Last Minute Easy Spicy Squash Soup

It's been a year since my last update.  So much going on.  New baby (ok not so new at this point, 10.5m old) and two older children taking up all my time.  Husband adding on to the house, me juggling trying to get the kids here, there, and everywhere.  I've had very little time to cook, let alone actually play with any recipes I've found.  There have been a few successes and a few failures.  None of which I have pictures for, but I'll attempt to get you caught up over the coming weeks.

It's my favorite time of year to cook.  It's crisp outside, so heating up the kitchen isn't quite as big a deal as it is in the summer.  I baked an apple pie yesterday.  Middle child is begging for a slice with every single meal.  Always a good thing, and I can validate pie for any meal with a variety of reasons.  Last week we went to the orchards; Russell's Orchards to be exact.  That's where the apples came from for aforementioned pie.

While there, I selected an acorn squash.  Just a small one, knowing full well I would be the only one consuming it.  However, middle child said she'd try it with me.  This is not my first time with an acorn squash, I ADORE acorn squash.  Roasted in the oven, then served with butter, maybe a smidge of maple syrup.  So much yum.  But, it sat all week.  One dinner went by, two, then three, then pizza take out, followed by Chinese take out.  Which got me where I am today.  Knowing I was going out tonight I wanted to make the squash, for myself, for lunch.  So I set the oven at 350 to pre-heat.  Sliced the squash in half, scooped out the guts, gave it a good spray of cooking oil (so it doesn't dry out), and placed them on a middle rack.  45m later out they came.  And that... is when I decided to do more with it.  Remembering back to a Spicy Pumpkin Soup recipe I received from a friend, I started to pull spices from my cabinet and decided to play.

Spicy Squash Soup

1 acorn squash, guts scooped, roasted to tender, cooled
1-2c chicken broth (I keep jars of Better than Bouillon in my cabinets should the need ever arise, I use it in everything)
Onion Powder
Ground Ginger
Curry Powder
Cumin
Coriander
Cinnamon
Salt/Pepper
Cream

1.) Scoop the squash into a blender, add to it 1c chicken broth
2.) Start adding spices, how much?  Come on, you know me better than that by now. If you don't like Curry, add less curry.  Don't want onion, don't add any.  Start with "less is more" and add some later.  But add a little bit of everything.
3.) Whirl it all together on puree setting.  If you like a thick soup, add less broth, if you like a thinner soup, add more broth.  I tend to go about 1.25 to 1.5c of broth.
4.) TASTE, adjust spices
5.) Whirl more, finish with a splash of cream, whirl again.
6.) Pour into pan to warm on stove, bring to simmer.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.  This is where the spices will really come into their own.

Serve.  Enjoy.

And then realize, that, you purchased this for your middle daughter try with you, and now that it's soup, she's not going to touch it.  Thankfully, this made just two servings.  Lunch today, and lunch tomorrow.  Win.

Soup is Easy

I recently signed up for a weight loss challenge at work.  What my actual weight is, is none of your business, but I have to lose 5% in the next 8 weeks.  I had to pony up $20 and all those in the pot who reach the 5% goal get to split the pot.  It's at $460 right now.  I'll take those odds.  Losing weight is not a first for me.  After the birth of my oldest child I joined Weight Watchers (WW) and lost 75lbs on the program in one year and kept it off for 2 years after that until the birth of my second daughter came along.  And I haven't been able to lose the baby fat since.  So I know my limits, I know my pain points and I know what I'm up against.  I can do this.

I dug deep into my memory bank to try and remember how I did it 7 years ago and remember starting in the first month and going WW recipe crazy.  I pulled out all the stops and measured and counted and followed all the rules.  In WW land, today those have all changed.  But one thing I remember that helped me jump start was by making soup.  WW has this soup recipe that's all broth and vegetables and it's REALLY GOOD.  But you think I could find that again?  I remember what was in it so I planned to just wing it.   Although, the grocery store had other plans for me, they didn't have 1/2 the ingredients I needed in the vegetable aisle.  So.  Ok.  I'll change it up and use intuition and play.  And here's what happened.

