Oscar Party Recap

 

I went a little bit hog wild this weekend.  Reason: The Oscars.  I love throwing a good party, and the Oscars gave me a great reason to cook up some tasty food for my friends.  I put together a pretty ambitious menu, mostly comprised of foods I'd never tried before, a party planning no-no that I always (unwisely) ignore.  I was trying to go for a theme of yellow food and foods that I could shape into stars, if possible.  My biggest struggle with party planning and cooking lots of different things is working out the timing.  If I could crank out dish after dish and not worry if a) they'll fit in the fridge, and b) whether they will need to be warm or hot or cold in 5 hours, then I'm sure it would be a (relative) cinch.  But of course, that is never the case, and to further complicate things, I was doing the cooking at the house where I was dog sitting (constant vigilace is required to make sure border collie hairs do not end up in the food!), but the party was at another friend's house, so there was the problem of transferring things: what goes in tupperware?  What can I plate now? Will everything get ruined when I bounce down the awful dirt road which I don't think has been graded once since I started dog sitting here 3 years ago?  Whew!  It was a lot to think about!

In the end I scrapped a few of my planned foods, because I realized after grating about a pound of cheese and going through about 2 dozen eggs, that a lot of my foods were cheese and egg heavy (they are golden, which made them natural choices when I was planning).  Homemade potato chips and mini star topped quiches, based on these Star Topped Mince Pies both got the axe at the last minute, the chips because they were a disaster, and the quiches because of the aforementioned cheese/egg overload issue.  I still think they would have been fantastic, but they seemed redundant at that moment.  

Puff Pastry Stars:

One dish that did make the cut was puff pastry stars that I cut out of pre-made puff pastry, baked, then topped with a dollop of creamy goat cheese, a slow roasted cherry tomato half, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction.  (Because I was using cherry tomatoes they only took about 1 1/2 hours to roast to perfection, and I was able to do them in a toaster oven, so didn't waste quite as much energy and heating your entire oven for that long).  These were good, although I scrimped a little and used store-brand puff pastry.  Next time, if it's available, I would use something like DuFour brand, which is hands-down the tastiest puff pastry dough I've ever tried, although it's a mite more expensive than Stop n' Shop brand.  The tomatoes obviously need to be cooked ahead of time, and the cheese and puff pastry need to be brought to room temperature, but the baking should occur at the last minute, according to package directions, and will take less than 15 minutes, at which point they come together very quickly. 

Polenta "Pizza":

Among my favorite dishes was a polenta "pizza."  I have been doing a little bit of experiementing with polenta lately, a polenta "lasagna" being one of my favorite creations.  This Brown Eyed Baker recipe tops a sheet of polenta with cheese and sauteed veggies.  It was delicious, and can be modified a hundred different ways, although I liked the suggested spinach, mushroom and tomato topping.  There is this misconception that polenta is a tricky and time consuming thing to make.  Let me say this: it's not!  There is also the fear that finding "polenta" or "instant polenta" in the grocery store is tricky.  You don't need it!  There are recipes out there that tell you to boil, then simmer, cover, then uncover, stir vigorously for 30 seconds, rest for 2 minutes, then repeat 20 times.  I've even tried one, and I have to say, they're not worth it.  I swear by a polenta recipe that I found in a thrift store cookbook several years ago.  Basically you need cornmeal, plain old cornmeal, and liquid in a 1: 4 ratio, i.e, 1 cup corn meal, 4 cups liquid.  You can use all water, but I prefer a 50/50 mix of water and milk for a little more creaminess.  You bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat.  When you reach a simmer, sprinkle the cornmeal in and whisk while doing so until all the cornmeal is incorporated.  Continue whisking over low heat for 3-4 minutes, until the polenta reaches a thick consistency.  Season with salt, pepper, cheese, butter, or whatever.  Polenta in 10 minutes, guaranteed.  The only time this recipe has ever failed me was when I spaced out and dumped all the cornmeal into the simmering milk without whisking, then I had lumpy polenta.  But add it gradually and whisk while doing so, and you'll be golden!  I'll definitely be making this one again, and it was also great because I was able to make the polenta sheet the night before, refrigerate it, then bake closer to the last minute.  

