Acorn Squash Puree Soup with Coconut Milk

Here's an extremely easy way to make a pureed soup that is creamy without having any dairy in it. You can substitute any root vegetable or squash for the butternut squash to make a slightly sweet soup with a bit of asian flair. I am not sure how potatoes would fare, but I am willing to give it a try someday. Try garnishing with fresh green herbs, a squeeze of lemon or lime, and hot pepper sauces for hot/sweet/sour soups that will taste decidedly southeast asian.

1 Whole Acorn Squash split in half and seeded
4 slices ginger, peeled
6 cloves of garlic
1/2 can full fat coconut milk*
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 lemon cut into wedges

Roast the acorn squash, skin side down in a casserole that is just big enough to hold them. Add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the pan. Place 1/2 the ginger and garlic in each of the cavities in the squash. This will infuse the flavor into the squash as it cooks. Set oven temperature at 375 and cook for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours checking to see that all the squash is mushy. If there are parts that aren't all the way cooked through, you will end up with a lumpy soup. Let the squash cool and peel the skin off. Save the ginger and garlic to add to the puree. Cut the squash into pieces.
In batches small enough for your food processor, add portions of squash, coconut milk, ginger and garlic. Puree until smooth and souplike. Add water to adjust consistency.
Don't worry if the coconut milk doesn't seem to incorporate into the squash (i.e. there's chunks of white in the yellow) this will work itself out when you reheat it. Puree all of the soup and heat it back up to boiling. Add more cocunut milk if you like your soup creamier. You can add salt and sugar if necessary. Add lemon juice (squeezed from wedges) until the soup lastes slightly lemony.

My favorite way to eat this soup is with cilantro puree (fresh cilantro leaves blended into olive oil) and a squirt of sriracha.

One variation I have made on this soup was with carrots instead of butternut squash. I boiled the carrots until they were tender and used the boiling water to thin the soup as I pureed it. I added a little sugar to bring out the carrot flavor as mature carrots are more bitter than acorn squash. You'll be surprised how much more "carrot" flavor comes out with a small addition of sugar. It also tasted better without any garnishes.

*Always buy full fat coconut milk. Lowfat coconut milk is thinned with water and stabilizers are added. It is better for your wallet to just use less coconut milk and add your own water when necessary.

Middle Eastern Broccolini

So, since I had all the ingredients, I did a slight variation on my broccolini dinner from the night before and came up with a very different dish.

The bulghur was just wheat bulgur, lemon zest and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

The broccolini was much different... I had medium salsa laying around, so I used that as a base for the sauce. This sauce ended up with a nice kick. You can substitute tomato product for the salsa to cool it down or kick it up with more sriracha and less oil.

1/2 cup salsa
2 T sriracha (rooster sauce, spicy tomato sauce)
1 Tsp Ras Al Hanout (middle eastern spice mix)
2 T dried currants
3 diced moroccan olives
1/4 cup water
1 T olive oil

Cook all ingredients for about 15 minutes until you can no longer taste the graininess of the spices. Add more oil if too spicy.

Broccolini
1 1/2 cups blanched broccolini
1/2 T olive oil
4 small crimini mushrooms, sliced thin
1 T sunflower seeds
2 Moroccan Olives, diced
1/8 cup of the sauce (above)
Squeeze of lemon
Water, if needed

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil until slightly browned. Add the sunflower seeds and toast for a bit. Add the olives, sauce, squeeze of lemon. Add water if need so the broccolini can be tossed in the sauce in the pan. Add the broccolini, tossing to coat, and cook until heated. Serve over bulghur.

No Sugar Added Apple Compote

So, I decided to try to cook apples without adding sugar, juice, or any more calories for a morning yogurt topping. I am also extemely against any sugar alternatives such as splenda, stevia or aspartame, so I didn't want to add any of those. What resulted was very low on the sweetness scale, but surprisingly good for breakfast. I also ended up adding one whole serving of fruit to my lowfat yogurt which makes for a very helathy breakfast. I found myself wishing I had slivered almonds to sprinkle on the top.

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 large pieces lemon zest
corn starch to thicken
squeeze of lemon

Cook apples, water, cinnamon and zest at a low boil until the apples have broken down, but aren't completely mushy. Add water if need to thin out apples to have a bit of water to make the sauce. Add cold water to about a tablespoon of cornstarch, slowly pour it in to the boiling apples while stirring, bring to a boil. Add a squeeze of lemon and stir. Serve over yogurt.