Ingredients
All amounts are relative to how much soup you want to make!

• Carrot
• Onion (I use vidalia, i like 'em sweet)
• Celery
• Rutabaga/Turnip
• Chicken/Vegetable Stock (low sodium)
• 1-2 cloves Garlic
• 1 Bay Leaf
• Caraway
• Coriander
• Basil
• Salt/Pepper
• Ditalini Pasta (optional)
• Olive Oil

Seriously?  Rutabaga (aka Turnip)?  Yep.  I didn't want to use potato, all that starch.  I recently made boiled dinner which got the flavor of Turnip/Rutabaga in my brain, and I really like that root vegetable.  (See it used with Beef Brisket boiled dinner)  And I started to research it after I bought it.  Granted, you can only trust half of what you read on the Internet, but most of what I found seemed to all corroborate these results.  They are low carb.  And calories in a Rutabega are much less than calories in a Potato.

"Mise en Place" aka Preparation

I heard Chef Anne Burrell use this a lot on Worst Chefs in America on the latest episode and I like it.  Basically, it's "get your stuff ready before you start cooking"

• Carrots - peel, slice down middle lengthwise and chop
• Onion - peel, slice off ends, slice in half, chop into 3rds
• Celery - trim dirty ends, chop
• Rutabaga - peel, slice dice into 1/2" cubes
• Garlic - smashed and finely chopped or pressed in a garlic press

Play

1.  In a large stock pot, drizzle the bottom with olive oil, turn heat to medium, add onions
   
2. Salt and Pepper heavily
3. Keep onions moving and saute until they start to soften and become translucent
4. Add carrots and celery
   
5. Add bay leaf, basil, carraway and coriander
6. Continue to saute until carrots become soft
7. Add garlic and saute long enough for the garlic to soften
8. Add stock, you're going to want at least 4cups, I used 6 as I had more veggies
   
9. Add Rutabaga
   

At this point, you need to decide if you want to add the pasta or not.
And if so, are you going to eat it now, or store it for later?
If you're not going to use pasta, you're done, serve and enjoy!

       10. If you're going to add pasta and eat tonight
             - let stock boil until Rutabaga is almost soft
             - add pasta and serve once pasta is at desire texture.
       11. If you're going to add pasta and eat the soup next day
             - let stock boil until Rutabaga is completely soft
             - add pasta and get soup into your containers.
             - As the pasta sits in the soup as it cools down, it will cook.

And of course, if you find yourself home the next night, alone, after the kids went to bed having had their own dinner, you can always have soup.  With grapes (NOT olives.  Ew)

Not Your Average Chicken & Corn Chowder

Every once in a while I get in the mood for soup.  Which is great, because soup is so easy to make, and there are so many different ways to make the same soup, adjusting ingredients to your individual liking or taste at the time.  I don't think I've ever made the same soup twice.  The bad part is, I have yet to figure out how to make soup for 1, with a couple nights' leftovers.  When you make soup, you make for the masses.  One of these days I will have to master how to make soup for 5, and not 25.  See, I'm the only one in the household who will eat soup.  5 year old girls tend to be picky eaters at this phase, 2 year olds don't yet have the ability to manage it on a spoon, and well husbands... the one in my house just doesn't like soup.  And that's OK.  More for me!

Several weeks ago, some time around Valentine's Day, my mother in law throws this really fun party for the adult women of the family.  Much laughter, as you can imagine.  This year, I was unable to attend, but was there to drop my girls off for the afternoon.  Her menu for the party that day included Corn Chowder.  She makes a great corn chowder.  After finishing two and a half bowls of it quickly before we had to leave, I was determined to get it on the menu at my house in the following weeks.  And wouldn't ya know... Sunday night, I made a roast chicken.  How convenient for me, now I can make my own stock.  Score! 