PS. If any of you readers also follow the blog Orangette, I had to laugh when I read the most recent post, which incidentally is also about polenta.  I didn't see it until after I wrote my bit on polenta, but I'd say we're on the same page!  See, even a seasoned, respected food blogger agrees with me!  Polenta is not hard, and fear of polenta can easily be overcome!  In this recipe or just plain, try it!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce:

Another favorite of the night was chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce.  Erik trimmed chicken breasts of excess fat and cut them into skewer-able strips.  We marinated the strips for a few hours in a mix of 1 cup of greek yogurt, and about a tablespoon each of minced or grated ginger and garlic, and a big tablespoon of curry powder, to get a nice yellowy color.  Before skewering the chicken, we soaked the wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to help to keep them from charring, then Erik grilled them, I'm guessing about 4-5 minutes per side, until they were cooked through.  The yogurt marinade made the chicken very tender and almost creamy, much like the yogurt itself.  They were quite different than chicken satay that you might order at a Thai restaurant, but still delicious, especially when they were warm from the grill.  The peanut dipping sauce that I served along side the satay was from an Emeril Lagasse recipe that I've made several times before.  I don't make any adjustments to the quantities or ingredients, but I will point out that if you have a mini Cuisinart you can use it to mince the garlic and ginger, then just mix the rest of the ingredients and pulse until it's a blended, creamy sauce.  I made this an afternoon ahead except and refrigerated it until showtime, at which point I topped it with chopped peanuts and cilantro.  Delicious!

Cupcakes: 

And of course, no party is complete without sweets (at least, no party that I throw!)  Chocolate dipped strawberries are always elegant, even when they're underripe, big, scary, winter strawberries.  The real tasty treats though were mini chocolate cupcakes topped with the same, incredible mocha frosting that we used on our Buche de Noel last December!  I haven't settled on a favorite, go-to cake batter yet, so this time I tried a fairly easy Paula Deen recipe (without the filling, although it does sound delicious!) I dug up on the Food Network website.  It made a nice, chocolaty cake that was incredibly tender.  I halved the recipe, and even halved it still yielded about 40 mini cupcakes, which was more than enough!   By the time I got around to making the frosting I was feeling a bit rushed and panicked, and managed to ruin the egg whites twice, thus wasting 4 eggs and half a stick of butter, which made me even more annoyed and frantic.  Luckily Erik stepped in and helped me out, and the third time was a charm (turns out, in my rush, I forgot to put sugar in--both times--hence the two failed attempts).  Again we made a 1/3 recipe of Ina Garten's AMAZING frosting, which was still too much for all those cupcakes, but was easier than trying to figure out a 1/4 recipe.  I finally got to use my pastry bag with a fancy tip, so the frosting looked (almost) professional, and it was actually a heck of lot easier and faster than trying to pick up and frost all those cupcakes, and then put them down without smearing the sides.  If you make these ahead of time, refrigerate the cupcakes, because it will help the frosting set up--it will soften up again after sitting out at room temperature for 30 minutes, so no need to worry about hard frosting, but it makes them easier to transport because the frosting isn't sticky.

If you've made it to the end of this lengthy post, congratulations!  There were more dishes, but these were the highlights, perfect for the Oscars or any time you're throwing a casual cocktail party.  And apologies for the lack of photos--I was just too busy to think about it!

Indian Spiced Cauliflower Soup

  

Last night I tried my hand at Indian cooking for the second time; the first time was about three years ago, when I attempted an Indian take on tomato soup and grilled cheese after a trip to the emergency room. The meal turned out terribly: the soup was like water and I forgot the toasts under the broiler and they came out charred.  Erik and I still laugh about it, as it was one of about three meals that I've ever made that neither of us liked. However, last night I had my game face, and was armed with the right ingredients, arguably a better cook book (Best-Ever Indian Cookbook--how could I go wrong?), and I was ready to focus and get it right.