Greek Style Broccolini with Wheat Bulghur

So, in the interests of furthering my healthy food education, I have decided I am going to try and make a new recipe every day using some seasonal fruit/vegetable and make it either vegan or healthy. Here's the first one: Greek Style Broccolini with Wheat Bulgur! Yeah, it sounds kind of weird and the flavor profile was very different than what I am used to, but once I ate two bites, I couldn't stop. This also was the first time I haven't knee jerked garlic and onions into my recipe (mostly because I didn't have them) and I have to say they weren't missed.

1 cup blanched broccolini (my seasonal veg choice)
3 small crimini mushrooms, very thinly sliced
1 T toasted sunflower seeds
1 T olive oil
8 capers chopped
2 moroccan oil cured olives*, chopped fine
1/2 tsp chiffonaded mint, fresh
1/2 tsp chiffonaded basil, fresh
1 lemon wedge

Bulghur
1/2 cup wheat bulghur
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp mixed mediterranean dried herbs
1 large piece lemon zest

First, boil the water, herbs and zest for the bulghur, add the bulghur, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

For the veg, saute the olive oil, mushrooms and sunflower seeds until they start to brown. Add the olives and capers and cook until the mushrooms are almost done. Add the broccolini and cook until heated. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and the basil and mint. Take off heat and let cook for 30 seconds. Taste. If it is too salty or sour, add some more olive oil.

*This was my first time trying moroccan olives. They are darker and more pungent than kalamatas and extremely salty. Use sparingly.

Saag Paneer!

I made this for crew chow last night to get rid of some damn near inedible ricotta salatta. It's a very creamy yellow colored sauce with tons of greens. This dish is one of my favorite ways to eats cheese. I'll get to the recipe, but first, a little about r.s., paneer and that crazy name up top.

Ricotta Salatta- An Italian style firm cheese (which, generally can be melted, but we boiled this crap we had for an hour and it still didn't desintegrate one bit).
Paneer- an indian cheese close to the texture of pan seared medium tofu.
Saag Paneer- an indian curry dish made with paneer and a mixture of spinach and other greens
Palak Paneer- indian curry dish made with only spinach greens and paneer
Saag Aloo- curry spinach dish with potatoes (gonna have to try this)

So, this is a superfatty recipe that I already cut part of the fat out by substituting half the cream for buttermilk, but as is, I would serve it as a side dish so your guests don't have a coronary at the end of the night. A note on the cheese. The end product should have chunks of paneer or ricotta left when you serve it, not blend into the sauce, so you probably want to add it more at the end. The braised greens I used last night were very tough and so took about 45 minutes to break down so they looked like an indian sauce. And, the tougher and more bitter your greens are, the more you will have to balance with sugar.

And now that that's done...

Here's the recipe:
Spice Blend:
1/4 cups water
4 serrano chilis (I deseeded them, but probably would only deseed half them next time)
1 T Turmeric
2 T Cumin
1 T Paprika (or, I used pimenton)
2 T Coriander
2 T Garam Masala
2 T fresh ginger
Blend the above in a blender until smooth

3 cups cream
3 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup garlic
1/8 cup shallot
1 onion diced
1.5 gallon container of chopped greens
16 oz Paneer or ricotta salatta

Balance with:
Curry Powder
Garam Masala
Sugar
Santaka Chilis (Red Chili Flakes)

Put 1/4 olive oil in a pan, heat the garlic and shallots, add the greens and braise with a cup of water until they collapse. Add the dairy, spice mixture, onion and boil until the consistency reduces to what you want. Add in the cheese dependent on how hard it is. Taste along the way and add more curry powder or garam masala to make the sauce pungent enough. Adjust spiciness with santaka chilis. The suace will get more bitter the longer it boils because the greens will release more the longer they are boiled. If you overreduce, just add water. If you add too much sugar, just cook it a little longer to let the bitterness come back.

This recipe can feed about 10 people or more when served over rice.

Pulled Chicken (Spanish Style)

I made this pulled chicken at work last night and need somewhere to save the beginnings of a recipe. It would be good slightly modified for pulled pork or beef as well. I have absolutely no measurement and some of the ingredients were added behind my back as is the nature of crew chow. All I know is the beer should be about half of the wet ingredients before braising.

