SP Bisque, Par-rot Gratin, Loquat Marmalade, Upscale Bubble & Squeak

Sweet Potato Bisque

Not overly sweet or tasting of Thanksgiving this velvety soup is a winner in our book!  IMHO showing "in progress" photos of soup isn't worth the time and effort, it's the end result that counts.  Like this:
                    
3 large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
4-5 cups Veggie Broth or Stock
1 Tbsp fresh minced Ginger
1 Tbsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 Orange, zested and juiced
1-1/2 cups Unflavored Plant "Milk" or better yet, plant "cream"
Black Pepper to taste

I par-cooked the sweet potatoes in the microwave -- maybe 10 minutes -- to lessen the overall cooking time.

Saute the onion and garlic until starting to get translucent.  Add the par-cooked sweet potatoes, broth, herbs and spices.  Cook until the sweet potato is tender.  Add the orange juice and zest and stir to combine.

Take the solids for a spin in your food processor until you get a really smooth puree.  Work in batches if you need to.

Return the puree to your soup pot, and the "milk" or "cream".  Stir to combine and reheat; adjust spices in needed, and serve.

Par-rot Gratin
That's Par-snips and Car-rots in an Onion "Cream" Sauce, topped with cheesy breadcrumbs.  With Parmesan and some "cheesy" Nutritional Yeast, for which you can sub more cheese if you choose.

3 large Parsnips, peeled, quartered and chopped
3 large Carrots, peeled, quartered and chopped

1 cup diced Onion

2 cups Almond "Creamer"
1 Tbsp Butter and Flour to make a Roux

2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast

Salt, Pepper, and other spices to your taste (I used Everglades Seasoning on the par-rots)
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Rub the par-rots with a tablespoon or so of EVOO, then spice and roast them for about 25 minutes at 425F until fork tender and starting to brown on the edges.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, saute the onion in a bit of EVOO or butter until translucent.  Add more butter, make a white roux with the flour, and then thin it out with about 2 cups of almond "creamer".  Cook a few minutes more until the sauce starts to thicken.   As it's cooking, add the nutritional yeast, which will counter the sweetness of the plant "creamer" and give a hint of cheesiness to the sauce.   

Combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, then stir into the mix a couple tablespoons of melted butter.  Reserve.

Put the roasted par-rots in a baking dish, pour the onion sauce over, and bake for 15 minutes.   Top with the reserved breadcrumb mixture and return to the oven until the topping is golden.

Then plate:

Upscale Bubble & Squeak
Bubble & Squeak is classic British frugal farm fare -- a meal of leftover smashed potatoes and chopped cabbage cooked together, with salt & pepper and a 'knob' of butter.  The name of the dish comes from the noises which the ingredients supposedly make while being cooked together in a skillet.

This upscale version comes from Country House Gent -- Kevin Skelley -- a UK videographer, photographer and former news writer who lives aboard a 45 ft narrowboat called Aslan, and documents his journeys around Great Britain's canals in a series called Travels By Narrowboat (Amazon Prime).

What makes this "upscale" is that the ingredients are "fresh cooked", not leftovers; and instead of ordinary chopped cabbage Kevin uses Brussels sprouts, and forms the mash-up of cooked potatoes and Brussels sprouts into cakes before frying them.  For ordinary B&S you just toss the potatoes and cabbage in a skillet and smash them together as you fry.

1 lb New Potatoes, boiled or microwaved to fork tender, then quartered
12-15  Brussels Sprouts, trimmed, halved and sliced (about a pound)
3/4 cup chopped Onion
1-2 cloves Garlic, minced

In a splash of EVOO, saute the onion and garlic for a couple minutes.  Add the sprouts and continue cooking until they color a bit.  Add the potatoes and smash them into the onion mix. 

Fold and smash and toss and press everything together.  You should get some of the bubble and squeak sound effects at this point.  Remove the mass from the skillet and form into 1" thick patties.  Oil the skillet again and fry the patties until nice and crisp on each side.  

Plate and serve with HP sauce, Worchestershire sauce or Lizano.

Loquat Marmalade
Chinese Loquat or Pipa are a wonderful locally grown tropical fruit.  I got a double order from of our Southwest Florida Produce Co-op, which yielded about 12 oz. of pitted fruit.

Loquat pits are large (about 30% of the weight of the fruit, and should not be eaten as they are mildly poisonous with cyanide.  Which is why, unlike my other marmalade recipes, I do not keep the seeds in with the fruit when puree-ing.  

When you're processing the fruit, you can choose to pinch off the dark tips (but I didn't bother, they just make the color a tad darker when cooked).

With my usual marmalade recipe (same measure of fruit and sugar, microwave 10 minutes), the 12oz. of fruit yielded just over a cup of fabulous marmalade that has a light fruity, slightly tart taste, with overtones of mango and peach flavors.  Definitely a winner!