A REALLY Tasty Winter Squash Soup

Enjoy the season’s bounty with this delicious winter squash soup

I have several winter squash remaining in storage from my last few CSA shares, and the fall weather is perfect for soup, so I decided to make a pot of delicious winter squash soup for dinner last night. I’ve made winter squash soup many times before but I wanted to keep the seasonings simple, and I wanted it to have a creamy texture without adding heavy cream or butter. I referenced several recipes and found a good “foundation” recipe by Alice Waters in her Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook.

Winter squash (From top counter clockwise): Butternut, Delicata, Buttercup (kabocha), Thelma Sanders (Acorn), Gold Nugget, Red Kuri (kabocha) and Spaghetti squash

The following recipe is my take on Winter Squash Soup and it turned out very tasty.  The choice to use a more starchy deep orange Buttercup with a lighter, milder tasting Thelma Sanders led to a perfectly balanced soup both in taste and texture.  This silky satisfying soup is perfect paired with hard cider and a side of toasted brioche with butter.  To make this soup vegan, simply replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.

Winter Squash Soup

• 2 whole winter squash (I used the green Buttercup and the beige Thelma Sanders), halved, seeds removed and cut in wedges
• Olive oil (2-3 tablespoons total)
• 1 medium to large onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 6-7 unsalted raw or roasted cashews (about a handful)
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F. Place squash cubes on a parchment paper lined roasting pan and drizzle about 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over the squash. Roast squash cubes, flesh side down, until completely tender, about 40 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy stockpot, add the onions, and saute over medium heat until the onions are slightly browned and softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, cashews and nutmeg and stir to warm spices.

Scoop out the squash flesh with a large spoon to remove the flesh from the skins. Add the flesh to the pot and stir. Discard skins. Add chicken stock plus a cup of water and stir using a potato masher to break up lumps of roasted flesh. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for about 2-3 minutes, to avoid transferring boiling hot soup to the blender.

Using a soup ladle, carefully transfer the mixture (in two batches) to a blender and puree for 60 seconds. Return the soup puree to the pot and heat slowly on medium heat. Taste for seasoning. I added about one teaspoon of sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper from a pepper mill. Serve hot with garnishes such as fresh, chopped parsley or micro greens. Add crunchy croutons if desired.

CSA Week 17: Carrots!

It’s the countdown to the end of the 2011 CSA season with Growing Things Farm.  Just three weeks to go!  Among other things, this week’s CSA share included some gorgeous white carrots that I will put into a beef stew with red wine tomorrow night.   Here’s what this week’s share included:

• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 bunch arugula
• 1 lb flageolet shelling beans
• 1 lb tomatoes
• 1 bunch white carrots
• 1 bunch kale
• half dozen eggs

Roxy and Cassius pose with colorful vegetables from this week's (#17) CSA share

After I make the stew, I’ll post photos and a recipe.

Tom Kha Gai… Without Leaving the House

Homemade Tom Kha Gai

Last night I made a variation of Tom Kha Gai (a Thai chicken soup with galangal & coconut milk) without leaving the house. I wanted something relatively light but spicy.  But instead of ordering from a restaurant, I figured I could pull a pot of soup together without a trip to the store. Lately I’ve been experimenting with recipes inspired by Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine with good results.  These days there are good resources for every level of home cook, from books to blogs, magazines to apps- there’s no end to kitchen advice.  I did a quick online search but I found recipes with too many steps than I had patience for last night.  My own cookbook collection includes Dorothy Rankin’s book,  Noodle Fusion: Asian Noodle Dishes for Western Kitchens (2000, The Crossing Press). Bingo!  I found a simple recipe that could easily be adapted, and no trip to the store was required.

To be clear, I don’t assume you have a jar of Tom Yum paste or even coconut milk in your pantry. But if you really like Thai food, these items are good  foundational ingredients to keep at the ready.

Dragonfly brand Tom Yum Paste

I made some stock from a chicken I bought last weekend from Growing Things Farm at the Ballard Farmers Market.  The now frozen stock was minimally seasoned, and it worked well in this Thai-style recipe (meaning I didn’t add in strong herbs like rosemary or thyme).  I had about 4 oz. of firm tofu left in a container from earlier this week, and about that much chicken meat pulled from the stock carcass.  Everything else is a staple in my kitchen, and probably yours, too.  It took less than 30 minutes to make this soup.

Tom Kha Gai Soup

Yields about 4 main course servings

• 4 oz. thin rice sticks or vermicelli (a half a package of Thai Kitchen brand Thin Rice Noodles works well)
• 2-3 tbsp Tom Yum Paste (Dragonfly brand is really good, but it has MSG)
• 14 oz can of coconut milk (I use light), or 1 3/4 cup fresh
• 2 cups chicken stock or clear fish stock
• 1 stalk celery, sliced thin, diagonal
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup small grape tomatoes
• 4 oz firm tofu, rinsed and diced
• 1 to 2 fresh Thai bird chilies, seeded and minced or red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
• Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, fresh squeezed lime juice, and shredded chicken (optional)

Place noodles in a pan and cover with boiling water.  Set aside to soak for 10-15 minutes.  Drain under cold water and set aside.

In a stockpot, add the stock and bring to a simmer.  Add the celery, tofu, peas, tomatoes, coconut milk and Tom Tum paste and stir to dissolve the paste.  Bring to a simmer and cover for 10 minutes.

Add the softened rice noodles and stir.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste.  At this stage, I added in some chopped cilantro sprigs, a few squirts of lime juice and some red pepper flakes for color and heat.

Serve hot in individual bowls and garnish with fresh whole cilantro sprigs, more lime juice, some cold shredded chicken (because I had it) and chopped fresh chile or more red pepper flakes.  I used up vegetables in my crisper, but I would have used mushrooms, carrot or green beans if I had them.  This soup base is flexible for experimentation.