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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - There is a great dispute about the origin of the sweet potato in Louisiana, but there is no doubt that rum found its way to early Louisiana from the Caribbean. Naturally, it didn’t take long for the sweet potato and the liquor to make friends in a cast iron pot. I especially love this simple recipe with its roots in the Caribbean.

Ingredients:

4 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes, cut into (¼-inch) squares
¼ cup Still’Water Rum
1 tbsp curry paste
½ cup olive oil
¾ cup minced onions
¼ cup minced celery
¼ cup minced red bell pepper
¼ cup minced orange bell pepper
¼ cup minced green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
salt and black pepper to taste
granulated garlic to taste
¼ cup sour cream
sweet paprika to taste

Method:

In a 1-gallon cast iron pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery and bell peppers then cook 5–7 minutes or until vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. Add sliced garlic, ginger and curry paste then cook an additional 2–3 minutes, stirring to mix well. Add sweet potatoes and stock, bring mixture to a rolling boil then reduce to simmer.

Cook 15–20 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Stir in rum then remove from heat. Working in batches, purée soup in a blender until a desired consistency is achieved, adding stock or water as needed. To serve, evenly divide among serving bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream and a sprinkle of sweet paprika.

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