While I am a great appreciator of Indian food (it's basically my only must-have any time I'm off-island), I hardly know enough about the actual cooking of Indian food and planning of a menu to formulate a proper meal, so I just chose the first 2 easy recipes I came across in the first chapter (Soups and Appetizers), and went from there. The Spiced Cauliflower Soup was easy and delicious, and packed with healthy ingredients like vegetables, calcium- and protein-rich yogurt, superspice turmeric, and low-fat to boot. The Samosas, though healthier than some restaurant ones because they were baked, not fried, presented problems for me because of the old phyllo dough that I had on hand, which in retrospect would have been better off tossed in the garbage... So I will tell you about the soup, since I was made it with ease, but I will hold off of the samosas until I have a chance to try them again, and won't have to preface the recipe by saying "make sure you phyllo dough isn't total crap, flaking apart on one side and a soggy gelatinous blob on the other...."

My only warning about this soup is that turmeric STAINS. Everything.  I splashed some on the counter, which is now covered with yellow spots, the (formerly) white ladle is now bright yellow, and the lid of the blender looks like someone took a neon yellow highlighter to it. Did I mention that none of this stuff is mine, rather, it belongs to the couple for whom I'm currently pet sitting? At least I still have 2 weeks to work with the bleach... When you are blending this soup, be careful, and don't put down anything that has the soup on it on a porus surface, unless you want the exploding highlighter look in your kitchen as well...

Indian Spiced Cauliflower Soup (From Best-Ever Indian Cookbook)

4-6 Servings

* 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florettes

* 1 large potato, such as a russet or yukon gold, peeled and diced

* 1 large onion, diced

* 1 tablespoon oil

* 1 clove of garlic, smashed

* 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, finely diced or grated

* 2 teaspoons of turmeric

* 2 teaspoons of ground coriander

* 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds (or ground cumin, if that's what you have)

* 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds

* 4 cups of vegetable stock

* 1 1/2 cups low fat plain yogurt (I'm a fan of Greek yogurt, such as Fage or Chobani brands)

* Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

* Chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish

 1. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, combine cauliflower, potato, onion, oil, and about 3 tablespoons of water. Put over medium heat, and when the liquids become hot and bubbly, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add garlic, ginger, and spices, stir around, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.

 3. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender. (Careful here--you don't want any yellow soup explosions! If the soup is still hot, remove the middle part of the blender lid, and cover with a dishcloth or paper towel while you're blending to allow steam to escape.) 

 4. Return pureed soup to the pot, and stir in yogurt. Do this either off the heat or over very low heat to prevent the yogurt from curdling or separating. If you think of it, bring the yogurt to room temperature while you are preparing the soup; this will make incorporating the soup easy.  Seaon with salt and black pepper to taste, and serve up and top with fresh cilantro leaves. Enjoy!

Asian Flavors, Part Two

If you were paying attention in Part One of this posting, you will remember that I also bought wonton wrappers.  (Incidentally, Stop n' Shop ALSO carries these--see Breakthrough, also in Part One--I never noticed them before because they're kept behind a two by two foot column that blocks them from view.  Stupid layout.)  These wrappers are so versatile--you can use them for dumplings and potstickers, or you can take the Italian route and use them instead of pasta dough to make ravioli (this might be my next project using the leftovers!)  

I was first inspired to use them after seeing Alton Brown's episode of Good Eats titled Wonton Ways.  In the episode he makes pork potstickers, vegetarian steamed dumplings, and then deep fried purses filled with pear and walnut--another variation that I probably won't try, because I'm not really into deep frying.  Right after seeing that episode, which must have been 2 years ago at this point, I tried the pork potstickers, which were delicious.  Last night I returned to those recipes and decided to mix & match the recipes; I made potstickers again but used the filling from the vegetarian dumplings.  Erik wasn't totally sold on the idea of tofu, but he came around, and quite honestly, once it's mixed in with all the other flavors of the filling the tofu is barely noticeable--it really just adds bulk to the filling.  To complement the pot stickers I made a Honey Soy dipping sauce, which came together in minutes, and was so much more interesting and complex than plain soy sauce.  To round out the meal I boiled frozen edamame (picked up at the Asian Grocery but also available in the "healthy" frozen section of your grocery store), sprinkled generously with kosher salt.  The potsticker portion of the meal is a little bit labor intensive--between prepping and cooking it probably took me about 2 hours--but it's a fun project when you have a free afternoon, or a sous chef to help you in the kitchen to speed up the process.