Wet Ingredients:
Veg Stock
Lighter, not very hoppy beer (used Kolsch)
Santaka Chilis
Pimenton
4 preserved chilis
Salt
Cilantro, minced
Red wine vinegar (Not much)
Heat the above to meld the flavors. The chilis should definitely sit for a while.

Braise the chicken with:
Small dice celery (use quite a bit, they blend to bulk up the sauce)
Small dice carrot
Shallots
Garlic (lots)

Finish with
Lemon Juice
Lime Juice
Cumin

Strain the sauce and keep.
Shred the chicken.
Blend the sauce.
Add back into the pot and cook to the desired consistency.

Delicious. Serve chicken with tortillas, cheese, salsa, cilantro, grilled onions, sour cream. The salsa we made below can be made in a pinch as it uses canned tomatoes.

2 cans tomatoes with green chilis
3 t chipotle sauce from spicy chipotles (this should make it quite spicy)
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1.5 cup onions sweated in olive oil
salt
pepper
lemon juice
balsamic vinegar

My First Real Dinner Party (not counting thnx-gvng)

My friend B and I held our first dinner party last night. Aside from the fact that the guest list was last nimute and had more cancellations than yeas, we had the perfect mix of people and barely any awkward silences were observed.

The Menu:

Roasted Beets and Goat Cheese Salad -- served on butter lettuce with watercress, fennel, red onion and a balsamic and cherry reduction sauce.

Duck Two Ways with Roasted Root Vegetables and House-made Linguine -- Cherry and port braised duck legs, ginger and garlic sauteed duck breasts, roasted turnip, rutabega, sweet potato, and parsnip, and linguine tossed with butter and garlic.

Creme Brulee and Chocolate-Butterscotch Cookies

This was an intense two days worth of cooking since I bought whole ducks and was determined to get every penny out of them. First, B and I broke down the ducks. This involves separating the leg and thighs from the body, then removing the breasts, trimming the fat and trying not to berate yourself for all the meat left on the bird. Then, since the tenders will separate themselves from the breasts while cooking anyways, we felt it our obligation to bread them in panko and fry them up for the best "chicken" tenders you'll ever had. B's husband (who was plenty skeptical about duck) declared they were good with the wary mien of a food-o-phobe.

It should be noted at this point that most of the people in attendance were plenty frightened to be eating duck. Duck, being one of my favorite meats holds little mystery, only excitement. But for the uninitiated, it borders on the exotic or conjures pictures of fat men with hunting rifles. Cooked properly, duck is like the dark meat of turkey with a more complex flavor profile and a wider range of uses. The legs should be slow cooked (2-3 hours minimum), either by braise or confit. Otherwise, the meat is tough and stringy. The breasts can be cooked rare and favor sautee or grill preparations. Those worried about salmonella should note that game birds (duck, quail, pheasant, etc.) do not pose a likely threat of salmonella. The salmonella problems in chicken and turkey generally rise from factory farming conditions. This is good to know when you order your duck in a restaurant and realize it's not cooked to cardboard doneness.

All I knew I wanted to cook for the dinner was the duck legs braised in Port with cherries. I went to the local vegetable market and picked up everything that looked delicious. We are just shy of spring, so there are a few winter root vegetables left for foraging, and that was about it. I did pick up a beautiful head of fennel (when purchasing fennel, you want it to have a rounded bulb that is firm and feels heavy for its size). This all clicked the remaider of the menu into place.

To make the most of the leftover bits, I made stock from the duck carcasses and rendered the fat for later use. Duck fat can be used in replacement for oil or butter when sauteeing and adds excellent flavor.

I will post the recipes for the salad and the root vegetables in another post.

The main lesson I took away from this dinner party was the lesson of timing. I heated the vegetables too early and thus had to kill the heat and reheat them twice making them slightly overcooked. I fired the braised legs in a 475 degree oven way too early and had to reheat them. The breasts were larger than I thought and took about 20 minutes longer to sautee than I thought the would so I ended up impatient and didn’t cook them as nice as I wanted. I also started plating the salads way too early and they should have been served immediately, but they sat around for too long, thus losing a bit of their texture. The one thing perfectly timed was the serving plate of layered pieces of cut duck breasts set on the table with steam still wafting up in happy little wisps.