Sweet Potato Soup & Matchstick Fries.

Righty ho then, here we are - left at the soup recipe that I failed to materialize into a blog post yesterday!

I originally saw this recipe on the show "Chucks Day Off" which follows chef and restaurant owner Chuck Hughes.  Every Friday night, before our family dinner, my Mom and I watch this show with a glass of wine in hand.  It's a ritual.  A habit.  A beautiful half-hour devoted to the joy of cooking.

And I love this show.  Not because Chuck is a handsome, young, tattooed, rock-music-loving, Canadian chef...Oh no, that is not the reason.  Ahem.

The reason is that he has a passion for food that is apparent.  He loves fresh, whole ingredients.  He gets excited when he chops fresh veggies.  He smells his food and savors their textures and flavors.  His enthusiasm for things like sweet potatoes...

Now that's somethin' I can enjoy.  Especially when it manifests itself into a simple, delicious, wholesome soup.

 

Sweet Potato Soup With Fried Potato Matchsticks
Courtesy of Chuck Hughes

You will need:
For the soup:
 - 2 tablespoons high quality butter
 - 3 leeks, washed and sliced into inch-long sections
 - 3 large sweet potatoes, cut into large chunks
 - 6 cups of high quality chicken stock
 - 1 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
 - Salt and pepper to taste

For the potato matchsticks:
 - 1 pound of potatos (yukon golds, russet, reds...) cut into matchsticks
 - 1/8 cup olive oil (for frying)
 - Salt, to taste

Step 1:  Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Then add your leeks.  You want to do this at a nice and low temperature - the point is not to brown the leeks, but to soften them.  Tenderize them.  Melt them.  Yum.

 

Step Two:  After the leeks have softened, add your chicken broth, a generous pinch of salt, and your diced sweet potatoes.  Bring the pot to a boil, and simmer until the potatoes are tender enough to pierce with a fork.

 

 

 

 

Step Three:  After the potatoes have softened, remove the pot from the stove.  Then, using a handheld immersion blender, blend that soup baby.

Blend it.

 

Blend, blend, blend.

Step Four:  After the soup is nice and pureed, add your tablespoons of freshly grated ginger.

 

There we are.

Now add a pinch of salt, if it needs it.  Mine did. 

Soup is now complete.

Step Four: Just before you are ready to eat, make your matchstick fries.  To do this, simply heat your olive oil up in a pan.  Then, add your matchstick-size-potato wedges.  Add a pinch of salt, and then let them crisp up to your fancy.  Mine took about ten minutes to really get crispy.

 

Ta-da!

To serve, simply spoon up some sweet potato soup and make a nice little fancy pile of matchstick fries on the top.  Garnish with fresh chives, if you so desire.

 

I so desired.

Oh, I so desired.

Fresh.  Simple.  Tasty.  Healthy.  Magnificent.  Delicious.  Easy.

And that's all the adjectives I can think of at the moment. 

Wishing you many spoonfuls of sweet potato goodness.  And a wonderful weekend!

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.

Sweet Potato Soup With Fried Potato Matchsticks

Courtesy of Chuck Hughes

For the soup:

• 2 tbsp high quality butter
• 3 leeks (washed and sliced into inch-long sections)
• 3 large sweet potatoes (cut into large chunks)
• 6 cups high quality chicken stock
• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the potato matchsticks:

• 1 pound potatos (yukon golds, russet, reds…) cut into matchsticks
• ⅛ cup olive oil (for frying)
• Salt, to taste

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Then add your leeks.  You want to do this at a nice and low temperature – the point is not to brown the leeks, but to soften them.  Tenderize them.  Melt them.  Yum.

2. After the leeks have softened, add your chicken broth, a generous pinch of salt, and your diced sweet potatoes.  Bring the pot to a boil, and simmer until the potatoes are tender enough to pierce with a fork.

3. After the potatoes have softened, remove the pot from the stove.  Then, using a handheld immersion blender, blend that soup baby.

   Blend it.

4. After the soup is nice and pureed, add your tablespoons of freshly grated ginger.

5. Just before you are ready to eat, make your matchstick fries.  To do this, simply heat your olive oil up in a pan.  Then, add your matchstick-size-potato wedges.  Add a pinch of salt, and then let them crisp up to your fancy.  Mine took about ten minutes to really get crispy.

   To serve, simply spoon up some sweet potato soup and make a nice little fancy pile of matchstick fries on the top.  Garnish with fresh chives, if you so desire.