To get an idea of what you'll be doing, check out this clip from Wonton Ways, where Alton is putting together the vegetarian filling.  He also demonstrates his own steaming method, which is a great way to make these even healthier.

Vegetarian Pot Stickers (adapted from Alton Brown)

* 1/2 pound firm tofu, pressed and diced in 1/4 - 1/2 inch cubes

* 1/2 cup grated carrot

* 1/2 cup shredded Napa cabbage (sometimes called Chinese cabbage--just don't use plain!)

* 2 tablespoons chopped scallions, green and white parts

* 2 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper

* 2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh ginger

* 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

* 1 tablespoon soy sauce

* 1 tablespoon Hoisin sauce (Asian/Int'l aisle of grocery store)

* 2 teaspoons sesame oil

* 1 teaspoon of salt

* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

* 1 egg, beaten

* Wonton wrappers, about 40

* About 1 2/3 cups chicken broth

* Vegetable or canola oil for brushing pan

Special equipment:

* Pastry brush

* 10-12 inch nonstick saute pan with tightly fitting lid

Note: Press tofu to remove excess water before dicing.   See this tutorial to learn how.

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.

 

Check out all that healthy color!

2. Combine ingredients from tofu through egg in a large bowl.  Stir gently, trying not to break up tofu chunks.

3. Unwrap your wonton wrappers, but keep covered with a damp cloth while you are working, so they don't dry out.  Remove 2 or 3 wrappers and a time and lay on a clean surface.  Place a scant tablespoon of filling in the middle of each wrapper.  Brush two sides of the wonton wrapper with water.  Fold the wrapper so it makes a triangle, and pinch the sides together firmly.  As you complete the wontons, place them on a sheet pan covered by a damp cloth.

4.  When you have finished forming your wontons, heat your nonstick pan over medium high heat.  When the pan is hot, brush lightly with vegetable oil (you can also use your pastry brush for this, just be sure that it is made either of silicone or natural fiber--you don't want a plastic one to melt!).  Add 8 to 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without touching.  After 2 minutes, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove wontons to a heatproof platter and place in the warm oven. Clean the pan in between batches by pouring in water and allowing the pan to deglaze. Repeat until all the wontons are cooked. Serve immediately with soy sauce, or, even better, the Honey Soy Dipping Sauce.  (I really should emphasize, after eating the leftovers for 2 days now, HOW GOOD the sauce is.  I mean, I love the potstickers, but they would be nothing without the sauce.  It is just that good--sweet, salty, spicy, gingery...it has everything going on :)

Honey Soy Dipping Sauce (adapted from Emeril Lagasse) 

* 1/4 cup soy sauce

* 2 tablespoons orange blossom honey (I used regular honey and just a tiny bit of orange zest)

* 2 teaspoons grated or finely minced peeled fresh ginger (grating the ginger on a Microplane gives it lots of kick!)

* 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste)

* 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Grocery note: If you use sesame seeds often, it is so much more economical to buy them in your store's international aisle, where Asian brands come in much larger containers and cost far less than the dinky McCormick bottles in the spice aisle. 
 

Whisk together soy sauce, honey, ginger, sesame oil and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. (If you are having trouble incorporating the honey, like I was, microwave for about 20 seconds and whisk again).  

This sauce can be prepared 1 day ahead and kept covered in the fridge.  Just before serving stir in sesame seeds. 

So that summarizes my Asian cooking adventures, but I am going to give you the links to the recipes for the pork potstickers, as well as the fried pear & walnut pockets, if you are just going wonton happy.  The pork pot stickers are actually a perfect recipe if you need to use the other half pound of pork that you'll likely be left with if you make the Dan Dan Noodles, and they're also great because they use a lot of pantry staples, so once you have the wonton wrappers you'll be ready to rock and roll (or rock and fold, in this case).  

Alton's Perfect Pork Potstickers

Pear and Walnut Dessert Wontons

I hope you enjoy these recipes if you find yourself approximately 26 miles away from Chinese food (by water), or if you just want a healthier spin on some of your takeout favorites.

