Simple Soul Warmer

I had some nice sweet potatoes laying around my pantry today, so I thought I would put them to use. I put together a quick soup utilizing simple ingredients that most people have in their refrigerators and cupboards. The result was a velvety smooth and subtly sweet soup that is sure to please. Check out the recipe and give it a shot. I have downsized it from the batch I made (10L), to yield a 3-4L batch, good for 6-8 servings. Make note of the 'do ahead' step if you wish to do it.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, sliced 1/4"
• 1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled and diced
• 3 small sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/4tsp dried), tied tightly with butcher twine (for ease of retrieval), tied to pot handle
• 1 small white cooking onion, diced
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 20 roasted garlic cloves ** (do ahead)
• 5 strips of bacon, cut crosswise into lardons
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3L chicken stock or vegetable stock or water
• Kosher salt, pepper and vegetable oil for sauteeing

** place 20 peeled garlic cloves in the center of a foil square, shiny side up. Season with kosher salt, pepper and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Fold packet closed, bake in 350F oven for 30-35 minutes.

Method:

• In a Dutch Oven over medium heat, gently saute the onion, bacon and raw minced garlic until bacon begins to crisp slightly and onions are translucent.
• Add sweet potatoes and Yukons to the pot, stir in to incorporate. Add thyme sprigs. Saute for a few more minutes longer.
• Add stock and roasted garlic, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove thyme and discard
• Use immersion blender to puree soup to a velvet consistency
• Finish soup with heavy cream and readjust seasoning as needed.

Serve with fresh toasted baguette crustinis with melted cambozola (brush baguette slices with garlic oil from garlic roasting method), and a dollop of chive yogurt (simply diced chive and plain yogurt).

Enjoy! If you have any ideas of things you'd like to see on this blog, let me know. Any epicuriosities/culinary questions are more than welcome!

Any comments? I encourage you to feel free to leave them below!

Cheers
-D