White Sweet Potato and Chicken Stew

The other day at the store, i was fortunate to find white sweet potatoes on sale for $.99 a pound. A friend had mentioned them in his food blog earlier tis year, and i was determined to give them a try. I love sweet potatoes, but the hassle of cooking them, coupled with the fact that a lot of people don't really care for them, tends to keep me from buying them. White sweets have a much milder flavor than the orange variety - less sweet, and more like potatoes. This soup is lovely in the fall - it's warm, rich and thick, with holiday spices. it sure doesn't taste like something that only cost $5 to cook, and the recipe makes about 10 cups of soup - it freezes well! It could easily be made vegan, if you wanted to make a veggie stock, instead of chicken and salt pork.

Servings: 10 cups

Ingredients:

2 chicken legs ($.50)

1 bag frozen stew veggies (potatoes, carrots, celery and pearl onions, $1/bag)

1 2x2" chunk salt pork (i had this in the freezer for months, so i don't count the cost - it's usually pretty cheap, though)

1 bag frozen baby carrots ($1/bag)

1 can white potatoes ($.80)

2 large white sweet potatoes ($1.50)

Coriander

Rosemary

Crushed Black Pepper

Bay leaf

2 cinnamon sticks

Sage

Chili powder

water - lots of it!

In a large stew pot or slow cooker, add chicken, salt pork (this adds salt to the stew, you shouldn't need to add much more), stew veggies (not the other veggies, those go in later), spices, and enough water to fill the pot about 2/3 full. bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for several hours to make stock. You may wish to take the cinnamon out after 2 hours or so - it adds a lot of flavor. I simmered mine for about 6 hours on low, adding hot water when the pot got to about half full (i had to add an additional 6-8 cups as it cooked). Taste the stock frequently (once the chicken and pork cook through) - you'll know when it tastes like stock, and not just flavored water :) when it tastes rich, strain out the solids that remain. remove the bones/fat/skin from the solids, and mash what remains. then add it back to the broth. The chicken will not be chunky - you will have little threads of it throughout the final soup. Add the canned potatoes, frozen carrots, and peeled, chopped white sweets. Simmer for another hour at least. After they cook through, mash up the veggies you've just added (this can be done easily with the back of a wooden spoon, if they are thoroughly cooked). The result should be a thick, hearty, smooth, spicy stew. If you wish for a smoother consistency, you can put the solids into a food processor with about a cup of broth, but they are pretty easy to mash up by hand.

Salut!