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Creamy Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup
Golden in color and aromatic, this soup is best prepared one or two days in
advance so flavors can marry. Refrigerate, then re-heat and serve as a first course or
a satisfying main course with fresh salad and a good, crusty loaf of bread.
Makes approximately 1 gallon of soup. Recipe can halved.
Ingredients for steps 1 - 3
Step #1
2 tbl olive oil
10 cloves Garlic - peeled
2 bulbs fresh fennel - diced
Step #2
2 cubes (1/2 lb) butter
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Step #3
4 oz olive oil
2 medium yellow onions - diced
2 large carrots - peeled and cut into 1" rounds
2 leeks - diced
4 oz. fresh ginger - minced
2 cups dry sherry
3 lbs sweet potatoes - peeled and cubed
1 gallon chicken stock or water
1 cup half and half
2 oz Pernod (licorice flavored liqueur)
Method
Step #1: Heat olive oil in ovenproof sauté pan. Add peeled garlic
and diced fennel and coat evenly with olive oil.
Roast in 400-degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Step #2: Make roux by melting butter in sauté pan and stirring
in flour until incorporated. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes,
stirring occasionally until golden brown. Set aside.
Step #3: In large thick-bottomed pan, heat olive oil until almost smoking.
Add onions, carrots, ginger and leek, stir and cover. Reduce heat to
medium-low & "sweat" vegetables for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add sherry and return heat to medium-high. Reduce until almost dry.
Add sweet potatoes, garlic, fennel and chicken stock (or water) and stir;
simmer for 45 minutes. Add roux and half & half and cook for 10 minutes more.
Add Pernod, and salt & pepper to taste. Puree, strain and serve hot.
Enjoy.
Stephen Smith, Albion River Inn Executive Chef, 2005
Lustau, Los Arcos, Dry Amontillado, Jarez, Spain
Since this recipe calls for two cups of dry Sherry, why not buy a bottle of this
Amontillado and you will have plenty left to drink with the finished soup. This
sherry, made from the Palomino Fino grape, is soft, dry and nutty, with hints of
wood and smoky raisins. The refreshingly delicate fruit flavors and clean acidity
make it a wonderful counterpoint to the creamy richness of the soup.
Serve slightly chilled.
Or, for the less adventurous, please consider the following:
MacRostie Chardonnay, Carneros, 2003
Winemaker Steve MacRostie has done it again! This wine, which seems to get
better and better each year, combines vibrant tropical and citrus fruit flavors with
a solid dose of French oak, all proudly delivered in a beautifully balanced
package. This Chardonnay is attractive, unpretentious, imminently likable and a
lovely accompaniment to this rich, flavorful soup.
Mark Bowery,
Albion River Inn Wine and Spirits Cellar Master
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