Sunday Soup: Sweet Potato soup with Orange Creme Fraiche

This week's soup was amazing. Seriously, this might be the best one yet.  Which means that it's kind of OK that the post is a day late...

We enjoyed this one with my cousins, Meg and Jeff. Meg is in town for the holidays; Jeff lives here full time, so we have no excuse for not seeing him more frequently (except maybe that he and Joe are both busy students...?).  It was also Joe's birthday, but it was pretty much the third night of celebrating, so this didn't really count as his birthday dinner.

The soup is relatively low-intensity in the amount of work it takes to make it.  It is also pretty nutritious, as the sweet potatoes are packed with fiber and beta-carotene, and there is not a lot of fat in the soup.  It is also vegetarian (but I'm sure Joe would have enjoyed the addition of a little bacon.  The food, not the dog).

Sweet Potato soup with Orange Creme Fraiche

Orange Creme Fraiche

Base: 1 C. heavy cream and 1/3 C. sour cream, whisked together and allowed to sit until thickened, about 6 hours or more, at room temp.

3/4 C. base
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely minced
1/2 tsp orange zest, minced if too thick

Whisk together.

(I actually didn't make the base according to the recipe.  I whisked together one part low fat plain yogurt and 1 part half and half.  Worked just fine, but maybe was slightly runnier than if I had used the base...oh well, it tasted awesome)

Sweet Potato Soup


4 tbsp butter or olive oil, divided
2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and diced to about a 1/2 in. dice. Bigger is fine, but will take a bit longer to cook.
2 tsp. light brown sugar
2 c. chopped onions (about 2 medium onions, just approximate the amount)
a few stalks celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
about 6 c. vegetable stock/broth, low sodium if you can find it, plus more if needed (as always, you can mix in some water if you don't want to use all that stock. Those boxes of stock are about 4 cups, so if you use one of those and the rest water, it should be fine. Might need more seasoning, but that's easy enough)
1 C. orange juice, plus extra if needed
salt and pepper
chopped fresh, flat leaf parsley for garnish.  Don't buy this just for this purpose, but it's nice for color and freshness if you've got it.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  In a large, oven proof skillet, melt/heat 2 tbsp of butter or olive oil.  Add the diced sweet potatoes and toss to coat with butter/oil.  Sprinkle with brown sugar, then move the pan into the oven (if you don't have an oven proof skillet, you can transfer from the skillet you're using to some sort of baking dish, but then you'd have an extra dish to clean).  Roast for 15 minutes, then stir and roast until tender when pierced with a knife and browned around the edges, around 15 more minutes. Remove and set aside.

In your soup pot, heat the remaining butter/oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onions, celery, and ginger and saute for around 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes and saute for a couple more minutes.

Add the stock and juice, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture almost to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are very tender; 20 minutes or more.

Puree the soup in batches in a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender.  It should be relatively thick; if it seems too thick, feel free to add more liquid (stock, water, or juice). Taste teh soup and season as needed.

Ladle the soup into large mugs or soup bowls and swirl some creme fraische on top.  Sprinkle with a little parsley if you're so inclined. Serve with some crusty, whole grain bread.

I'm off to try the re-heated version, with a rustic grilled cheese sandwich on the side.  Nommmm....