Author Notes: I found this recipe in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) newspaper food section back in 2006 or 2007. A subscriber of the AJC had experienced a delicious soup at a local French restaurant in the Atlanta area. So, the subscriber wrote to the newspaper and requested for the food section to obtain the recipe from the chef and to publish the Sweet Potato or Butternut Squash recipe in the AJC and that’s where I saw the recipe. Sweet Potatoes are about the one of the most reasonably priced vegetable that one can find in the South and they are very flavorful to eat and colorful to cook with. I have made a few changes to the original recipe. You can cook it as a bisque or if you want a healthier soup, you can eliminate the white wine, the cream and butter. The soup will still taste delicious but of course it won’t be bisque but it is definitely worth cooking and eating. Enjoy! —Karin Ward
Serves: 8
Ingredients
-
2
tablespoons Butter
-
1
Diced Onion
-
1
Diced Large Carrot
-
4
Diced Celery Ribs
-
1
teaspoon Salt
-
1
teaspoon Black Pepper
-
6-8
cups Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock
-
5
Large Sweet Potatoes or 1-2 Butternut Squashes
-
1/2
teaspoon Dry Oregano
-
1/2
teaspoon Curry Powder
-
1/2
teaspoon Powdered Ginger
-
1/2
teaspoon Ground Cumin
-
1/2
teaspoon Ground Coriander
-
1/2
teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
-
1/4
teaspoon Ground Turmeric
-
1
Bouquet Garni – bay leaves, 2-4 whole cloves, 10 branches of thyme/basil, wrapped in cheesecloth.
-
1/2
cup Heavy Cream (Optional)
-
1/4
cup 1/2 Stick of Butter (Optional)
-
1/2
teaspoon Vanilla Extract – Added 3 Times
-
2-3
tablespoons Honey
-
1/2
cup White Wine (Optional)
-
3-4
Cloves of Diced Garlic
-
1/2
teaspoon Ground Clove (if don’t have whole cloves for the bouquet garni then you can add ground clove later)
Directions
- I love watching cooking shows. Have you noticed that the butternut squash is always perfectly diced? I have never been able to dice my butternut squash so I throw it in the oven at 375-400 degrees for about an 60 or 90 minutes until it softens and then I scoop out the insides. You can do the same thing with sweet potatoes for the same amount of time. While the Sweet Potatoes or Butternut Squash cooks,dice all of your vegetables. Then heat the butter in a 5 Quart saucepan. Add the diced onion, diced carrot, diced celery, diced garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes to sweat the vegetables.
- Add the Oregano, Curry Powder, Cumin, Coriander, Cinnamon, Turmeric, and Ginger. Cook until fragrant, stirring often to make certain that the vegetables do not stick to the pan.
- Add white wine and cook for one minute.
- Add sweet potatoes or if you are using butternut squash then add it now and add enough stock to cover the vegetables. Also add the bouquet garni. Cover the pot and simmer until vegetables are tender, which takes about 20-30 minutes.
- Carefully puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth. Let the mixture cool a little, before placing it in the blender or you might have a mess on your hands. Return the mixture to the pot.
- At this point, add cream (optional), if the soup is too thick then add water or stock. Add butter (optional). Add salt and pepper to taste. Add vanilla extract and honey to taste. If you did not have whole cloves for the bouquet garni, then this is when you would add the ground clove to the soup. Cook for 5 -10 minutes and serve. Voila!
