Curried Sweet Potato Soup -- A Warmer Upper

Yet another (beautiful?) snow day here yesterday in Pennsylvania. Single digits. More than six inches of new snow.  It really is beautiful, but after a couple hours of taking care of the horses, cleaning off the cars, shoveling, and a bit of a walk, I was more than ready to curl up by the fire with some comfort food. For me that has to be soup.

Here’s the serendipitous sequence of events – more like a stream of consciousness – that inspired this sweet potato soup:

• I opened a new carton of non-fat yogurt to strain -- great way to imitate Greek yogurt, cheaply.
• The foil lid liner had a recipe for creamy sweet potato soup.
• That reminded me that I had some sweet potatoes in the pantry that were probably past their prime, or as my daughter would say, “Pretty sketchy, Mom.”
• Soup was on my brain.
• And I have yet another reason to use the new immersion blender I got for Christmas.

Almost karma, wouldn’t you say?

The result was exactly what I needed to warm me up and keep me content. The original recipe used canola oil and cumin. I used olive oil, added garlic and switched from cumin to curry – and increased the spice from a teaspoon to a whole tablespoon. I decreased the amount of broth from 1 ½ quarts to just 1 because I like a thicker soup, even if it’s pureed. I also had some fresh chives on hand, so I used that instead of cilantro. And I slipped in a couple tablespoons of sherry at the end, too. All in all, just a nice smooth and creamy soup, mellow with a bit of sweet heat.  A perfect soother.  Pretty color, too and not bad on the calorie front to boot.

By the way, it’s supposed to snow again tomorrow.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup
adapted from Dannon

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed, about 3 cups
1 quart (32 ounces) chicken broth
1 ½ cup plain non-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons sherry (I used Madeira)
Extra yogurt and chopped chives for garnish

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, curry powder and garlic and cook over medium heat until the onion softens, three to five minutes. Add the broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are very tender. Remove from heat and add yogurt and use immersion blender till pureed. (Or put in a blender, in batches if you need to; then return pureed soup to pot.) Return to stove to warm and add sherry if you want. Top with a dollop of yogurt and chopped chives just for a touch of pretty. Makes 8 servings -- unless you're really cold.

Wonderful Winter Weekend

“Wonderful” and “winter” are not really words that I think belong together, except for the lovely alliteration. But then again, how can you look at the beaming smile of my stepdaughter with her two sons, and not smile yourself, whatever the weather?

Winter took a minor break this past weekend and allowed us to enjoy a great time with our two grandsons (and their parents, of course!) It was just the burst of sunshine we needed at the end of February when it seems that we’ve had winter for six months. Spring does not seem just around the corner, no matter what our neighbor Punxsutawney Phil might say.

We’ve had two feet of snow dumped on us in the past few weeks, we’ve had frigid temperatures, freezing rain, icicles that have to be measured with a yardstick, and far too much shoveling, scraping and plowing.

But the sun was kind last Saturday, the wind moderate, and no new snow. So the little traveling family made it to our house with no trouble. We had some inside play time while we caught up on each other’s news since our last get together a month or so ago and awed at the boys’ growth. They are almost 1 and almost 4, their birthdays one day after the other next month. The younger grandson is stretching out his little fireplug frame, sporting two more teeth, babbling more and on the verge of walking on his own. The older boy has quite an imagination (and a good memory) and regaled us with colorful stories of his emergency room visit the day before and the leaking roof at home.

I continually marvel at their busyness and curiosity and their happy temperaments and have to think it’s got a lot to do with their parents. I love watching them interact. Seeing loving discipline and playful affection in action is a delight. Although Grandpa and I might be just a little prejudiced, they’re great kids, all four of them!

We decided to have our lunch before we had our outside playtime. It was going to be a soup-and-sammy lunch. I had told everyone ahead of time that we were going to have grilled reubens for lunch, just in case anyone might not like them. (No objections.)

But I didn’t tell them we were going to have broccoli soup, too. As I headed to the kitchen, I announced that I was going to heat up the soup. I was almost out of earshot before I heard:

“Did she say soup?”
“Yes, didn’t she tell you that?”
“No. But YES! We said on the way up that we hoped there was soup, too.”

The reubens were great. It’s just assembly, after all; although I like making them at home because sometimes they’re kinda greasy ordered out. You can control all that at home. And the kids liked the soup so much, they asked for the recipe. Ooops! It was one of those make-up-as-you-go-with-what-you-have-on-hand-with-just-kind-of-a-game-plan.

I did my best to re-create the concoction:

Broccoli Soup
The February 20, 2010 Version

2 T flour
2 T butter
1 cup milk
4 oz mild cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup chopped carrot
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped onion
1 T olive oil
1 bunch broccoli, chopped
1 32 oz box chicken broth
½ cup uncooked instant rice
1 8-ounce brick Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 t dried tarragon
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Make a light cheese sauce: In a saucepan, melt the butter. Blend in the flour. Slowly pour in the milk, stirring. Keep stirring until thickened. Add the cheese and stir until it’s melted. Remove from heat.
2. Place the oil in a stockpot on medium heat. Add the carrot, celery and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened.
3. Add the broccoli and rice. Add chicken broth to cover. (Add more broth if needed.) Bring to boil and then turn down to simmer, cover and cook 8-10 minutes until broccoli and rice are tender.
4. Again, add more broth if needed.
5. Add the cheese sauce and stir till blended. Then add the Neufchatel cheese and stir until melted. Makes 6-8 ample servings.

Later, my husband told me that the sandwiches were great and the soup was good; but he likes his soup a little thicker and cheesier. I took it as I do all his critiques: thought for food!