Curried Cauliflower Soup

Living Up North and trying to be Northern, we joined a CSA and so weekly we get unpredictable loads of vegetables. Last week a nice head of cauliflower which I decided to curry which turned out incredibly flavorful with a nice thick texture, perfect with crusty bread and cheese hunks.

Ingredients and the order thrown to the Dutch oven:
  oil, curry paste
  onion, garlic, hot peppers, carrot
  lots of spices: curry powder, turmeric, ginger, cayenne, chili, paprika, bay leaves, S&P, etc
  cauliflower (then cooked down til soft)
  chicken broth - 2C

This simmers ~20 minutes then puréed in blender.  Note that in real life, the soup is more visually appealing than in the photo below:

Green Split Pea Soup

Almost too trivial to post as recipe here, this soup is very easy to prep and make, so that it can be made in the evening after work.  The whole process take less than 1.5 hours and makes about six servings.  Once made, it is delicious with crusty bread and a hunk of cheese.  I think the same recipe could be used for smaller types of lentils, but those would not need to simmer as long.

ingredients:
1 onion
1 carrot
garlic
spices: S&P, paprika, turmeric, ground mustard seed, really whatever
1 pound dry split peas
6 C liquid: ~2C chicken broth, ~4C water

process:
rinse the peas clean and drain.
sautee the vegetables (used dutch oven)
add the spices, add the peas, stir to mix everything
add the liquids
bring to simmer, simmer covered low 30-45 mins until peas are soft

homemade yogurt

a few years back i tried to make yogurt in a crockpot using some powdered yogurt starter (and milk i guess). it didn't make because the crockpot on low is still too hot and kills the bacteria that makes the yogurt. i figured i needed a yogurt maker but then an indian friend described how she makes yogurt just by, in the morning, boiling milk, cooling it, adding a little yogurt as a starter, and storing in the oven to insulate until the around dinner time. my first three attempts were utter failures and much too complicated but now the last three attempts, all simpler than i had thought was possible, all made.

ingredients:
4 c 2% milk
2 T yogurt (stoneyfield plain yogurt. i think the greek yogurt doesn't work)
1 T sugar

main accessories:
2 G cooler
2 Q cooking pot
1 Q tupperware
food thermometer
whisk

(1) prep the incubation area. fill the cooler with enough hot tap water to cover up most of the tupperware when filled with water. originally i used a thermometer to get this to 120 but now i don't measure because the tap water gets to about 110 which is fine. shut the cooler off to insulate.



(2) prep an ice bath. fill the sink with cold water and ice. the hot pot of milk will be placed in here later to rapidly cool it. the ice bath can be prepared just before it is needed.



(3) set out the yogurt in a small bowl to let get closer to room temp.



(4) on medium heat, bring the milk to 180-185. it gets frothy around there. stir occassionally, more so at the end. i keep a lid on slightly open so the thermometer can fit in. this should take about 20 minutes- don't draw this process out too long.



(5) take off heat. put pot in ice bath. stirring milk to cool, bring down to about 110.



(6) take out of ice bath. stir in sugar. stir in yogurt. whisk it in so not clumpy.



(7) pour into tupperware. close lid.



(8) put in cooler. leave for about 8 hours. it becomes more sour the longer it incubates (which is not always bad).



(9) take out of cooler. it should be thick yogurt now. stir and put in refri. (i had added 1/2 c fresh blackberries along with the sugar and yogurt before incubation).



(10) eat it after a few hours (maybe wait 8 hours or so).

chicken afritada

i'm pretty sure i've strayed a lot from the original filipino way of making this filipino dish but i'll still call it afritada. it is quite tasty.

prep vegetables:
onion: 1 diced
garlic: 1 bulb
ginger, minced
bell pepper (green or red), diced
english peas: 1c
potato: 1 russett, pealed, thinly diced

prep sauce in large bowl:
soy sauce: 2T
oyster sauce: 1/4c
tomato sauce: 8oz (can)

prep chicken:
drumsticks: 5
rinse, pat dry, black pepper

in dutch oven, heat sesame oil.
add chicken, brown all sides, use tongs, ~10 minutes total.
set chicken aside. cut off skin (i don't like the skin).

add a little more sesame oil.
sautee onion, garlic, ginger.
add back chicken.
add sauce.
simmer ~15 minutes, covered.
add potato.
simmer ~20 minutes, covered.
add bell pepper.
simmer ~10 minutes, covered.
add peas.
simmer ~10 minutes, covered.
simmering longer and slower may be good if time allows.

take off heat . serve with rice. 5 servings (duh).
total time: 2 hours (prep :40, sautee :25, simmer :55)

spaghetti squash!

