Butternut Squash Soup
One of our Members, Ken Elias of Three Rivers, asked for additional Butternut Squash for soup. I asked for the recipe and was pleasantly surprised. He sent the wonderfully versatile recipe!
3-5 lbs. squash will make about 5-6 quarts of soup.
If you have a microwave oven, that’s the easiest way to cook the squash. You put it in the microwave whole, and after it’s cooked, let it cool for awhile and then cut it in big sections and scoop it out with a spoon. A lot easier than peeling it, also easier to deal with the seeds..
Put the squash in your soup pot. Add all the other ingredients. Blend it with a stick blender. Or, use a blender or your other preferred method of combining the squash with the water and other ingredients.
3-5 quarts water. Add the water one quart at a time until you like the thickness.
2-4 sautéed onions.
4-8 cloves garlic.
I cook the onions in canola oil because olive oil has a touch of bitter I don’t like. I leave the onions alone so they can partly caramelize on the bottom while not completely destroying the crunch above. Add the garlic near the end so it gets cooked without getting killed.
Butter. Some people like their soup as part of a meal, and some people like it as the meal. I’m with Julia Child on this matter. Butter is one of nature’s great inventions, and an inspiration, especially in the winter. But if you are serving an eight-course meal, you may want the soup lighter. Leave out the butter if you can bear to. I made a batch of about five quarts of soup recently, and added a quarter pound of butter! It was to die for..!
Chopped fresh sage. 2-4 tablespoons for 6 quarts of soup, or to your taste.
chopped fresh thyme. 1-2 teaspoons for 6 quarts of soup, or to your taste.
Hot sauce or pepper. In our household, the one hard-n-fast rule is, no black pepper. However, I’ve learned I can add a few dashes of habanero hot sauce with no problem, and it really picks up the flavor.
Salt. Add it one teaspoon at a time as the very last ingredient, tasting carefully before proceeding. Here again, so easy to add, so difficult to remove.
Why are the quantities so variable, you say? Never make the soup exactly the same twice. Life is a lot more interesting that way.
I’ve seen some winter squash soup recipes that say you can substitute pumpkin or squash.
I’ve made this soup with pumpkin from a Halloween pumpkin against all advice from the pros, who say that those pumpkins aren’t really for eating. But it bothers me that we raise an entire crop of perfectly edible food in this country and then throw it in the landfill after using it for decoration. That said, I’ve concluded that the pros are right, the product is pretty stringy and fibrous, no matter how much you cook it, strain it, or blend it. But if it’s all you have, it makes an edible product.
Recently I made a batch of soup with canned pumpkin. It was OK, but it had that faint canned food smell that just doesn’t inspire confidence in the product. If you use this, be prepared to add plenty of spice of various kinds to throw people off the track.
My favorite is fresh butternut squash. My most recent batch included a fine squash from Family Farm Fresh. However, as I was gathering all the ingredients and planning how much soup I needed for an event, I realized I needed more squash, and I couldn’t get it immediately from FFF. So I purchased one at Savemart. It was grown in Mexico. That wouldn’t necesarily make it a bad squash. But I noticed when I opened up the Savemart squash and the FFF squash and had them side by side that the FFF had a wonderful deep rich orange color, whereas the Savemart squash had a pale yellow color, and the FFF squash had a stronger sweeter fragrance. I guess everyone who is part of FFF has their own stories of this type. Anyway, get some wonderful butternut squash from FFF, and you can’t go wrong.
I discovered recently I don’t like to use prepared stock. There’s a great array of canned or boxed stock available. But who knows what’s in it? I find it often tastes kind of bitter. Use water. Then you know everything in the soup is what you put in it.
This time of year you could probably add some sherry or brandy and not go wrong.
You can also have some small cubes of your favorite cheese to throw in when serving, or grated parmesan.
