Sweet Roasted Garlic Soup

I worked at a funky little burrito shop for a spell once we returned from gallivanting through Mexico. The restaurant turned my skin orange. My hands were glowing gold. Seriously. I snuck scoops of yam into every bean laden burrito I ate. I had bowls of yam puree for breakfast. I bet they went through half as many of the tubers when I left. Sorry Zoe... you are one of the best chefs I know and I owe you like three cases of wine....

See I have a slight fettish with orange vegtables.

I love winter squash, carrots and above all others - yams. I will turn down almost anything in exchange for a roasted yam. Yams are nature's gold. Yams are the way to my heart and apparently the way to turn my skin orange.

When I have the oven on, I usually toss in a few yams to roast. My intentions are great, I am going to snack on the sweet little guys through out the week.  Yeah, they will last days, what really happens is I end up eating them when they are still warm from the oven. All of them. A weeks worth. I ate TWO, one right after the other the other day. J came home and I was horizontal with a horrible belly ache. I may never learn.

I made Joy's roasted garlic soup for an excuse to turn on the oven, heating our drafty apartment on a blustery day.  Or was it I turned on the oven because I had just got home from the store with a clutch of yams and needed an excuse to roast them..... chicken or the egg......

The roasted yam puree went into the soup, the soup that went into my belly.

Happy ending to a love story.

Sweet Roasted Garlic Soup (it is a mouthful)

Slightly adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes 2 large, or 4 small servings

For the Roasted Garlic:

26 garlic cloves (unpeeled)

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

1 large yam

For the Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium yellow onions, sliced into half rings

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

15 to 18 garlic cloves, peeled but kept mostly whole

4 cups chicken stock (vegetable stock will also work)

1/2 cup Greek yogurt, milk, or half and half, or heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

lemon wedges, Parmesan cheese, and good olive oil for drizzling

Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  

Clean the yam by scrubbing under warm water and place in the oven. 

Place 26 unpeeled garlic cloves in a small baking dish.  Toss with olive oil, a few pinches of salt and black pepper.  Place the foil-covered garlic cloves in the oven.  Bake both for 45 minutes. After 40 to 45 minutes, a knife will easily pass through the roasted garlic and roasted potatoe.  Remove both from the oven and allow to cool.

When cool enough to handle, remove the roasted garlic from their skins and combine with the raw garlic.  Set aside.

Once cool, the skin from the yam should be loose and easy to peel off. Place the peeled yam in a small bowl and smash with a fork until pureed.  Set aside.

Heat a olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the sliced onions, curry and chopped thyme. 

Cook until onions are translucent and thyme is super fragrant, about 6 minutes.  Add the two types of garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the chicken stock and the potato puree, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer the soup until raw garlic is soft and tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and blend, in two or three batches, in a blender until smooth.  

Return soup to the pot and add yogurt or cream.  Stir until yogurt has dissolved; a whisk helps incorporate the thick yogurt into the soup.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drizzle with olive oil, a dash of fresh lemon juice and a generous shaving of Parmesan cheese.

Soup can be made one day in advance, and develops really well in the fridge.  Soup lasts, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days. 

Also tastes well served chilled.

My favorite soup is green

Did you know that soup swap day is January 22? Neither did I.

Did you know that I love all food that is green, I actually love my green fruits and vegetables.  Not so into green beer nor green eggs even if it is served with ham. Green cocktails give me goosebumps and a sugar headache.

Soup swap day and green things..... come on Lady Stiles! Spill the beans! Or should I say peas.....

I adore split pea soup. I have been known to jump up and down while twirling in circles if some one wants to share it with me. The warm thick creamy texture warms me from the inside out, melting part of me. Mushy peas, a British traditional food will make me weak in the knees and seem that I have a hollow leg in which I can store vast quantities of marrowfat peas.

Since I am gushing over one of the most unphotogenic foods imaginable, I want you to know that I prefer a vegetable base, loaded with onions, carrots, and celery.  Just wanted to be clear. I am weird, I know how well ham pairs with split peas, I am just telling you that it is delish one each accord. I added a smoked salt for the smokey flavor that is imparted by the omitted smoked ham hock. I also know from experience that a dark beer adds the depth that often meat adds. Beer = Sip sip pour.

