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!

braised lamb shank

i had been craving some lamb lately and found myself in fresh market the other day, and voila, they have lamb! of multiple varieties! i decided to try to cook the lamb shank...i knew it just needed some long slow cooking for it to taste good, so why not? i had a few hours to spare...

ingredients:

• 1 lamb shank (a little over 1 lb)
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• garlic, minced
• 1 small apple, sliced
  
• coriander
• cumin
• paprika
• PINCH of cinnamon
• salt
• pepper
• mint
  
• red wine

preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. heat up some olive oil in a dutch oven. trim the excess fat off of the lamb. season the lamb with the salt and pepper. brown the lamb shank on all sides and then set aside. add the onions, garlic, and apple and saute until everything looks good and translucent. add your spices and let cook for a few moments. deglaze the pot with some red wine. bring to a boil. once at a boil, add the lamb shank back into the pot, cover, and place in oven. bake it in the oven for about 1-1.5 hours, or until the meat falls off the bone.

once it was ready, i took it out, carved it, and had 2 good servings of delicious lamb! this method of cooking was very similar to cooking coq a vin, just in case you needed a reference point.

the lamb was served with some of the sauce in the dutch oven, fresh lightly boiled green beans (seasoned with some of the spices used in the lamb), and some oven-baked cheddar mac and cheese. delicious meal, and quite colorful as well.

chicken salad

we all know that it is hard to find a chicken salad recipe without nasty eggs and disgusting mayonaise. this has neither- it's got yogurt. this makes about 3 servings. very good on toasted pita bread.

mix all this together in a bowl:
2 cups cooked chicken *
1 stalk celery diced
1/4 red onion, diced
cilantro, minced
garlic powder
curry powder
paprika
S&P
1/2 c plain yogurt
mustard

*poached, shredded, and chopped (one breast and one drumstick are enough)

bulgogi

bulgogi is grilled, marinated beef strips. along with white rice, garlic, and gochujang (a sweet and picante chili-garlic sauce) beef strips it is wrapped in a leaf of lettuce. the marinade recipe comes from manchi and the assembly comes from how i remember it being done in korea.

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for the marinade, mix in a bowl:
1/4 c soy sauce
1/8 c white sugar
1/2 asian pear
1/2 head garlic
1/4 c water

puree then add and puree again:
1/2 T honey

add:
black pepper
1/2 T sesame seeds
5 stalks chopped green onion
1 T sesame oil

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for the meat:
1 # sirloin tip
slice long and thin strips again the grain
add to the marinade
refrigerate >= 3 hours

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grill meat, flip each strip once (~4 mins each side)
wrap in lettuce as described above
this serves 4. can easily be doubled.

banana choco chip mini muffins

i whipped these up this morning from my brain and they are delicious! i've already eaten 6...but they are mini and yummy and good.

• 1 cup AP flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp veggie oil
• 2 tbsp sour cream + tiny bit of milk to get the batter consistency you want
  
• chopped up choco chips (i used bittersweet chocolate)
• mashed up banana

combine all ingredients. i used a whisk, nothing special. put batter into mini muffin tin...this was enough to make 20 giganto-mini muffins, and they turned out nice and a bit "big", so you could stretch the batter to make 24 nice-sized mini muffins. and if you wanted to do regular sized muffins, this would probably make 6 or 7 comfortably. bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. enjoy!

ragu sauce

all these years when i have made spaghetti and a meat and tomato for it, i have incorrectly called it a "spaghetti sauce". the correct term in the italian culinary lexicon for such a meat-based sauce is a "ragu sauce". there is also a "bolognese sauce" that seems similar but has eggs in it.

vegetables: onion, carrot and celery, garlic, mushroom.
spices: basil, oregano, chili powder, s & p.
meat: 1 # beef
tomatoes: 1 can paste, 1 can sauce, 2 cans (14 oz each) stewed toms (pureed).

cut your vegetables, mostly finely diced.
season your meat, start browning, draining along the way.
start sauteeing vegetables in the order listed above in large pot.
add spices.
(haven't tried this but a cup of red wine could be added now and cooked til absorbed/evaporated).
add paste
add sauce
add pureed toms
when meat is ready, add
add some water if necessary

let simmer low, covered at least 1.5 hours.

chicken enchiladas

12 tortillas (de maiz)
1 onion
garlic
3 c shredded chicken (1 breast, 1 drumstick, 1 thigh)
1/2 c cottage cheese
1/2 c shredded mozzarella
1 can enchilada sauce

warm the tortillas to make pliable.
sautee onion, garlic. add chicken.
remove from heat, add cheeses.
spray casserole dish.
fill tortillas with filling, roll and place in dish.
pour enchilada sauce on top.
bake at 350 for ~30 minutes.

this makes four servings.

* filling could be of spinach instead of chicken.