Monday, February 16, 2009

Soupruary 15th: Potato & Peanut

Ever rhapsodized about the possibilities inherent in a bowl full of lightly spiced peanut butter? No? Me neither, really.


Location:
The penthouse, Northside, Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendees (more like experiment subjects):
Brent, Josh, Lauren, Sebastien, me

Menu:
Soup, bread

Entertainment:
I know something was on the television, but I was too focused on staying awake to remember what it was. I was quite amused by trying to figure out what the soup tasted like though.

Amendment: Oh, I remember; it was White Men Can't Jump. Weird.

The Soup:
This was a last-minute replacement recipe we found this afternoon. Apparently peanuts are commonly used in South America as a thickening agent in soups. The result: Very peanuty. I wouldn't make this again, but as an experiment it was ... not the worst thing ever? Lauren compared it to peanut sauce in Asian cuisines, which I can see. It might have been better over some noodles, or if it had just stayed like this:


I'm not saying to try this, unless you really like your peanut butter sandwiches runny, spiced and deconstructed. But here's the recipe anyway.

Adapted from the Ultimate Soup Bible

4 T peanut oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red bell pepper, chpped
1 lb potatoes, peeled & diced
2 fresh red chiles, seeded and chopped
1 14 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 1/4 c unsalted peanuts
4 c vegetable stock
cilantro, to garnish

Heat the peanut oil in your soup pot and cook the onion until soft. Add garlic, pepper, potatoes, chiles and tomatoes, cover and cook 5 minutes.

In a dry frying pan, toast peanuts on medium heat until golden. Set aside 2 T as a garnish, and grind the rest in a food processor until you have a fine powder. Add peanut powder to soup pot, add stock, and blend with an immersion blender. Heat to a boil, simmer 10 minutes, then serve garnished with cilantro and peanuts.

Or don't.

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