Kroger Stores Demo Sweet Potato Soup
Throughout February, Kroger stores in the mid-atlantic region will be demonstrating how to make sweet potato soup thanks to a partnership with the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission. If you can’t make it to any stores, view the video here. You can view more cooking demonstration on their site at www.krogerculinary411.com.
Recipe: Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 North Carolina Sweet Potatoes (1 ½ cups)
- 2 Cups water
- 1 Tablespoon flour
- 1 Tablespoon Plugra® butter
- 1 ½ Cups chicken broth
- 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
- ¼ Teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 Tablespoon Chateau St Jean® Cabernet Sauvignon wine
- 1 Cup milk
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potatoes and dice into medium size pieces. Place in a medium size sauce pot and pour in the water to just cover the potatoes. Bring to simmer and cook until fork tender; about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Dry the same saucepot and place over medium heat. Add the flour and butter and cook, stirring constantly until roux achieves a light caramel color. Add the broth and brown sugar and bring to a simmer.
- Add the cooked sweet potatoes, spices and wine and stir well. Bring to simmer and cook 5 minutes. Place the soup in a blender or food processor and puree in batches until smooth. Return to the same pot and add the milk. Reheat and season to taste with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Number of servings (yield): 4
Winter 2011/2012 Newsletter
The winter newsletter is out! Click here to view.
Saveur Magazine Loves Sweet Potatoes
November’s issue of Saveur magazine was perfectly laced with its share of sweet potatoes. Associate Food Editor Ben Mims called us up right after the big hurricane a couple of months ago looking for as many varieties of sweet potatoes as possible. Sweet Sue quickly got on the assignment and sent the magazine over 40 pounds of sweet potatoes. Ben featured sixteen varieties on a whole page of the November issue – our favorite piece. On top of that, there were Thanksgiving recipes galore and a whole piece on the history of the sweet potato casserole. We also found out Ben’s favorite way of preparing sweet potatoes – baked whole with brown butter and cracked pepper, yum! See his recipe below. A big thank you to Ben Mims, our Saveur sweet heart!
Ben’s Sweet Potato: Heat oven to 425ºF. Place 8 sweet potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until soft, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Split potatoes open, put 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar in each potato and season liberally with black pepper. Finish with kosher salt to taste.
“The pepper provides a pleasant heat and the sugar brings out the spice’s latent sweetness; on a rich and earthy baked sweet potato, the combination is a natural.” – Associate Food Editor, Ben Mims
Fall 2011 Newsletter
The fall newsletter is out! To view, click here.
El Pollo Loco Serves Sweet Potato Fries
Restaurant chain El Pollo Loco was featured in QSR Magazine this fall for carrying crispy, delicious sweet potato fries! QSR Magazine is a business-to-business magazine that offers information for the quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industries.
Executive Chef Jon Rogan says, “Our all-natural Sweet Potato Fries are prepared from ‘cured’ raw sweet potatoes from North Carolina, the top sweet potato growing area in North America.” Woohoo, go North Carolina! Jon says that at Pollo Loco they steam-blanch their sweet potatoes instead of water-blanching in order to retain their bright orange hue. How do they get them so crispy? I’m sure everyone is dying to know. RICE FLOUR! The fries are coated in the flour before frying for a light, crispy exterior.
Need to get your fill? Visit a Pollo Loco in California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, Connecticut, Oregon or Utah.
Sweet Potato Pie As NC’s State Pie
Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer wrote an article on how sweet potato pie should be named the state pie. I couldn’t agree with her more! Described as “richer than pumpkin, not as cloying as pecan”, Purvis goes on to explain the history of the sweet potato pie and different variations on it as well as what it would take to officially make it happen.
Our very own John Kimber, the project director of the NCSP Foundation, was quoted saying “You’re on to something. It’s a grand idea.” Click here to read the whole article.
Glories Sweet Potato Chips
We recently donated some grant money to assist Glories with promoting their sweet potato chips. Have you tried Glories yet? They are lightly seasoned and kettle cooked for a super crisp and deep sweet potato flavor. Look out for them at your local grocery store!
