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This is meant as a direct response to the question - what do you do when you come across a monstrously large sweet potato that stares you in the face and demands to be bested?
You puree the sucker into soup, that's what.
Sweet Potato, Chestnut, and Bacon Soup
1 large head of garlic
3 lbs. sweet potato, peeled and chopped
6 C chicken stock
8 strips bacon
30 fresh sage leaves
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne*
250 g cooked chestnut, chopped
Roast the head of garlic in the ordinary fashion. That is, by cutting off the top, pouring in olive oil, wrapping it in aluminum foil, and sticking it in a 375F oven for about 56 minutes, or until lovely, fragrant, and soft.
Boil the sweet potato in the stock for 15-20 minutes, with salt to taste.
In the meantime, slowly cook the bacon - you want to render out as much fat as you can without burning it. Then pour off the fat (we save ours in a can in the freezer, because it always comes in handy eventually). Chop the bacon into bits.
Add the sage, garlic, and cayenne to the soup. Puree until fairly smooth. Then, stir in the chestnut and bacon.
Serve hot, garnished with sour cream or creme fraiche and a sprinkle of sage.
* We use super-hot cayenne, so if you're using ordinary supermarket cayenne, you may want to double this or more.
Shopping Guide
We buy that super-hot cayenne at Kalustyan's, our favorite spice purveyor in the city.
Cooked, vacuum-packed chestnuts can be found at D'Vine, on 7th Avenue in Park Slope, as well as at other gourmet stores. If you're feeling patient, we suppose you could always just roast your own.
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nice picture.
A good way to cook the bacon slowly is to toss it on a rack/sheet pan, and bake it in the oven with the garlic. This way, you're not messing with the bacon on the stovetop, and it renders nicely.
You didn't really explain a lot of things in the recipie.
1. I can only imagine you use low-sodium broth.
2. Cook the bacon in a frying pan or what? And at what temperature? Until crispy?
3. Puree the soup with what? I can only imagine a blender or food processor.
4. You never mention what you do with the garlic. Do you cook it with the soup or simply add it to the not aforementioned blender?
5. How come you don't let any of your ingredients simmer together? A good thing to do would be to let the sage and cayenne simmer for at least an hour before or after blending.
Cool recipie, but you were kind of lazy on the details.
also that puree could use some butter or something. maybe even a bit of bacon fat.
Wouldn't be Gothamist unless there's some kind of meat in the recipe...
Gothamist is for young progressives, not neanderthals. More veggie recipes/reviews please...
#5 this could be vegetarian without the stock or the bacon. not hard.
More veggie options?? Christ...Why don't you get a life and grab a turkey leg?
At least you said "please"...
I think the recipe is perfectly easy to follow. Do you really need to be told how to cook bacon or what chicken stock to use? (Okay, maybe some people do, but those people probably don't cook anyway and wouldn't make this soup.)
And I think pureeing is pretty self-explanatory too. Don't know that simmering longer with the sage or cayenne would improve it at all--you wouldn't want the sage to become overpowering and the cayenne probably wouldn't be affected one way or the other.
thanks guest 8. and no i am not that great at cooking. directions are important.
If you need to be told how to puree a soup, you have no business in the goddamn kitchen, you focktard.
"Derrr, what do I use, my fingers and squeeze it through my hand? Owie, it's hot!"
Why do the veggie types always complain so much? You chose to eat differently from the mainstream - you adjust. Simple. A nice Jewish person reading this doesn't scream about the bacon, they just leave it out. Simple.
The world does not need to cater to you, regardless of how special you may be.
By the by - try "bacon salt" - made in Seattle and veggie/vegan friendly. My veggie friends rave about it.
matty,
don't let punks like #10 get you down.
1) alway assume low-sodium broth, if you have the time, you should really consider making your own stock. most canned broth is made from stewed chicken fat. not very appetizing.
2) baking is a great way to render bacon. 350 F or so for 20 mins. i think. haven't had bacon in a while. just until when it looks done.
3) the de factor blender for blending soup is a stick blender. regular blender would work too, but you'll need to work in batches.
4) word up. major detail lacking. i would think it's incorporated into the soup, though an entire head sounds like alot.
5) generally, herbs and spices aren't cooked for a long time, especially in high heat cooking, because they burn easily. and herbs lose flavor as they are cooked. but putting in the cayenne at the beginning sounds good to me. try it. cooking's all about experimenting.
thanks, liulide
and for guest #10, here's a recipe:
find two large balls (2)
gargle them in your mouth
fin