Ok so here is my first real post I guess
Wednesday was a public holiday so that people could go and vote in the local municipal elections. I sadly could not vote because my ID was stolen last week and they take a while to be replaced, so instead I pre-prepared my dinner for the evening: (and probably the next few days because I’m lazy like that) Butternut and sweet potato soup.
- Nothing’s better than hot soup and bread on a chilly day
I over the shot the spices a bit in making this so it’s slightly too peppery (after adding cream (they were out on Wednesday)it balanced out beautifully) but it was just what the doctor ordered. The bread you can see is this super amazing sourdough bread I bought at the weekend market. It really is the most delicious bread I’ve ever had especially just after I first bought it and it was still warm.
Butternut and sweet potato soup
Ingredients
1kg butternut
500g sweet potato
1.5 litre chicken or vegetable stock
cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
a good grinding of black pepper
250ml pot of double cream or buttermilk
It’s really easy to make you just need to chop up the butternut and sweet potato into small cubes (they cook faster this way) and put them into a big pot (or in my case a wok because I don’t own a pot big enough). Add the stock and cinnamon and nutmeg (mace is better for this but it’s usually quite hard to find, at least in Grahamstown, and nutmeg works almost as well).
I use powdered stock a lot of the time because being a student I don’t often have the time to make a proper stock, but if you do have the time I can highly recommend making your own stocks as a homemade stock makes the hugest difference to the taste of soups, well pretty much everything.
Bring it all to the boil, add a good grinding of black pepper to taste and then simmer until the butternut sweet potato are tender. This takes about 15-20 minutes usually, but I like to leave them in there for a bit longer because I find having your veggies on the verge of turning to mush helps make a smoother soup when you get round to blending it.
Once your veggies are nice and soft pour the whole lot into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, add a pot (250 ml) of thick double cream or buttermilk and mix thoroughly, and there you have it warm creamy delicious and super simple butternut soup that is perfect for those cold winter nights
The Epicurean Hedonist 