Cream of Watercress Soup

This soup is very rich & delicious. It looks fancy & tastes divine. If you want to serve something out of the ordinary & special. This soup would be perfect.
Serves 4-6 large bowls. 

Ingredients:
4  bags of Fresh Watercress - 20 cups.  (Trim excess stems)
4 tablespoons, unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of fresh finely chopped garlic
Dash of Kosher salt
3 cups heavy cream. Add more heavy cream for thinner soup
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 pound of peeled & sliced very thin russet potatoes
Fresh basil. Approximately 8 leaves
Fresh ground pepper & peppercorn
Fresh lemon juice - equal to one whole lemon
* Optional, 1 finely chopped onion (yellow) 
* Optional,  1 teaspoon, fresh chopped chives 
* Optional, caviar for garnish.  

In large pot over medium high heat,  melt butter. Add garlic, and onion if using. When softened, add potatoes & broth, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil & lower temperature, cover & simmer until potatoes are tender. After about 20 minutes, stir & remove from heat. Add watercress until they wilt. Keep stirring & slowly adding the watercress. Allow this mixture to cool.

 ***This is extremely important, don't add hot soup to blender or food processor***

Ladel small amounts of the soup mixture into a blender or food processor. When blended well, it will have a nice light green color and smooth texture. Blend about 1 or 2 cups at a time. Add the blended mix into a large pot. When finished blending the soup mix, stir well & cook over low heat. Careful not to cook on high heat, the soup might scorch on the bottom. Stir soup, and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, grate fresh peppercorn &  white or black pepper over top, and stir well. Allow to simmer over very low heat. Fold in 1 teaspoon of chopped chives if desired.  I used freshly chopped Thai Basil. 

The Watercress soup can be chilled & served re-heated later. In my opinion, the soup tastes even better the next day. Serve in bowls or cups. It adds a nice touch to drizzle some heavy cream on top of the soup, and top it with caviar or fresh herbs.