I like chicken in my corn chowder.  Growing up, my dad was a Boy Scout Executive leader, and there was this one troop that had a chicken and corn chowder meal every year.  Raising funds for some project or another.  Well, the gentleman who was in charge of making the chicken and corn chowder had the most amazing recipe.  I have never had another like it.  So I always think back to that, and eventually I will find my recipe falling into that memory.

So, last night was Chicken & Corn chowder.  I didn't even bother with a recipe, I figured I could get it close enough.  I had a general idea of what is supposed to go into it and what it supposed to taste like.  I must say, I was right on.

Chicken Stock

One leftover roast chicken.  Put it in a large pot, fill with water to just 1 inch over the height of the bird, and boil it for about 3 hours.  Not a high boil, but a medium simmer.  You shouldn't have to add too much extra flavoring to this, since your chicken should have already had flavor to it when you roasted it.  We're going to add flavor to this stock later anyhow when we make it soup.  Once the 3 hours are up, you'll want to drain the stock into a collander over another large stock pot or bowl to save for later.  Keeping the bones out, but retaining the stock.

SOUP Time!


Ingredients
4-6 cups chicken stock
Chicken, shredded or cut into small pieces (as much as you like)
4-6 carrots (chopped to 1/2 inch pieces or smaller)
4-6 celery stalks (chopped to 1/2 inch pieces or smaller)
1 medium vadallia onion (chopped to 1/2 inch pieces or smaller)
2 cans sweet corn
1 can creamed corn
1 dozen small (golf ball size) red potatos - can't find the golf ball size, then adjust accordingly - chop in to bite size pieces
1 pint Light Cream
Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper


In the bottom of a stock pot, drizzle the olive oil and heat to med-high heat.  Add your carrots, celery and onion.  This is a classic mirepox, or the holy trinity, of soup. Some people use this in just making the stock only and then dispose of it.  In this case, I like a colorful soup.  If it's not fun to eat, then why eat it?  I decided to leave these in.

Add salt and pepper.  Saute over medium heat until they are soft and the onions become translucent.  Don't rush this part, the longer they sit and marry, the better the flavor.  If you get a touch of burning on the bottom, that is ok, it's not actual burning, it's "fond" which I've talked about in past posts.  You'll scrape this off once you add the stock.

Once the mirepox is soft and translucent, add the corn and creamed corn.  Give them a good stir and let saute for just a moment.  Then add your chicken stock.  So how much?  How thick do you like your chowder and how much soup are you making?  Start by adding 4 cups and go from there.  After you add just 4 cups of stock, add the whole pint of light cream.  Stir everything together.  If you need more stock, adjust accordingly as you add the potatoes and chicken.  Bring the heat to high to boil 1-2 minutes, watching not to burn the milk.  Turn back to low and simmer until potatoes are tender.

Remove from heat, let cool so you don't burn your tongue... enjoy!

Vegetable Soupy Stew

So, I've got this event tomorrow night that requires several people to bring a dish.  It's not exactly pot-luck since we all know basically who's bringing what.  And since I wasn't sure if I'd have an oven or not, my pot had to be stove top or crock pot.  I decided to make soup.  What kind of soup, well, I'd determine that later once the date got closer.  Now it's tomorrow and I'm not sure what to do.  I have a few "fancy" soups like I like to make like Leek and Potato, or Cream of Wild Mushroom (usually has at least 5 different mushrooms), a recent addition is a Spicy Pumpkin Soup, and of course the classic Chicken Noodle, which I tend to make more like a chowder.  (I'll put that one up some day.)  But then I found out that one of the people attending is a vegetarian.  I've cooked all veggie before and have not found it to be an issue, so I took this on as saying my dish would be the one true veggie dish they can have.  Heck, I think it's even Vegan.