Portuguese Kale Soup
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1 Medium Red Pepper, chopped
2 Large Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 Pound Package of Chorizo or Linguica, sliced
½ tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Dried Basil or 2 tsp of Fresh Basil
1 Can (14oz) Diced Tomatoes
2 Cans Chicken Stock
5 Red Potatoes, cut into ¾ inch cubes
4 Carrots, peeled and sliced
2 tsp Salt
1 Bunch Kale, washed and sliced
1 Can Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
Heat olive oil in large soup pot. Add onions, red pepper, and garlic and sauté for five minutes. Add chorizo and sauté another minute. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, potatoes, and carrots, salt, pepper, basil and enough water to cover vegetables. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add kale and beans and simmer for another 20 – 25 minutes.
This soup (like many others) is very forgiving.
Substitute any type of bean you like, omit potatoes or use sweet potatoes, omit carrots, etc. Adjust the recipe to your liking.
Navet Glaces
6 fresh turnips, scrubbed clean
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
Cut the turnips into 1/4 inch slices and cook in a pot of boiling water for about 6 minutes, or just until fork tender. Drain.
Heat butter in a frying pan on medium heat and add turnip slices. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until the sugar starts to caramelize – about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes 4 servings.
Kale Chips
1 bunch kale, torn into 1/2″ pieces (blot with a towel to make sure the leaves are dry)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar *
2 teaspoons sea salt **
Preheat oven to 400° F. Whisk oil and vinegar and toss kale in the dressing until thoroughly coated.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place kale on sheet in a single layer and sprinkle with salt.
Bake for 15 minutes or so, until crispy. Don’t let the leaves get so crisp that they turn brown, then they will be bitter.
Notes from Pam
* I found a ton of Kale Chip recipes—some had vinegar included, some didn’t.
** Some recipes called for Kosher salt instead.
Lemonade
1 cup sugar
5 cups water, divided
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (approx 4-6 lemons)
Make a simple syrup by blending 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar well in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves completely. Let cool and refrigerate. Mix the simple syrup well with the lemon juice (strained or not, as you like) and stir well. Add 4 cups cold water and mix. Try using sparkling water for some fizz! Add thin lemon slices if you’d like.
Eating Together: Mealtime for Your Family
By Wayne Parker, About.com Guide
If you ever have time to watch some of the old family sitcoms like the Brady Bunch, My Three Sons or others, you will often see families eating together. But if your family is more like mine, there are way too many things to do outside the home to connect often at mealtime.
But mealtimes are an important part of building family ties. And in addition, there are some big health benefits to taking time to eat together.
Kids Eat Better. With the alarming rate of childhood obesity and lack of fitness, the experts in the field of children’s health warn us to avoid a steady diet of fast food. Too often, when we are running to soccer games, dance recitals, or piano lessons, dinner is secured in the drive through lane and eaten in the car. Taking time to prepare and serve a nutritious meal at home can help kids eat better food-lower fat, lower sodium and higher nutritional values.
Parents Eat Better. If it is good for the kids, it is good for us. Try an experiment: commit to eating a prepared meal at home at least once a day for a week, and see if you don’t feel better and if you have been able to keep your weight down. Eating at home instead of in the car on the way to or from an event will help you, too.
Doing Double Duty: Spending Time and Eating. One of the challenges parents often have (and especially fathers) is balancing the demands on their time. Eating a meal at home with the family is one of those high leverage activities-you can spend time with your family and eat a meal at the same time. These are both high priorities and you get to do them at the same time!
Daily Check-Ins. Among the many difficulties of moving into the teenage years is that our kids are more mobile and tend to spend less time at home. Having the family together for at least one mealtime each day (usually breakfast or dinner) gives parents and teens a chance to connect they might not otherwise have. No matter what the age of your children, mealtime is a good time to check in with each other.
Learning Good Manners. Anyone else noticed that good table manners are missing from some of our children today. This is probably a result of the more casual atmosphere of today’s busy lifestyle, but good manners are essential to success. At the family table, you can practice setting a table properly; you can teach good manners and proper etiquette. And you can see how well your teaching is taking.