Asian Flavors In Your American Kitchen: Part One

This morning I had a breakthrough at the Stop n' Shop: it actually carries a number of Asian ingredients that I was convinced I couldn't get on island!  Happiness!  There are several recipes that I've been wanting to blog about, but I thought I couldn't get the ingredients locally, so I hadn't been able to cook them and photograph them, but now I know that even my provincial grocery store is more well stocked that I previously imagined, so this week I am tackling a few head-on.

This story starts when I was staying with my friend Kristen in DC last month.  On my last night there we made homemade vegetarian sushi and dim sum (i.e., a variety of frozen dumplings and buns).  It was so much fun that I wanted to get some supplies so I could try it at home, so this past weekend while I was off-island I went to an Asian grocery store, and picked up a bag of rice, nori, vinegar, and then impulsively I grabbed some wonton wrappers and udon noodles.

I nabbed the udon noodles for take two of a recipe called Dan Dan Noodles that I found in Cooking Light this past fall.  During take one I had to use spaghetti, because I couldn't find any proper Asian-y noodles.  As it turns out, when I pulled up the Dan Dan Noodle recipe to start cooking, I realized that it actually called for Chinese egg noodles, not udon after all, but since I had them I used them, and the recipe was just delicious.  Then today--breakthrough!--Stop n' Shop actually carried udon after all!  The other ingredient I had trouble finding the first time around was sambal oelek, a fresh chili paste.  I bought some in Chinatown over Christmas to add to the pantry, but then of course this morning when I was looking for Hoisin sauce, and there's the darn sambal oelek, right at eye level.  Not sure if it was there last November, when I was searching for it, but no matter.  So long story short, now that I have my ingredients and know even provincial grocery stores like mine have these ingredients, I feel like I can share this recipe with you, readers, since I am confident that you can find everything you'll need.

Below is the recipe for the noodles, with a few adaptations by me, most notably the addition of finely chopped red bell pepper to up the veg content and give it a punchier appearance.

 Dan Dan Noodles (Adapted from Cooking Light, November 2009)

* 1 pound frozen fresh wide Chinese egg noodles, thawed, or Udon noodles, or thick spaghetti
* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1/3 cup dry-roasted peanuts
* 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

* 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)

* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 2 garlic cloves
* 1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
* 8 ounces lean ground pork
* 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

* 3/4 cup thinly diagonally sliced green onions
* 1 1/4 cups chopped seeded peeled cucumber

* 3/4 cup of finely chopped red bell pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cook egg noodles in 6 quarts boiling water for 3 minutes, or cook noodle variety of choice according to package directions.  Drain noodles, reserving 3/4 cup cooking liquid.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peanuts to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Combine peanuts, soy sauce, sambal oelek, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a mini food processor.  Process until finely ground.

3. Cook pork in the large skillet over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until done, stirring to crumble. Add peanut mixture and the 3/4 cup of noodle cooking liquid to pork; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the lime juice and onions to pork mixture, add noodles and toss well. Place about 1 3/4 cup noodle mixture in each of 4 bowls; top each serving with a generous heap of cucumber, red bell pepper, and cilantro.

 

 Sadly, all I can show you is the leftovers container, because I was so hungry while I was cooking this that I didn't take a picture of my pretty presentation.  But there it is in all it's meaty, peanuty, spicy glory.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.

Sweet Potato Mania

 
I've been on a serious sweet potato soup kick recently. It started when I invented my own sweet potato and apple soup last spring, which I submitted it to Cooking Light for their reader recipe contest. I guess it wasn't a winner (in their book), although in their Thanksgiving issue there was a nearly-identical recipe. So I made it--it was fine, but I think mine is better. Then, last week Mark Bittman, who writes an excellent column for the NYTimes called "The Minimalist," had 101 suggestions for fairly easy Thanksgiving side dishes. One that caught my eye immediately was a Thai-style squash soup, which I just made, but substituting sweet potatoes for the squash. I really like Bittman's food philosophy and he has great ideas (check out his book Food Matters if you get a chance--it will change the way you eat.) However, he's definitely not a hand-holder when it comes to instruction. To illustrate this, I give you Thai Squash Soup:

"Simmer cubed winter squash, minced garlic, chili and ginger in coconut milk, plus stock or water to cover, until soft. Purée if you like. Just before serving, add chopped cilantro, lime juice and zest, and toasted chopped peanuts."

