It's been colder than blazes this week. Winter has finally arrived. Not as cold as it gets in North America of course, but cold is relative. It's a damp cold here and it feels positively frigid coz it gets right through to your bones! It's soup season!
Cold weather calls for warm measures. Hearty food, warm food . . . food designed to take the chill off of a cold January evening and warm you to the bones.
This soup is perfect for this occasion. Not only does it use great flavours such as sweet potatoes and carrots . . . but it packs a bit of heat from the chipolte chili.
A drizzle of a blue cheese cream and a scattering of chopped coriander dusted over the top help to dress it up in a very pretty way.
It's a delicious and warming combination of sweet, spicy and savoury flavours! The chipolte chillies give it a deliciously smoky bite. You can adjust this by cutting back on them if you don't like you food really spicy.
Todd likes his with a crusty roll . . . I'm afraid the Canuck in me just has to have it with salted crackers . . . no matter what you have with it though, you are sure to enjoy this!!!
*Spiced Sweet Potato Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
A delicious soup with sweet and spicy flavours. You can adjust the heat by cutting back on the chipolte.
1 tsp of crushed chipolte chillies
(I use Seasoned Pioneers)
a knob of butter
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 stick of celery, trimmed and chopped
2 sage leaves, chopped
450g (1 pound) of sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
200g (approx. 1/2 pound) floury potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 litre of good quality chicken stock, heated (4 cups approx.)
freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the cream garnish:
75g (3 ounces) mild flavoured blue cheese
100ml (1/3 cup) of double cream
2 TBS chopped fresh coriander
Place the chillies into a small bowl. Cover with boiling water and set aside.
Melt the knob of butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, celery and sage. Allow to sweat over low heat for about 5 minutes, until softened. Drain the chillies, and add along with the sweet and regular potatoes. Stir to coat with the butter, then cover and allow to sweat for 5 minutes longer. Add the hot stock and brin tto the boil. Cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender. Blitz until smooth and velvety with a stick blender, or very carefully in a regular blender. Season to taste with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Keep warm.
Place the cream in a small microwaveable beaker. Crumble in the blue cheese. Heat in the microwave for about a minute, until the cream is hot and you can whisk in the cheese to a smooth amalgamation.
Ladle the soup into heated soup bowls. Drizzle the cheese cream over top and scatter with some freshly chopped coriander. Serve immediately.
It's very cold here as well with -20°C (-4°F) during the day and colder at night. But then it's drier in the air, so not as bad as one might think. I know what you mean though about the damp cold - it feels colder and more raw in the air at around zero, when the snow is wet and heavy than it does today with light, powdery snow.
ReplyDeleteI could happily live on soup and this sounds lovely. I like a bit of chili heat, so double bonus. And then you score a hat trick with the blue cheese cream. Yum! Root vegetables are relatively inexpensive right now, so I shall add this to next week's menu.
I think you and Lars will enjoy this lovely soup Marie! We don't have any snow right here in Blacon at the moment, but you can see the snow up on the Clywdian Hills and it is so pretty! I am sure your home is beautiful at the moment! xoxo
DeleteIt's really pretty at the moment, with clear, sunny days that make the snow glitter like diamonds. When it looks like this, I don't mind the cold at all.
DeleteCan I ask a potentially silly question about the salted crackers? I've never heard of eating them with soup. Back home we had bread with soup - I ate mine as an accompaniment, but my father would tear his into small pieces and put it in the soup. Is it the same with crackers? Would you eat them with or in the soup?
It all depends on the type of soup. If I am eating tomato soup, I crumble them and stir them ino the soup and add a knob of butter. Other times (and my family always did this) I butter the plain side thinly with cold butter and eat them on the side, with the soup. WE always had crackers with soup in my home, my whole life. In fact in Canada (can't speak for America) they will serve crackers with soup in restaurants, or you will be asked which you prefer, crackers or bread! xo
DeleteThankyou for that, Marie. I'm always curious about different ways of eating food and it's fun to hear how things are done in another part of the world.
DeleteWe had crackers (called Sao biscuits) at home as well, but ours were spread with butter and Vegemite and eaten as a snack after school. It would never have occurred to us to eat them with soup. In Australia you'd be offered sliced bread or a bread roll with your soup. Funnily enough, my Swede doesn't understand my liking for what he calls soft bread with soup. He likes buttered Swedish hard bread (sort of like a giant Ryvita) with his soup.
Just goes to prove that it is very much a cultural thing Marie! I prefer something crisp also! xo
DeleteI love a lovey bowl of soup..I should get a pot on:) Love this color don't you?
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing like hot soup in the winter to warm the cockles of your heart Monique! This colour is fab! xoxo
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