle into individual soup bowls and float a lemon slice on top.
Note: for a richer soup, reduce stock to 1 1/2 cups and increase half-and-half to 1 cup.