My mom likes soups and she tasked me to start making interesting soups for her (and me) to enjoy. After leafing through The New Soup Bible, the Potato and Peanut Soup recipe caught my eye. It looked simple enough and I had an urge to have some peanut flavored food. It took me a bit more than 2 hours to make the soup, all due to my inexperience at cooking. I needed one red bell pepper for this soup. I thought I had one but at the last moment realized I had used it the night before in making enchiladas. Off I went to Ralphs and bought one red bell pepper and some peanuts. Then as I thought I had enough potatoes. Turns out I only had one. Off I went to Ralphs again and bought potatoes. This time, I had all my ingredients and cut and prepped them for cooking. The peanuts had to be roasted. So I shelled them then cooked them in a pan and ended up burning half of them since I was distracted with other steps in the recipe. I recooked more. Roasted peanuts smell really really good. Then, after I'd cooked the vegetables, I put the peanuts in a food processor. The next step was to puree the vegetables and peanuts. I thought the food processor was too small so I opted to use the blender and puree everything at once. That did not work well. The dried peanuts and vegetables were too viscous and the blender failed. So I used the food processor in several batches to puree all the food. Finally, I put everything in the pot, mixed in the beef stock, and cooked it and was done. Recipe You'll need: • 4 tbsp groundnut (peanut) oil (optional, olive oil works fine) • 1 onion, finely chopped • 2 garlic cloves, crushed • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped • 9oz potatoes, peeled and diced (you can add an extra potato, diced and add that at the end if you'd like some potato chunks in the soup) • 7oz canned chopped tomatoes • 1? cup unsalted peanuts (can be replaced with same amount in peanut butter) • 6? pints beef stock • 2tbs chopped cilantro for garnish • salt and ground black pepper Heat oil in a large pot over low heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add garlic, pepper, potatoes, and tomatoes. Stir well to coat vegetables in oil and cover and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. While vegetables cook, toast peanuts by gently cooking them in a large frying pan. Be careful not to burn them and move them around often. Set aside about 2tbsp of peanuts for garnish. Transfer remaining peanuts into a food processor and finely grind them. Add vegetables and process until smooth. Return the mixture to the pot, (add optional chopped potatoes), and stir in the beef stock and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and let simmer for 10min. Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with peanuts and cilantro.

My mom likes soups and she tasked me to start making interesting soups for her (and me) to enjoy. After leafing through The New Soup Bible, the Potato and Peanut Soup recipe caught my eye. It looked simple enough and I had an urge to have some peanut flavored food. It took me a bit more than 2 hours to make the soup, all due to my inexperience at cooking. I needed one red bell pepper for this soup. I thought I had one but at the last moment realized I had used it the night before in making enchiladas. Off I went to Ralphs and bought one red bell pepper and some peanuts. Then as I thought I had enough potatoes. Turns out I only had one. Off I went to Ralphs again and bought potatoes. This time, I had all my ingredients and cut and prepped them for cooking. The peanuts had to be roasted. So I shelled them then cooked them in a pan and ended up burning half of them since I was distracted with other steps in the recipe. I recooked more. Roasted peanuts smell really really good. Then, after I'd cooked the vegetables, I put the peanuts in a food processor. The next step was to puree the vegetables and peanuts. I thought the food processor was too small so I opted to use the blender and puree everything at once. That did not work well. The dried peanuts and vegetables were too viscous and the blender failed. So I used the food processor in several batches to puree all the food. Finally, I put everything in the pot, mixed in the beef stock, and cooked it and was done. Recipe You'll need: • 4 tbsp groundnut (peanut) oil (optional, olive oil works fine) • 1 onion, finely chopped • 2 garlic cloves, crushed • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped • 9oz potatoes, peeled and diced (you can add an extra potato, diced and add that at the end if you'd like some potato chunks in the soup) • 7oz canned chopped tomatoes • 1? cup unsalted peanuts (can be replaced with same amount in peanut butter) • 6? pints beef stock • 2tbs chopped cilantro for garnish • salt and ground black pepper Heat oil in a large pot over low heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add garlic, pepper, potatoes, and tomatoes. Stir well to coat vegetables in oil and cover and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. While vegetables cook, toast peanuts by gently cooking them in a large frying pan. Be careful not to burn them and move them around often. Set aside about 2tbsp of peanuts for garnish. Transfer remaining peanuts into a food processor and finely grind them. Add vegetables and process until smooth. Return the mixture to the pot, (add optional chopped potatoes), and stir in the beef stock and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and let simmer for 10min. Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with peanuts and cilantro.