In order to attract and keep your kids at the family table, family mealtimes have to be attractive to them. Pizza every night might be one way, but there are better ways to make mealtimes a good experience.
Involve Children in the Preparation. Children love to be involved. Find age-appropriate ways for them to help with dinner. Breaking up lettuce for a green salad or putting napkins on the table might be good for a toddler. Older children can help with shopping, cooking and setting the table. Finding ways to involve them in the process can help children have ownership in the outcome.
Keep It Simple. Candidly, families trying to implement family meal time tend to go a little overboard in meal preparation. Everyday does not need to have a holiday dinner. Some simple meal ideas can help ease the transition and make it a more enjoyable experience.
Keep the Conversation Light. Family meal time is not the time to engage in serious debates about issues like discipline or money. If the discussions are too heavy, children will rebel at coming and parents will come away with indigestion. Resolve to keep the tone light and conversational and save the heavy stuff for individual discussions or for a family council.
Turn Off The Television. This one was a hard adjustment for me when Julie and I were married. The TV was on all day every day at my home growing up, including mealtimes. But we have resolved from the early days of our marriage to turn off the television during mealtime (and most times). Television will distract some or all family members from the benefits of family mealtime and will minimize the kind of conversation you hope to have. And dad: put away the newspaper, too.
Eat Outside the Box. Take the time to be a little creative with family meals. Plan some variety. Think about ideas like packing some sandwiches in a picnic basket and heading to the park. Stoke up the barbeque for dinner from time to time. Try some ethnic dishes that you may not have experienced before. Try a fondue sometime to experience real family togetherness. But keep a little variety in mind as you plan your family meals.
Conclusion
Family mealtime can become a highlight of the day and a way to build some pleasant family memories. Remember to make it fun. Involve the children in planning and executing the meal. Keep conversations light and distractions to a minimum. And then enjoy spending time together and having this daily check in whenever possible.
Steamed Radishes
As I was perusing through AllRecipes.com looking for a radish recipe I read a comment:
“Even if you’re not a fan of radishes, TRY THIS! When steamed, the radishes are tender and sweet….. delicious!”
Steamed Radishes
Ingredients
20 radishes
Couple tablespoons water
1/4 cup butter
Directions
Trim the ends off of the radishes and peel a band of radish-skin from around the middle of the radish.
Steam the radishes in a covered microwave safe container for 8 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and toss with butter, serve immediately.
If you don’t have 20 radishes, modify the recipe accordingly.
Kiwi Salsa
From BlogChef.net
Makes about 1 ½ cups
3-4 ripe Kiwi fruits (peeled and chopped)
½ avocado (peeled and chopped)
1 tablespoon green onions (thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon fresh jalapeño pepper (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (chopped)
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)
In a medium bowl, add Kiwis, pomegranate seeds, avocado, green onions, and olive oil.
Add jalapeño peppers and gently fold in to your taste. Add cilantro, salt and pepper to your taste as well.
Napa Cabbage Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
From Smitten Kitchen
Napa Cabbage Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Adapted from Gourmet, Nov 2007
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
4 cups Napa cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
6 radishes, diced
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced diagonally
Whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, shallot, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl until sugar has dissolved, then whisk in chives.
Toss cabbage, radishes, and celery with dressing.
Cream of Broccoli Soup
2 Cups Broccoli, washed and cut up
1 Celery Stock with leaves, sliced
1 Clove of Garlic
½ Cup Water
1 Carrot, peeled and sliced
1 Onion, sliced
½ Cup Chicken Stock
½ Cup Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sour Cream or Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Cook Broccoli in boiling salted water until tender. Remove from water. Simmer next 5 ingredients in water until tender. Drain. Put all ingredients except chicken stock and cream in blender. Blend on high. Add cream and chicken stock and continue to blend. Chill. Serve topped with sour cream or cheddar cheese (optional).