Now the magic and the reason this soup will keep even the devout meat eaters occupied. FRESH PEAS - more like frozen peas. With about 10 minutes left in the cooking process I add frozen (fresh?) shelled peas. Let the soup come back up to a warm temperature and then ladle bowls full, top with cream, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, fresh cracked pepper and if I am feeling indulgent, bacon bits. The fresh peas add texture, pop between the teeth and a fresh dimension to the dried peas.

Considered yourself armed for the imminent soup swap day. You have a very unique and tasty soup to swap or stow away in your freezer for those weeknights that cooking seems to be of the same magnitude as saving the world. 

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup Recipe

The fresh peas really make this soup shine with out a layer of pig grease so don't get all traditional on me forget to toss them in. You can use a vegetable stock if you like in place of the water, I don't care use whatever broth you have on hand or love. I've mentioned before that I like to use a beer as well, I use a dark beer like Guniss that has a wee bit of flavor and body - it makes a nice, light but flavorful broth.

 Serves 4 to 6

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped

2 large carrots, scrubbed and chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped 

1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 cups dried split green peas, picked over and rinsed
5 cups water, broth or a combination of the two to reach desired amount
2 cups frozen peas

juice of 1/2 lemon (reserve the zest)

a few pinches of smoked paprika
more olive oil to drizzle

Add olive oil to a soup pot over med-high heat.

Stir in onions, carrots, celery and salt and cook until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the split peas and water or broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through.

You could puree the soup, in a blender, at this point which would create great contrast of creamy peas to fresh peas.

Add the fresh peas and continue to cook for 10 additional minutes.

If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and taste. If the soup needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

Ladle into bowls or cups, and serve each drizzled with olive oil and topped with a good pinch of smoked paprika and a touch of lemon zest.

Sweet Potato Soup

I have great in-laws.

Seriously.

Great in laws that raised a fine young man.

I told you he was fine. He cooks!

I am not saying this because I know they may be have been reading my blog since the very first awkward post. They are great. They love me.

They are southern.  They grow okra in their back yard and have sliced tomatoes as a side dish through out summer. Oh Texas....

They eat a lot of beans and a lot of meat. They also know I don't really fancy all that much meat and make sure there are ample fruits and veggies around the house.

Like sweet potatoes.

These are Mr. B's sweet taters.

Or should we say sweet potato pie(s).

This is sweet as pie. Mr. B's sweet potato pie to be exact.

They really do know how to treat a lady in the south.

Mr. B's pie factory. This is serious. He sent me these photos, it is worthy.

They are my in laws. No, you cannot have them. Unless you are strapping man ready to whisk my lovey sister in law off her feet.  Then we can talk. Only then.

Like numerous dishes such as chicken and dumplings, fried chicken, OKRA (!?!), black eyed peas, collard greens, corn bread and biscuits (it is true) I have never heard a mention nor tasted a crumb in all my years of growing up in the pacific northwest, I most defiantly never came across a sweet potato pie until I the Stiles entered my life. It has been seven years this month that J with his red beard came waltzing into my life. 

Oh how sweet it is. The Stiles Family and the whole southern cooking thing. And the whole seven year thing.

Once you go Texan you never go back.

Every year around the holidays MY father in law seems to come across a box of sweet potatoes and makes pies for the entire South. Well it seems like that. They are perfect, I am sure the everyone South of the Mason Dixon Line would like to get their hands on one. Well, I am north and I want one  more than ever.

He recently made a dent in a forty pound box of sweet potatoes making these famous pies. Really how many pies can a person eat (lets not find out - please) until they crave something savory.

J made soup the other night - a sweet potato soup that was delightful. His special signature ingredient is beer. These days J has been putting it in nearly every dish besides our eggs. I like it.

J's sweet tater soup
 Like most soup, this is a great opportunity to devour lots of vegetables. Include leeks and carrots if you have them on hand. Try topping this soup with celery leaves, sour cream, crushed peanuts, a scoop of peanut butter or be carnivorous and add crunchy bacon bits.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 small celery stalks, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), cut into 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
• 4 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano

1 Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add chopped celery stalks, sauté about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes.
2 Add sweet potatoes, chicken stock, and spices; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
3 Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return to pot.
4Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool soup slightly. Cover and refrigerate soup. Bring soup to simmer before continuing.) Ladle into bowls.