Quantities, you ask? No need! (Mark Bittman trusts our competence, apparently.) But, if you're the kind of cook that likes to have a little more direction, here were my quantities:

* 6 sweet potatoes (4.7 lbs, according to my grocery store receipt)

* 5 large garlic cloves

* 1 piece of ginger, slightly smaller than my thumb

* 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded (but in retrospect I could have left the seeds in, or used 2 peppers, to give it more heat. My soup didn't turn out spicy, just has a subtle jalapeno flavor. For more authenticity I might suggest some kind of Thai chili (see here), but in the Nantucket Stop n Shop, a jalapeno was the best I could do

* 1 can light coconut milk (found in the international aisle--A Taste of Thai and Thai Kitchen are 2 good brands, also Trader Joe's has their own store brand).

* The dregs of a carton of chicken stock--about 1/2 a cup. I would have used more if I had it

* Water--enough to cover the sweet potato

* Juice & zest of 1 lime

* About 1/4 loosely packed cup of cilantro

And there you have it. Just peeled and chopped the sweet potatoes, gave the garlic, ginger and jalapeno a rough chop, covered with liquid and simmered until the potatoes were soft. I would definitely suggest pureeing, because the coconut milk kind of separates and forms a weird foam on top when it simmers. Once it's all pureed together it's wonderfully smooth and can be seasoned to taste. Pureeing is also great because you can cut the potato (or squash) in large, uneven chucks and you don't have to waste time mincing the garlic and ginger. Once it's all pureed the texture and flavors will all be evenly distributed. And while we're talking about pureeing, let me put in my plug for using a real blender instead of an immersion blender. While the immersion blender is nice because you don't have to transfer soup and make multiple pots and bowls dirty, I just don't think it gives nearly as smooth & rich a texture as the blender can. But hey, that's just me.

For the other 100 great ideas, click here.

While Bittman's soup is great, I wouldn't serve it on Thanksgiving, because the flavors don't totally mesh with many traditional dishes. However, my own Sweet Potato & Apple Soup would be perfect for Thanksgiving, or whenever. It is as follows:

Sweet Potato & Apple Soup (by Macy)

Makes about 8 cups of soup 

* 3 medium-large sweet potatoes (about 3 pounds)

* 2 Tablespoons olive oil

* 1 medium-large white onion

* 3 medium-large Granny Smith apples (about 1 ¼ pounds)

* ½ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste

* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, or to taste

* 1 32 oz. carton of chicken stock (or vegetable stock, for vegetarians)

* ¾ cup half and half (optional)

* ½ teaspoon Kosher salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 400°F. Scrub the sweet potatoes and poke each one several times with a fork. Bake potatoes in the middle of the oven on a foil-lined cookie sheet for one hour or until they are very soft and can easily be pierced with a knife. When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the oven and slice each one in half lengthwise and cool for a few minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, chop the onion to a medium dice. Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart sauce pan on medium heat. Add the diced onion, and sauté, stirring frequently until the onion is very soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and core the apples and chop to a large dice. When the onions are translucent, add the apples, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir a few times until the apples start to brown, just a few minutes.

Add the carton of chicken broth to the saucepan. Cover the saucepan and bring the broth to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 8 minutes or until the apples are very soft. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Place approximately 1/3 of the broth mixture and one of the potatoes (remove skins first) into a blender. The potato skins should be quite loose and you can squeeze the potato flesh right out. Puree ingredients to a smooth consistency. Transfer the pureed soup to a mixing bowl and repeat until all the ingredients are pureed. If the ingredients are still quite hot when you are doing this step, remove the center piece of the blender lid and cover with a dish cloth while you're pureeing to avoid too much pressure build up/explosions.

Transfer the soup back to the saucepan and reheat if necessary. Season with salt and, pepper. If desired, stir in half & half, heating the soup gently until it is warm.

While Thanksgiving is always the time that I think most about sweet potatoes, these soups will warm you all winter long. Enjoy!