today i experimented FINALLY with a spaghetti squash! put the oven on 350, cut the squash in half, put them cut side down, and then bake for 45 minutes. that's all you do! and then once they come out and cool some, you can use a fork to "scrape" out the squash strands that really do look like spaghetti.

so here's what i did with what i made:

"spaghetti" with shrimp and vegetables!

here's what i used:

- baked spaghetti squash. i think used about 2/3 of the squash i had? just eyeball whatever you would eat in pasta amount i suppose...
- roasted shrimp. 1/2 pound of shrimp, peeled, etc, and i roasted it on 400 about 5-6 minutes with some olive oil, salt and pepper.
- diced zucchini.
- chopped green onion.
- minced cilantro.
- tomatoes. i decided to use cherry tomatoes that i halved and roasted along with the shrimp.
- salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and sherry just because i like it.

saute the zucchini, onion, then add the squash, and splash the sherry, and then add the shrimp and tomatoes and cilantro. toss! serve! we garnished ours with some grated parmesan and some avocado and yum it was good! the dish was so colorful and delicious. would have been 100% complete with some crusty bread and a nice glass of wine!

will DEFINITELY be using spaghetti squash more in my cooking!

pictures to come when i upload my camera...

black beans

cooking black beans is always an experiment (especially on how to incorporate the cumin the best way so that it doesn't just float on the top of the broth) but i've more or less settled down on a way that makes pretty good beans.

black beans: 1 pound dry
water: 8 c
onions: 2, halved
garlic: 2 bulbs, pressed
bay leaves: 5
cumin: 1 t
chili powder: 1 t
black pepper
salt: 1.5 t
oregano: 2 t



- soak the beans ~8 hours. put in dutch oven with water and bring to a low simmer, covered.
- add the onion halves.
- prep your garlic, sautee in some olive oil, add to pot.
- sautee cumin, chili powder, and BP in some olive oil, take off the heat, and add some broth before adding to the pot.
- ~1 hour in, add salt and oregano.
- simmer another hour or so (the longer and lower the simmer, the better).
- take off the heat, remove and discard the onion pieces, let sit covered a while and let cool before refrigerating.

this recipe makes enough to have several meals of beans and several of bean soup.

curried pumpkin soup

i guess it's time for a new recipe...

i've recently discovered roasting the various winter squashes to be quite fun and tasty. i started with roasting a small sweet dumpling squash with a bit of salt and pepper, slathered it with some butter, and lo and behold, a tasty side dish! i also procured some small sugar pumpkins with the intent of making pumpkin pie, but then i decided to make a soup with it, much to the delight of H. and it turned out so deliciously, i must share the recipe.

ingredients:

• 1 small sugar pumpkin, about the height of a canned coke or something
• chicken stock (or veggie, whatever you have)
• cream
• sour cream (for garnish)
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and rough chop
  
• cloves of garlic, peeled
  
• 1.5-2 inch piece of root ginger, rough chop
  
• cilantro, minced
  
• red curry paste
• salt
• pepper (i used some black and white pepper)
• red cayenne pepper to taste

first you gotta cook the pumpkin flesh. you can do this in any number of ways...what i did was to cut it into sections, scoop out the seeds (SAVE THEM TO MAKE THE ROASTED SEEDS), and then steam them until a fork easily pierces the skin/flesh. this took me about 10-12 minutes. alternatively, you could roast them in the oven along with the onion, garlic, and ginger (since you have to roast those anyway to get really good flavor). (next time i think i'll roast the pumpkin with the rest of the ingredients, if that helps you decide.) roast the veggies at around 350 for 45 minutes or so. just check them periodically, and when they look good, just take them out!

after everything's done, puree the whole lot in a blender. or food processor. i don't have one of those, so i used a blender. over medium heat in a pot, put your concentrated "soup" into it. add a cup of the chicken broth and stir. add more if you want thinner soup. i believe i added about 1 3/4 cup chicken broth. then add your spices. i ended up using about 1.5 tsps of the red curry paste, and then i put in some yellow curry powder as well. i like spicy food so i added a lot of cayenne pepper. basically, just add your spices and cilantro a little at a time, taste, and then adjust. i went through multiple tastings before i got it how i wanted, but that's just how soup is.

once everything warms through and just starts to bubble, turn the heat off and add a bit of the cream. the cream really helps to just smooth things out a bit. after you add the cream, you do NOT want to bring the soup to a boil. that is why you add the cream AFTER you've gotten your soup seasoned the way you want.

serve in a bowl. i garnished with a dollop of sour cream and H added some peanuts to his. it was a lovely soup with nice spice and heat to it...enjoy!