Mike Van de Elzen: Curried kumara and apple soup

Welcome to our Kumara patch! Unfortunately and very sadly, the floods that caused havoc over the North Island during the Auckland Anniversary weekend also wiped out a lot of our kumara farmers in the Dargaville area. Our thoughts are still with you, as this is certainly something that will take a long time to rebuild.  So whilst kumara is a little more expensive at the moment, I don't want you not to use it, we just need to be a little more clever for a while.  Curried kumara and apple soup  Cook time: 35 minutes  Prep time: 20 minutes  Serves: 8-10  500gm peeled & chopped kumara   2 white onions, peeled and diced   4 cloves garlic, peeled chopped   2 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped   100 gm unsalted butter   1 tbsp curry powder   1 tsp ground ginger   500ml coconut cream   1 ltr vegetable stock   2 tbsp honey   250 ml cream   1/2 tsp salt  Take a large heavy based pot and heat.   Melt 1/2 of the butter slowly and then sauté the kumara, onions, garlic and apples.   Add the curry and ginger powder and toss.   Sauté for a further minute before adding in the coconut cream, honey and vegetable stock. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the kumara is cooked through. Using a hand blender, blitz the kumara until smooth before slowly adding in the remaining butter and fresh cream.   Season and serve  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.