My boyfriend and I loved this! We both had second helpings (albeit small ones), and he took the last of it to work the next day for lunch. I didn't use the tarragon because I sincerely hate the taste of licorice and was afraid that it would ruin the dish for me, but I think this recipe would work well with whatever herbs you happen to have around. I had a whole chicken on hand, which I cut up and skinned, removing the backbone from the thighs and breasts. I dredged the seasoned chicken pieces in flour prior to browning them, sauteed some garlic and onions in the drippings from the chicken and then deglazed the pan with 1/2 cup of white wine. I also added 1/2 cup of chicken stock, doubled the cream (but left the amount of mustard the same), used herbs de provence instead of the tarragon, and added a bay leaf. I added the chicken back with the sauce and let everything slowly simmer together to thicken. Served it over soft polenta, and it was incredible.

Reviewed On: May 19, 2009

This is a good basic recipe so I'm giving it 4 stars, but it's not getting 5 because there's no reason that this soup needs all that butter and cream. It's listed as having 45 grams of fat per serving, for goodness' sake! And for the author to suggest that it won't taste good if you make substitutions is just silly. Fat isn't the only way to introduce flavor into food. Since it's the middle of winter, I didn't bother with fresh tomatoes. I used 2-28oz cans of whole tomatoes, seeded the tomatoes and reserved the juice (this gave me plenty of juice without having to use extra). I lightly sprinkled the seeded tomatoes with brown sugar and roasted them on a baking sheet for half an hour while the reserved juice simmered on the stove. I blended the roasted tomatoes with the basil (I added about 1 cup of juice from the pot to make it easy to blend), added that to the remaining juice with a combination of condensed skim milk and heavy cream (3/4 cup of milk to 1/4 cup of cream), 3 tbsp of butter instead of the whole stick, and salt and pepper to taste. I served it with homemade honey oat bread and it was a fantastic soup - without the extra 30 or so grams of fat!

Reviewed On: Mar. 2, 2009

I've made this a few times and it really is a good recipe, but I'm giving it 4 stars because of one exception - too many eggs! The first time I made it, everything was going great until I added the fourth egg and then the whole thing turned to soup and wouldn't get fluffy again despite nearly 1/2 an hour of beating. My fix turned out to be increasing everything else by half to get it back to it's intended consistency. Now, whenever I make this pie I use my own measurements (1 and 1/2 cups butter, 2 and 1/4 cups sugar, 3/4 cup of cocoa and 3 tsp of vanilla with the 4 eggs) and it comes out rich and perfect with a great chocolate flavor. I pile the whole fluffy mixture high into my own 9" pie crust and top it with fresh whipped cream, chocolate curls and a slight dusting of cocoa powder, and it's always gone within a few minutes. Thanks!

Reviewed On: Sep. 23, 2004