This is definitely a week to stay in and make soup...
I have a current love affair with spicy sweet potatoes in general, but wow...this soup is the best I've had. My only regret is not making a double or triple batch. Soup, like most affairs, is not meant to last.
This soup calls for the New Mexico chili peppers I hunted down last week at Olives et Épices, but you could use another kind of mild dried chili, like Ancho, or substitute chili powder if you're in dire straits. I'm not going to judge anyone for being too cold to go find dried chilis. You can also skip the roasted red peppers, or use canned to make this even easier.*
Ingredients:
2 dried New Mexico Chili Peppers, other dried peppers, or 1-6 tsp. Mexican chili powder (depending on your grocer and the heat of the chili powder. 1-2 tablespoons of a milder powder, 1/2 tsp. to 2 teaspoons max of hotter varieties)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
A few cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
3/4 tsp salt
A pinch of dried oregano
2 large peeled and roughly cubed sweet potatoes
6 cups of broth (chicken, vegetable or beef)
2 cups of corn kernels (frozen is better than canned, but if you use canned, leave out the teaspoon of salt)
2 tsp. grated lime zest
2 1/2 tbsp. lime juice (for the zest and juice, you really only need 1 very juicy lime)
2 red peppers
Cilantro, chopped, to garnish (optional, but very nice)
This is not tequila.
It's just a good way of showing how much lime juice and zest you need...Feel free to drink tequila while you make this, while you eat this, or as dessert...mmm...pineapple or mango flambé.**
1. Soak the dried peppers in boiling water for 30 minutes, then remove the stems, chop finely, and set aside. Leave the seeds in. Two chili peppers were enough, but I couldn't taste the heat, so if you like it hotter, try 3, and if it's still not hot enough, the next time try adding a diced jalapeno. There will be a next time.
3. Once the peppers are blackened, stick them in a heat-proof, non-plastic bowl or container and cover for 30 minutes. Sweating the peppers like this will also make them easier to peel. Since you don't need them right away because you did this before making the soup(!), you'll be fine.
4. Heat the oil on medium in a large pot and, when hot, add the onions. Cook and stir for 6 minutes, then add the garlic, oregano, chopped New Mexico chilis (or chili pepper), salt (if you're using frozen corn), and cook for 1 minute just to coat everything in the New taste of Mexico. See? Much catchier than "the taste of chili powder"...
6. It's probably been 30 minutes by now, so peel the red peppers and tear into strips. Set aside.
7. Zest the lime and then squeeze out the juice. Make sure you have at least an extra tablespoon of juice set aside in case you need to adjust the flavours.***
8. Blend the soup in a food processor or blender in batches. This is the most annoying step but the texture will be worth it. Use a hand blender if you have one. Do not:
1) Lift the blender lid while blending
2) Stick a utensil in the food processor to help the blending along
3) Get fed up and just eat the soup now
(Not that I've done any of those before, either...)
10. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, lay a few red pepper strips over each other artistically, dry your hands, sprinkle a little cilantro on it all, and call yourself accomplished.
11. OH! Then thank New Mexico for the miraculous combination of chili peppers, lime juice and sweet potatoes (the secular version of saying grace), and enjoy.
*This soup is inspired by a recipe from Judith Finlayson's Slow Cooker Recipes.
**Pineapple Tequila Flambé would be a great idea (Cook cubed pineapple with a sprinle of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a little of the pineapple's juice for 5 minutes in a skillet, pour tequila over top and light it on fire. Let the flames die out and serve. DON'T do this if you drank tequila while you were cooking and eating soup).
***Since the lime zest doesn't get to cook in the soup for very long, you can get a little extra lime flavour by soaking an extra ½ tsp. of zest in the extra lime juice or a teaspoon. of olive oil while the sweet potato is cooking, and adding it just before you serve the soup. It makes a beautiful lime-infused finishing oil.
Extra recipe #2 for those who made it to the end of the post:
Cranberry Scones (for when it's late and you're craving scones. It can happen, I hear)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp. orange zest
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk, whisked
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla1/3 cup dried cranberries (or a cup of fresh cranberries, and add 2 more tablespoons of brown sugar)
1 egg white
Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. This can foil even the most exceptional scone-makers.
1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
2. In a medium bowl, cut the room-temperature butter into pieces and beat with the orange zest for 1 minute. Gradually add the brown sugar and beat on high for 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk slowly, beating for 2 minutes.
3. On low speed beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. On medium speed beat in half the yogurt. Back to low speed and beat in half the remaining flour. On high speed beat in the rest of the yogurt and the vanilla. Finally, on low speed beat in the last of the flour. Trust me, this will give you a really good texture. Don't cheat.
4. Fold in the cranberries.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and shape into 2 balls. Roll it out or spread it with your hands to circles about 3/4" thick (6 inches in diametre). Put the dough on a baking sheet and cut each circle into 6 wedges.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly beat the egg white and 1 tbsp. of water in a bowl with a fork. Brush the glaze lightly on top of the dough. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the scones are golden.
Comments
Oh that's awful! Soup should never play a horrible trick on you like that. I've changed the recipe to reflect the potential for chili powder disaster. So sorry! I'm really curious where you get your chili powder, though, and what kind it is! It sounds like you could make a very good Raj Masala or Rogan Josh with just a little bit...well, a little bit of chili plus a million other spices.
Hopefully your future soup-making is less mouth-numbing.
Posted by: Amie at February 2, 2010 11:50 PM
It was quite an experience. My super duper hot chilli powder came from the smallest of the mile end fruiteries on parc in between bernard and viateur. Its the one run by the lovely indian couple (who know alot about spice and chilli).. the real kicker is she said the chilli powder was a mild one.
i feel like a soft joke of a spice lover.
