Instructions: Cut the onion in half, root to stem. Thinly slice. In a 3-qt sauce pan, sweat the onion over moderate heat until golden. Meanwhile finely chop the celery. Add to the golden onions. Season with salt, pepper, old Bay seasoning powder, carrot, garlic and lemon zest. Stir to toss and heat. Add the broth and water. Simmer about 20 minutes or until mellow.

Peel and 1/2-inch cube the potatoes; par boil; drain and shock in ice water. Drain again. Dice the roasted bell pepper. Add potato and pepper to the soup along with the leaves from young thyme sprigs. Turn down the heat to its lowest setting and simmer for 15 minutes.

Put cream cheese into a small bowl. Cover with hot broth from the soup. Let stand a few minutes to melt. Stir well to blend.

Meanwhile, use a hand-blender-processor to puree the soup, leave about one-third of the soup chunky.

Add the melted cheese to the soup, along with chopped fresh cilantro. Stir well to blend. Keep warm until ready to serve, stirring occasionally and adjusting the seasonings if necessary.

To serve, add the truffle oil; stir to blend and serve at once.

Start to Finish Time:
"1:00"

Serving Ideas : Cherries tomatoes and radishes.

NOTES : lots of onion. Roasted bell pepper; a pinch of lemon peel. Fat-free cream cheese, etc. a few drops of white truffle oil at the end - any high flavor oil will do it. Very good flavor. Par-boiling the potatoes kept the amount of "grit" to a minimum.

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