Carrot Coconut Soup and yes I'm still here...

I do still cook and enjoy it, blogging has just fallen to the bottom of my priority list lately.
The other day I saw some beautiful large carrots at the farmer's market and was inspired to make that wonderful carrot ginger soup... I was moved to modify it a bit and the results were fabulous. I used some of my garlic cilantro butter to saute the onions, then added spices and coconut milk. As I haven't been in the blogging mode lately I didn't document of my changes with photos. It wasn't until I was about to eat the last cup that I even remembered to take a photo.

Here is the recipe from memory.

Carrot Coconut Soup.

Ingredients

1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil or 1 tbsp. garlic cilantro butter
2 cloves fresh garlic chopped ( if you don't use the garlic butter)
1 tsp. cumin power
2 tsp. Garam Masala or curry powder
6-8 large carrots, stemmed and chopped into large coins.
fresh ginger, sliced
1 can coconut milk
1-2 cups water, you just want enough to cover the carrots
salt & pepper to taste

1) Saute the chopped onion in olive oil or garlic butter until just beginning to soften.
2) Add the spices except the fresh ginger & garlic, saute another few minutes.
3) Deglaze the pan with 1 cup water, stirring to loosen any dark bits of onion.
4) Add the carrots, coconut milk, ginger, (garlic) and  enough water to just cover.
5) Simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
6) Allow to cool before blending. You can remove some of the ginger if desired and add water depending of the consistency you want.
7) Salt and pepper to taste. Yum !!

Today I made a huge pot of vegetable/ minestrone soup, since all the carrot coconut soup is now gone.  Of course, I didn't follow either of the recipes exactly...that's how soup goes.
I made an apple pie from my galas, I  blended and prepared to freeze my last batch of roasted tomatoes.

So that's been my day in the kitchen.

Winter squash, it's what I've been cooking.

 Just yesterday I roasted and steamed a very large winter squash we grew in the fall. It was warty and French: Galeux D' Eysines it is called. While each winter squash is slightly different in texture, flavor and character, you can use any of them in the recipes below.

There was so much lovely orange cooked squash I got inspired to make my winter squash spice soup.
I now have a half gallon for lunches, dinner and some to freeze for later.

I also decided to make these lovely winter squash biscuits, Genevieve found this recipe and I love them for a snack, with dinner or even toasted for breakfast. My squash was very moist, so when I added it to the dry ingredients, there was no way I could work it like the recipe calls for.
I made them into what my mother used to call "drop biscuits". She would make these instead of rolling the dough and cutting them out. The advantage is that you don't have to add more flour in order to work the dough, in fact you handle them less which is a plus when it comes to biscuits.

Here they are before they went into the oven. The baking time is the same but so much easier to make.

I saved some of the chunks of squash to heat up as a side dish to make a quick version of my "pumpkin" bouranee. I use the garlic cilantro butter that has now become a staple in my fridge.
I just shave off three or four slivers of the "butter", toss it on the squash before I heat it up. If you want more of the authentic flavor, you could sprinkle on some smoked paprika and a dash of coriander.

Cilantro Garlic Butter

Ingredients

1/2 cup soft butter
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

1) Start by whizzing the peeled garlic cloves in your food processor.
2) Add the fresh chopped cilantro. Whiz that a bit.
3) Add the soft butter and whiz some more until it's fairly smooth. It's doesn't have to be pureed.
4) Scrap into a small bowl and store in the fridge, try not to eat it on EVERYTHING :-)


You know I'll bet that butter would be great on the squash biscuits !! Better go try it right now ;-)

Cilantro garlic butter, my busy kitchen and week two of my trip.

As promised I am posting the recipe for this cilantro garlic butter. It makes just about everything taste better, so far I have had it on toasted French bread, beet greens, steak, pasta...yum !
It's very simple, the only trick is to be sure your butter is soft. To make this vegan use Earth Balance instead of butter.

 Cilantro Garlic Butter

Ingredients

1/2 cup soft butter
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

1) Start by whizzing the peeled garlic cloves in your mini-food processor.
2) Add the fresh chopped cilantro. Whiz that a bit.

3) Add the soft butter and whiz some more until it's fairly smooth. It's doesn't have to be pureed.

4) Scrap into a small bowl and store in the fridge, try not to eat it on EVERYTHING :-)

I have been busy in my kitchen lately, I do spend a lot of time there. Cooking food from scratch is my default mode, I have come to realize.
Continuing with the winter squash theme, I made a pumpkin pie out of the rest of my frozen squash. Just remember to turn the oven down from 425 F to 350 F after the first 15 minutes...I forgot and while the pie is long gone, it was a bit brown on top.

One night I was feeling lazy so I took some pesto from the freezer for pasta. It was some I made this summer with almond pulp instead of other nuts or seeds and froze without the cheese. I do like it this way better.

With some locally grown and processed chorizo, I made chili the other day. What a great fall meal, served with my cornbread muffins. I threw the almond pulp from my almond milk into the muffins and it added a nice texture.

I got really ambitious and made my vegetable Wellington tonight. I was a bit lazy about draining all the liquid from the vegetable so it was a bit sloppy. It still tasted great and was a good paring with the flat iron steak we grilled, much like we do our flank steak.

To warm up the kitchen in the morning I baked apples, great smells and yummy to eat with hot cereal in the morning.


Here is week 2 of our latest road trip:

Day 8: Crazy found art sculptures in someone's yard in Hanksville, UT.

Day 9: Striped Mountain near the Henry Mountains, great place to find 200,000,000 year old petrified wood.

Day 10: Our campfire by Oowah Lake in the LaSal Mountians outside on Moab UT.

Day 11: We hiked to Warner Lake in the La Sal Mountains, UT.

Day 12: Red sandstone canyons in Colorado.

Day 13: T-shirt seen in a visitor's center on I-70 in Colorado.

Day 13: Genevieve on a hike outside the Mount grandparents cabin in Eldora, CO.

Day 14: Princess KitKat, roommate of the senior Mounts in Boulder, CO.