Update on Sweet Potato Soup

One thing about being obsessed with making the same dish over and over, there's a chance you'll get better at it!  About 3 weeks ago, I made sweet potato soup again, and this time I asked myself, "What makes sweet potatoes yummy?"  The answer was clear: "Of course, brown sugar and butter!!!"

So I added brown sugar and butter to the pan while the sweet potatoes were cooking, then I added some more when they were done cooking.  The soup was SOOO GOOD!!!  Then, as I was ladling the soup into the bowls, I had the inspiration that I bet this soup would be really yummy with chopped candy pecans sprinkled over the top!  So that's what I did when I cooked this soup again for Christmas dinner.  It was very festive!  It was like eating candy yam soup!

SWEET POTATO SOUP:

1 medium onion - chopped
2 large sweet potatoes - peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 can of chicken stock
salt, pepper, and cinnamon
boiling water

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a soup pan, and add the onions to saute.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  When the onions begin to caramelize and the edges are turning brown, add the sliced sweet potatoes and the chicken stock.  You'll also have to add boiling water to cover the sweet potatoes.  You can add some cinnamon to the pan too, maybe 1/2 teaspoon or a teaspoon (I forgot to measure it).  Now add the brown sugar, bring it up to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes are very soft.

Using a stick blender (also called an immersion blender), blend the soup completely untl it is very smooth.  You may have to add more boiling water as you blend it because it could get very thick, thicker than soup should be.  When it's blended, add 2 more tablespoons of butter and stir it in to melt.

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with chopped candy pecans.

CHOPPED CANDY PECANS:

1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 or 2 teaspoons brown sugar
A couple sprinkles of cinnamon

Put the ingredients into a small non-stick saute pan over low heat.  Stir them as they heat up.  When the sugar is melted, turn the heat off and stir the ingredients together to get them coated.  Let them cool and break them apart before garnishing the soup.

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmmmmm!!!