Comfort Zones

So, what is your "comfort zone?" The place you feel the most comfortable? For me, that place is the kitchen. Earlier this week, a group of my friends and I were treated to some "gourmet" cooking lessons. The location was kind of in the middle of nowhere, up a dirt road. The house was brown and looked very non-descript from the outside. We had to walk down a bunch of steep steps outside to get to the kitchen. It was worth every single step to get there, because once you opened up the door, it was like you were on the set of a Food Network set! For this gal, I was in HEAVEN. I am what you would call a "self-taught" cook/baker. My mom instilled in me the love of baking, but cooking for me has been trial and error. I started my food blog almost seven years ago, because I wanted to share my love of cooking and baking with other home cooks. One of the highlights of my life was when I got a call from the producers of the Rachael Ray Show on the way home from Kroger. They asked me how often I watched the show and being the honest person I am, I said something like, "whenever I can!" WRONG ANSWER, they never contacted me again! Anyways, back to the gourmet cooking lessons. As I was looking around my "dream kitchen" I saw some pictures of Chef D. with Rachael Ray, Alton Brown and Tyler Florence. When I started chatting with her about meeting famous chefs, she was extremely humble about it. That is the kind of person I gravitate to. During her cooking lesson, she never once mentioned that she knew a bunch of famous people. Oh my, the food was delicious. It was so cool that we all had a "hand" in putting the entire meal together. Given my love of cooking and baking, I have been sharing my recipes through a local women's magazine in the area for about three or so years. It has been a blast collaborating with the photographer at the magazine, because she gives me ideas for the monthly recipe and vice versa. For the January recipe, she and I decided an "African Peanut Soup" would be good. Since I have never made that kind of soup in my life, I was going way out of my comfort zone as far as recipes go! This soup has a ton of spices. Growing up the most adventurous I got with a spice was salt. LOL. There is also peanut butter in this soup. Sounds kind of unusual, doesn't it? Well, I am happy to report that the soup was really yummy!! My buddy, Mary, the photographer, took a fabulous picture of it!! She and I have a good partnership going, I make the recipe and she takes the pictures!!

Photo Credit: Mary Gajda

African Peanut Soup with Sweet Potatoes

2 tablespoons butter, unsalted

1 cup sweet onion, chopped

2 cups sweet potatoes, chopped

32-ounce box unsalted vegetable stock
14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
½ cup smooth peanut butter
6- ounce can tomato paste

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups chopped kale leaves (rinsed and patted dry)

½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts, finely chopped (for garnish)

In a large stockpot, melt the butter slowly and then add the onion. Over medium heat, cook the onion until it starts to get soft, stirring occasionally.  Add the remaining ingredients in the order given. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a low simmer and continue cooking uncovered until the sweet potatoes get soft (about 20 minutes), stirring occasionally.  Add the kale leaves and cook another 10 minutes. Pour into bowls and garnish with the peanuts. *If desired, before you pour the soup into a bowl, you can add a cup of brown or white rice. Serves 6-8.