Peanut butter soup is not new to me. I have even made it before.
I grew up in Virginia. I remember visiting Mount Vernon as a child, as a teen, and as an adult. Somewhere along the line I acquired a Mount Vernon cookbook. In that cookbook was Martha Washington’s Peanut soup recipe.
Peanuts grow really well in Virginia soil. So they were grown at Mount Vernon. People back them used what they had, so you created recipes for what you had.
This recipe did come from my Mid Century recipe box, but it is very similar to the recipe from my Mount Vernon cookbook.
My husband grew up in the MidWest. There are a lot of southern things that I make that he has never had before. This is one of those recipes. He thought it sounded awful.
But, I made it anyway. I just chose to make it on a night he wasn’t going to be home for dinner.
The soup doesn’t take long, maybe half an hour total. You get a nice bit of flavor from the onions, but since you strain them out the soup is super smooth and velvety.
The peanut butter is strong and doesn’t really dissipate. So the end result soup is very peanut buttery.
I quite enjoy the soup. And of course, there were leftovers. My husband had two full bowls when he got home he liked it so much.
He was very happy to be wrong.
This could be a very versatile soup. Just a few small changes could make some big differences. One thing I think of is using coconut milk instead of cream. Maybe a curry powder or masala would give the soup a Thai flavor. Just an idea. . .
CREAM OF PEANUT BUTTER SOUP
1/4 Cup Butter
1 Tablespoon Minced Onion
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Quart Chicken Stock
Dash Pepper
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Cream
Melt butter, add onion and simmer until tender but not brown. Add flour and peanut butter. Stir into a smooth paste. Add stock gradually. Season and cook 20 minutes in a double boiler, stirring constantly until thickened. Strain and add cream.
Comments