Laurie's Warming Winter Squash Soup

This fall my brother grew some great winter squash and was kind enough to share two of them with me, a huge Hubbard and a warty French squash.

There are so many ways to use these versatile fall and winter vegetables, I did a whole post on that several years ago. While each winter squash including pumpkin have slightly different flavors and textures they are, for the most part, interchangeable in my recipes.

I wanted to come up with another savory soup using winter squash, I had some ideas so I just started cooking. The result was rich, warming and tasty, it reminds me a bit of a warm savory pumpkin pie.
I made it a second time to take photos and measurements so I could share it with you.

Laurie's Warming Winter Squash Soup

Ingredients
1 diced onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 cups cooked winter squash*
1 cup tomatoes*
1 1/2 cup coconut milk**
1 tablespoon Garam Masala
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds
2 teaspoons  fresh grated ginger ( freezing fresh ginger makes it easy to grate and keeps longer)
2 cups water
1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon ( optional)
salt to taste

* I used the Hubbard squash I had roasted, cut into chunks and froze, same with the tomatoes. I think a large can of pumpkin and a can of stewed tomatoes would work as well.

** Use coconut milk not coconut water, I like this Trader Joe's coconut milk.

1) Saute the onion in the olive oil until soft.

2) Add the spices,  stir and cook for several minutes.

3) Add the cooked winter squash, tomatoes, coconut milk, water and bouillon. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

4) Allow to cool before pureeing in the blender. Salt to taste.

You can serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and a garnish of fresh parsley or cilantro. It will certainly warm you up on a cold winter night.

Pressure cooker lesson and Hippocrates Soup

In my list of goals for this year I mentioned wanting to learn how to use the pressure cooker that sits in its box in my garage. My dear friend Laurie volunteered to show me how to use it, since she uses hers occasionally.

First we had a lovely lunch of her latest soup discovery: Hippocrates soup. Here is Laurie's post about it on her blog. In a minute I will give you my rendition.

Back to the pressure cooker...now remember I have some trepidation going into this. I associate pressure cookers with exploding beans and hot steam.

Laurie gets out the instructions, reads them through, explains stuff to me about seals, and release valves and I can feel my eyes ( and ears) glaze over. She wisely decides to test my pot by boiling water in it. As it boils I quiz her about how often she uses it and for which recipes. So far I have not heard anything that really sells me on it. Most of the stuff I can do either in my slow cooker or stove top with a dutch oven.

The cooker heats up and steam starts coming out, but the top doohickey doesn't wobble like it is supposed to and steam is coming out of some other hole in top. We turn it off but it is still a safety hazard, yikes. After reading through the instructions, it turns out I am missing a very small but, yes, essential part of the top. I breathe a big sigh, not of disappointment but of relief. Maybe I don't need to overcome this fear and instead I have one less piece of cooking equipment to store in my pantry !!

I did get a very tasty soup recipe out of our afternoon together. Laurie sent me home with with a sample. Bob liked it so much I decided to make it a couple of days later.

To find out more about why it is called Hippocrates soup, go to Laurie's blog.
I am sharing this recipe because it is a wonderful, flexible, rich pureed soup that reminds me of a French potage. It's a soup for the soul !!

My version of Hippocrates Soup

Ingredients

2 large yellow potatoes
2 leeks
2 carrots
1 large onion
1 fennel bulb
1 celery root ( or 2-3 stalks of celery)
1/2 cauliflower
1 cup purple cabbage
2 cups roasted tomato puree ( or whole tomatoes)
fresh herbs( small amounts of anything you have on hand, oregano, basil, thyme, sage, rosemary)

2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste

1) The original recipe tells you not to peel most of the vegetables. I did peel the onion and the celery root. Otherwise just chop all the vegetables in large chunks except the garlic.

2) Place in a large pot on the stove and fill with just enough water to cover. You could also use stock if you prefer.

3) Add the tomato puree and fresh herbs.

4) Bring to a simmer and cook for two hours. You can also do this in a slow cooker overnight.

5) When it has cooled enough, puree in small batches in your blender. This is when I add the two cloves of garlic and the salt and pepper to taste.

6) Garnish with fresh parsley, yogurt or sour cream.

Next time: I try some parsnips, a bunch of fresh parsley or some chard.

Kabocha Spice Soup

Kabocha squash are not really pumpkins although they look very similar. Kabocha are another variety of delicious winter squash. We had some last year, dumped the seeds in our compost and had volunteers this year in our front yard.

The other day I decided to bake the kabocha along with a butternut and delicata squash.

We ate the butternut straight up, it was so rich and creamy.  I stuffed the delicata, I had forgotten how good stuffed squash is. 

The kabocha was destined for soup. I didn't have a recipe, so I decided to riff off the carrot ginger soup we love so much. I was very happy with the results.

Kabocha Spice Soup

Ingredients

1 baked squash, peeled and cubes
1 onion chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 inch fresh ginger, sliced
1 large bell pepper/ roasted bell pepper*
 6-10 cups broth/water
2-4 teaspoons salt
1-2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

* I used a roasted bell pepper I had frozen. You can use a fresh bell pepper, just be sure to add it to the onion to cook.

1) As I mentioned above, I baked the squash first, you can also steam it. In fact for this soup that might be the best bet. However you cook it, let it cool down, then peel it.

2) Cut into chunks and set aside.

 3) Chop and saute one onion in olive oil. If you are using a fresh bell pepper, chop and add to the onion. Cook both until soft.

 4) I used a pepper I had roasted, so I added it when I added the sliced ginger and broth.

 5) Once you add the sliced ginger and broth, simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash is very soft and mushy. The amount of broth you use will depend on the size of your squash and how thick you like your soup. You can always add more liquid when you puree it.

6) Allow the soup to cool enough to puree without chance of injury ;-) I like to add the rest of my spices then, as well as the vinegar, salt and more water or broth if needed.

The soup is rich and thick with a nice kick of heat from the cayenne. Perfect for a cold winter evening or lunchtime. 

 I served it with the tomato galette....

 and a green salad with apples, radishes, carrots and cabbage.

Laurie's Very Simple Carrot Ginger Soup

This recipe is dedicated to a dear friend whose birthday is this week. She was the first person to send me a recipe for carrot ginger soup, it helped her to recover from chemotherapy many years ago. (Ginger is very settling to the stomach.)Thankfully she is still around to celebrate her birthday :-)

I had a version of this soup recently when I lunched at Green's, that inspired me to make it myself. I have become quite the pureed soup aficionado since that first recipe crossed my path.

This version is so creamy and full of ginger flavor.

Laurie's Very Simple Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
6-8 large carrots
fresh ginger ( about an inch long)
soup stock or water

1) Chop and saute your onion until it begins to caramelize.

I just threw the onion in the pot, it has not started to cook yet.

2) Chop the carrots into large coins.

 3) Slice about an inch of fresh ginger into thin slices.

4) Once the onion has cooked to your satisfaction, add the carrots, ginger and enough water or soup stock to cover the carrots.

5) Simmer until the carrots are soft and mushy.

6) Once it has cooled down, remove most of the ginger before you puree the mixture, otherwise it will be too strong, you can always add it back in. I ended up with 3 or 4 slices of ginger. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add more liquid if it is too thick.

7) Reheat gently to serve and top with a teaspoon of yogurt and sprinkle of paprika.