Another recipe from Taste of Home. This seems like a good fall recipe (apparently we can grow sweet potatoes in New England). My friend Tom was up for the weekend while Sara hung out with her Dad and decided that this dish is really a dessert on account of the oj, brown sugar, cinnamon, and apples.
We started the evening out with Cream of Carrot soup. That may not sound like the most amazing dish in the world, but I was impressed with the simplicity of it and the fact that the recipe suggests other vegetables could be substituted without much being changed. So before I get to the the dessert let's spend a moment on the soup.
Cream of Carrot Soup
4 large carrots peeled and chopped up (save peels for broth making!)
4 C broth (I used my own)
1/2 C cream (or half and half or milk, but try to keep it creamy)
1 t sugar (not sure if you need this but used it anyway)
Bring carrots and broth to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
Blend broth/carrot mixture until smooth (either in batches or all at once if you have a large enough blender) then return to pot. Add cream and sugar and heat on low, stirring until creamy and hot. Serve.
Yeah...pretty flipping simple! Tom and I found that a little salt and pepper really brought this to life (pepper more than salt in my opinion). This recipe really excites me, precisely because its short, simple and you get the idea. You're looking to soften some vegetable in broth, blend it then add some cream to thicken (you could probably work in some flour for a thicker broth). Then eat with bread. I think that this would be a good end of the week meal when you're looking around your kitchen and you notice some left over carrots or potatoes or broccoli that's past its prime. Since the vegetables are blended they're appearance and texture don't matter. Just as long as they taste like what they should. Adding the home made bread makes this a cheap and satisfying meal.
Onto dessert. I don't know much about sweet potatoes (other than that they store really really well) and so I wanted to start trying some recipes out. This comes out delightfully and while it's not chocolate cake I think you'll find it very satisfying (unless the last thing you ate was a twinkie)
Sweet Potatoes and Apples
A couple of sweet potatoes
A couple of apples
Some OJ (maybe a 1/2C to a cup)
1/4 C brown sugar (you could use honey and you could use a bit less probably)
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
Take a casserole dish (glass baking dish) you can use a large one if you're making a lot or a smaller one if you want to stack or make less. Essentially you're going to Boil the sweet potatoes for 20-30 minutes (though I might do less in the future to make them firmer) then slice them (you can take the peels off easily after you slice them and save them for broth). Then put pieces of apples on them (if you're fancy you can peel core the apples and put apple rings over the slices of sweet potato). Then pour OJ over them. OJ is not local but a tasty treat. Maybe something could be substituted for this? That is unless you live a bit further south and it is more local. Mix the dry ingredients and sprinkle.
I think some folks would view this as a side (as the cook book did) but there's a bit too much sugar in this to honestly do that.
As Julia Child would say: Bon Appetit!
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