Now, I tend to cook meals so that they have sustenance to them.  When you leave my table, you won't go away hungry.  So when I play, I play hard.  My meals are not usually for the meek.  I like big bites.  I like big flavors.  And I always incorporate something I learned from the last time, into the next big meal.

So tonight, we play with Vegetable Soup, and I say if it can't have meat in it, go big or go home. (Am I allowed to use that?  Didn't someone copyright it?)  So, here's my hearty Vegetable Soup with bites big enough for Stew.  Let's play.  Get everything ready and prepped ahead of time, I move fast.



Ingredients

• 1 Sweet Vidallia onion (1/4 finely chopped set aside, 3/4 sliced)
• 2 short stalks celery (1/2 of one finely chopped, the rest bite size)
• 8 carrots (2 finely chopped, the rest bite size)
• 1 small cabbage (1/2 sliced to 4 by .5 inch strips)
• 1 package baby portabella mushrooms (quartered)
• 2 yellow summer squash (drawn and quartered)
• 2 zucchini  (drawn and quartered)
• 3 cloves garlic (smashed and finely diced)
• Olive Oil
• Sweet Vermouth
• 4oz tomato puree
• 2 boxes vegetable stock

Spices (I don't measure, just pour 'till it looks "right")

• 2 bay leaves
• oregano
• basil
• salt
• pepper
• red pepper flakes (5 gentle taps on the back of plastic bottle)
• thyme

And Here we Go

1. Cover bottom of LARGE pot with olive oil
2. Toss in your finely diced onion, carrots and celery (this is the standard mirapoix), generously salt and pepper here.
3. Saute this on Med-Low, keep it moving.  Sweat it out and get it brown and good.  If food starts to stick to the bottom keep it moving, but don't scrape it off.
4. When things looks dark and melted away and beyond soft (but NOT burned), pour in about 3 splashes of sweet vermouth.  And stir it up and scrape off the brown on the bottom.  This is called "fond." which I have talked about in strangely enough another Vegetarian post (Veggie Chili) - We're de-glazing the pan.
5. Alright, everything happy in the pan?  Let those veggies soak up that vermouth for a few minutes (keep them moving)
6. Toss in your bite size carrots, your bit size celery and your sliced onion.
7. Bring your pan to High and get them hot and keep them moving.
8. While these are starting to sweat start dumping in your spices.
• In go 2 bay leaves
• shake, shake, shake that oregano
• boogy woogy your basil
• more salt
• more peppa
• 5 taps on the bottom of your red pepper jar
• and "probably" about 1T of thyme
9. Med-High heat and keep moving.  You're now getting the flavors of those spices into the veggies
10. When they start to glisten (yes, they actually somewhat shine when they start to get tender), add your summer squash and zucchini
11. Add your garlic
12. Stir and keep things moving
13. Is the squash starting to shine?  Do they look like they're starting to get tender?  Alright, then add your mushrooms!
14. Hit the heat to high, keep things moving and wait for stuff to sizzle.  Get the flavors of all that spice into those veggies.  They want it.
15. When the mushrooms look like they're about to start shrinking, add your stock.  Add your can of tomato sauce.  Add enough water to all this to get the veggies floating.
16. Cover it.  Keep it on High.
17. Bring it to a boil.
18. Let it simmer on Low-Med for about 10 minutes.
19. Add your cabbage after 10 minutes.  Turn off your heat.
20. Let it sit another 10 minutes.

It should be approximately 1 hour later than when you started.  Yes?  Less?  That's OK.  More?   That's OK too.

Now, one optional component to this I MIGHT add tomorrow when I put it in the crock pot would be pasta, that small round hole pasta, looks like it's made for kids, often found in minestrone.  I haven't decided.  ALSO, I considered adding beans.  I would choose Cannelloni beans if I did.  Both may be a bit much, not sure yet.  I plan on having this at lunch tomorrow to test out and see what's missing.  I will then alter or add to it once it makes it into my crock pot tomorrow night.