Chowing Down on Chowder
The other day I was talking about how turkey goes so well with fruit. Well, sweet potatoes, being a sweet vegetable, is next best thing to fruit.
Try using some leftover turkey with sweet potatoes in this easy chowder.
A little sausage helps beef (or pork) up the flavor here.
You might want to skip the vanilla and sweet potato puree and just use a few more plain diced sweet potatoes.
This recipe is from the folks at Samuel Adams, hence the lager. You could always use chicken broth instead.
Sweet Potato-Turkey Chowder
2 ounces breakfast sausage meat
½ cup finely diced sweet potatoes
1/3 cup finely diced onions
¼ cup finely diced carrots
¼ cup finely diced celery
1 ½ cups sweet potato and vanilla puree (recipe below)
1/3 cup chopped cooked turkey meat
3 cups lager
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place sausage meat in a large, heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat. Cook it, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the fat has rendered out of the meat. Drain off the excess fat. Add the diced sweet potatoes, onions, carrots and celery and sauté them for 4 minutes, or just until the onions are translucent. Stir in the puree and turkey. When the mixture is well blended, add the Boston Lager and bring it to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture is chowder-like in consistency. Taste it and, if necessary, adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper. Serve hot.
Sweet Potato and Vanilla Puree
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 vanilla bean
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup hot milk
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan. Add cold, salted water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer the potatoes for about 15 minutes, or until they are tender when pierced with the point of a sharp knife. Drain well. Transfer the potatoes in a single layer to a nonstick baking sheet.
Place the sweet potatoes in the preheated over for 5 minutes, or just until their exterior is quite dry. Transfer them to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and, using the edge of a sharp knife, scrape the seed with the sweet potatoes. Add the butter and milk and process to a smooth puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
