Pot Luck Tuesday
This Tuesday, December 20th, we'll be having a pot luck dinner. Smashed will be bringing a crock pot full of West African Peanut Soup - which has become something of a tradition in his family over the last few years. Last year he received the card below as a token of their esteem - which could be taken as a warning for those who are about to partake of the West African Peanut Soup this Tuesday.
The recipe:
From, "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant", Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990
West African Peanut Soup
If you're a person who loves peanuts, but thinks they were made to eat at baseball games or on bread with jelly, think again and get ready for a culinary adventure.
This peanut soup is rich and spicy. The chopped scallions or chives are an integral element, not just a garnish.
Serves 6 to 8.
2 cups chopped onions
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or other ground dried chilies (or to taste - loophole).
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger root
1 cup peeled chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes (up to 1 cup white potatoes can be
substituted)
4 cups vegetable stock or water.
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 cup chopped scallions or chives
Sauté the onions until just translucent. Stir in the cayenne and fresh ginger. Add the carrots and sauté a couple more minutes. Mix in the potatoes and stock or water, bring the soup to a boil, and then simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
In a blender or food processor, puree the vegetables with the cooking liquid and the tomato juice. Return the puree to a soup pot. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Taste the soup. Its sweetness will depend upon the sweetness of the carrots and sweet potatoes. If it's not there naturally, add just a little sugar to enhance the other flavors.
Reheat the soup gently, using a heat diffuser if needed to prevent scorching. Add more water, stock, or tomato juice for a thinner soup.
Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions or chives.
Roux
I also make a roux of hot peppers and garlic in case the soup isn't hot enough.
Garlic (a few bulbs)
A variety of hot dried and fresh peppers (to provide for a set of peaks and valleys of hotness) - somewhat more pepper than garlic.
A slice of damp bread (Thickener? Superstition?)
Extra virgin olive oil.
Maybe some salt.
Puree until smooth in blender or food processor.
The recipe:
From, "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant", Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990
West African Peanut Soup
If you're a person who loves peanuts, but thinks they were made to eat at baseball games or on bread with jelly, think again and get ready for a culinary adventure.
This peanut soup is rich and spicy. The chopped scallions or chives are an integral element, not just a garnish.
Serves 6 to 8.
2 cups chopped onions
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or other ground dried chilies (or to taste - loophole).
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger root
1 cup peeled chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes (up to 1 cup white potatoes can be
substituted)
4 cups vegetable stock or water.
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 cup chopped scallions or chives
Sauté the onions until just translucent. Stir in the cayenne and fresh ginger. Add the carrots and sauté a couple more minutes. Mix in the potatoes and stock or water, bring the soup to a boil, and then simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
In a blender or food processor, puree the vegetables with the cooking liquid and the tomato juice. Return the puree to a soup pot. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Taste the soup. Its sweetness will depend upon the sweetness of the carrots and sweet potatoes. If it's not there naturally, add just a little sugar to enhance the other flavors.
Reheat the soup gently, using a heat diffuser if needed to prevent scorching. Add more water, stock, or tomato juice for a thinner soup.
Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions or chives.
Roux
I also make a roux of hot peppers and garlic in case the soup isn't hot enough.
Garlic (a few bulbs)
A variety of hot dried and fresh peppers (to provide for a set of peaks and valleys of hotness) - somewhat more pepper than garlic.
A slice of damp bread (Thickener? Superstition?)
Extra virgin olive oil.
Maybe some salt.
Puree until smooth in blender or food processor.
posted by Smashed at 12/18/2005 10:29:00 PM
2 Comments:
Sounds Awesome Smashed!
Looking forward to the taste.
A Happy Elephant.
The WAP soup lived up to its well deserved reputation. Heat content was variable by the addition to one's taste of the killer red stuff. And yes, the peanuts and all the ingredients appearedt to be "Smashed".
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