Peanut Butter SoupRecipe

Kay Dennison asked for the recipe, and so here it is. This recipe comes from West Africa, where it is made with yams and sometimes as a stew.

Ingredients:
Olive oil, to barely cover bottom of soup pot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 - 2 cups cubed red potatoes, depending on how thick you like your soup
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 leek, sliced (white part only)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1/3 to 1/2 cup peanut butter - the recipe usually calls for smooth, but I like Super Chunk
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 to 3 tsp lemon juice
1 to 2 dashes hot pepper sauce - I use 4, but I think it isn't hot enough if your ear drums don't burn and your eyes tear
Salt, cayenne and black pepper, to taste
Thinly sliced green onion, as garnish

Instructions:
Sauté garlic in oil over medium heat, 5 minutes, remove and sauté onion and leek, over high heat, an additional 5 minutes*. Add broth, carrot, celery, garlic, and potatoes and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Process soup in food processor or blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan; stir
in peanut butter and curry powder. Stir until peanut butter is evenly blended.

Heat over medium heat until hot. Season to taste with lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

Pour soup into bowls; sprinkle with green onion.

Some people substitute sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkin, or white beans for the red potatoes. I once tried Yukon gold - not a good idea. I have seen recipes that call for a can of diced tomatoes or cream. One time I took refrigerator biscuits and wrapped them around hot pepper jelly and added them, so that it was peanut butter soup with jelly dumplings. This would also be a good idea with chutney.

* Many recipes call for you to sauté garlic and onions together, but they require different temperatures for the best taste.

If you would rather have a stew, add a cup of cubed chicken or pork and run only the potatoes and broth through the blender.