(i plan to conquer the soup tonight though, i dont really feel like I got to eat any)
Posted by: Laura at February 3, 2010 2:31 PM
Oh that's my old grocery store! The lady is lovely. Their spices are fresher than you'd find at a big grocery store, which might also explain why the not-so-mild chili powder had a bit of extra kick. The other thing you could do to try and salvage the soup is dilute it with some of your fresh pot. If you're going to make more anyway and there's a chance to fix the first batch, you might think it's worth it to chop a bit extra of each ingredient and then add just enough to dilute the chili flavour. Just leave the chili powder out of the fresh pot of soup until you've added some of the new soup to the old soup. Then add it to the fresh pot to taste. Then you could keep the fresh soup separate and potentially also eat the first soup. Maybe it's too late for the first pot, but I really hope tonight goes better!
Posted by: Amie at February 4, 2010 12:48 PM
So I went back to my old grocery stores on Parc south of Bernard (the organic one and the one next to it with all the olives and marinated vegetables), and they actually do have dried ancho chilis at the one with the olives. The ground spice options aren't that many, but you can get ground Mexican Chili powder there, which is probably your best choice. Definitely stay away from the cayenne. Hopefully the soup worked out better this time?
Posted by: Amie at February 8, 2010 2:14 PM
Soup round two: Laura: 1/ Soup: 0!
So I've been super slack in getting around to the rematch but this eve I kicked some soup ass.
I took your advice and grabbed some ancho peppers on the way home, dodged the urge to order take away, dismissed my boyfriend's disgrunted comment that the dry peppers smelled like old feet and proceeded to produce a soup that will make him forever think twice about dissing dried peppers.
Yum! Thanks a tonne for the recipe!
Since this is your old hood, and you seem to appreciate scrummy food- any recommendations? We just moved and I've scoured the area for all the knoocks and crannies but I'm always up for some solid advice..
Posted by: Laura at February 8, 2010 10:35 PM
Yes!! I'm so happy!
Hmm...Le Zigoto for lunch (http://www.hour.ca/food/food.aspx?iIDArticle=15639) or brunch if you eat yogurt, or muffins, and especially brownies. 5731 parc at Bernard
Maryska for lunch if you're not vegetarian (http://www.montrealmirror.com/2008/060508/resto.html) 69 St-Viateur West
Milos for an incredible Greek splurge (http://www.milos.ca/fr/montreal/review/index.html) 5357 parc at St-Viateur
Mission Santé Thuy: Organics, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese ingredients. Amazing Vietnamese soups (not pho-style) with lotus and red dates and other good, healthy takeaway, mostly vegan but also fish, organic chicken and meats.(http://www.missionsante.com/) 1138 Bernard at de l'épée
Yannick Fromagerie d'Exception (http://www.missionsante.com/) 1218 Vernard at Bloomfield
Mamie Clafouti: Baked goods and bread (http://www.mamieclafoutis.com/accueil.html). Samples on weekends and amazing clafouti. 1291 Van Horne at Outremont
Café Olympico: Espresso (http://www.martiniboys.com/Montreal/articles/Montreal-::-10-Truly-Hot-Cafes-3046.html) 124 St-Viateur West
Nouveau Falero: Sashimi quality fish (skip their take-out upstairs). Kind of expensive, but very, very good. Best BC salmon for sushi...tastes like butter. Better than what you'll get at Maiko Sushi and Oishi Sushi nearby. Don't buy their pre-made sushi, though, because they don't use the BC salmon in it. Atlantic is cheaper but doesn't taste nearly as good. Just don't get in a fight with the fishmongers about sustainability like I did. It doesn't make you any friends. 5726A parc south of Bernard
I maybe went a little happy with the recommendations, but I loved living there and I hope you do too.
Posted by: Amie at February 10, 2010 12:27 AM
Yes I'm already loving it, and have found watering holes like Zigoto and Olympico to be indispensable.
As for the fromagerie- Thank you! ive been trying to sniff out a good cheese shop for a while.
and as someone who comes from a land* where sushi is plentiful, fresh, cheap and succulent (and therefore makes up a large portion what goes in my mouth) thank god for your recommendation.
I have tried maiko, oishi and a variety of little downtown joints much to my dismay to be most terrible.
Amazing. Thanks Amie.
*Land of Oz.
Posted by: Laura at February 11, 2010 12:41 PM
Looks SO yummy!
Posted by: annabellyeo at February 16, 2010 2:14 PM
Looks so colourful ~ in Vancouver so don't have access to all your ingredients but going to try it out anyway ~ wish me luck!
Posted by:
Of course, good luck! I'd be surprised if you couldn't find everything you need in Vancouver. Sorry I can't be of more help, but I'd love to hear how it goes!
Posted by: Amie at February 17, 2010 5:34 PM
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A word of caution for all the cold folk who cant get themselves together to delve into the the realms of fresh dried chilli (ie me.. it was cold outside!)
Know Your Chilli Powder!
2-3 table spoons is not a hefty amount of mild chilli powder. However! if you are in the habit of shopping at ye old local indian grocer, check how insanely hot your chilli powder is before adding.
I myself used 3 teaspoons and to my horror could not eat the soup.
Don't get me wrong-i like spicy food but this was the hottest chilli powder in the history of chilli powders.
anyhow, dont be a fool and get caught in a hungry frustrating situation of wanting to eat soup and not wanting your face to melt off from spice. the end.
Posted by: Laura at February 2, 2010 8:59 PM