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.

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 ;-)

Welcome to 2016...kale salad innovation.

This salad is beautiful and so very tasty.
I have been slowly working my way through all the winter squash we grew last fall.
I roast them, skin them and cut them into cubes, this makes them easy to use at a moment's inspiration. My favorites squashes these days are butternut and kabocha.

I like to make a basic massaged kale salad and add the goodies right before I serve it.
Here's my basic recipe:

1 bunch kale, stemmed, washed and torn into small pieces
the zest from one lemon or lime
the juice from one lemon or lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Give it a couple minutes of good massage.

I had this basic salad and decided to bring it to a friend's to accompany the lentil soup she had made for lunch. Peering into my fridge I saw the roasted squash and some cooked beets, I cut both into small cubes and added some pumpkin seeds. Wow, the sweetness of the beets and squash were a great compliment to the tart lemon flavored kale, the pumpkin seeds added a crunchy texture.
This version has become my  favorite.

Roasted Winter Squash: or my attempt at pumpkin bouranee.

My dad and I used to go out to lunch at a lovely local restaurant: Laili.
They serve a dish called pumpkin bouranee, chunks of orange winter squash roasted and served with a yogurt sauce. I love this dish and it looks so simple but the recipes I found online seemed a far cry from what I was eating. No recipes, no problem, I will make up my own and I have. It is not an exact replica but I love it anyway.

Laurie's Roasted Winter Squash

4 cups butternut squash, baked and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp.coriander
1 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 sprigs fresh mint, chopped

1) All the recipes I looked at, had you peel the squash before you cooked it. Do you know how hard and dangerous that is ?? My simple solution is to cut the squash in half and roast it first.
Put foil in your baking pan and over the squash as well. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  The squash should be done but not over done or too soft since you are going to roast it again. You should do this ahead of time. I like to do it in the morning so it warms up the kitchen.

 2) Now your squash is so much easier to peel !! Cut it into inch size chunks and place into a bowl.
 3) I like to grate my garlic with my micro grater, you can mince it instead if you prefer.

4) In a small bowl mix together the dry spices, salt and garlic.

5) Toss the squash with olive oil, then with the spices to coat.

6) Place on that same foiled baking pan.

7) Cover and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

8) Serve with yogurt and mint.

This makes a great side dish and is very good leftover.

Happy Halloween: pumpkin many ways

 Happy Halloween !!

We had fun this year with our Jack-o-lanterns.

We have been enjoying the winter squash as it shows up at our farmer's market as well.
With Halloween over, tomorrow you can pick up pumpkins and winter squash cheaper from those "pumpkin patch" stands. Look for the varieties other than those grown purely for carving: sugar pie, butternut, kabocha, delicata, blue hubbard, etc...

In looking back through my blog I was surprised by the number of recipes using winter squash.

Pumpkin Cake
Pumpkin Cupcakes
Pumpkin Cornbread
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Pie
Winter Squash Biscuits
Stuffed Baked Squash
Kabocha Spice Soup

So buy some squash, steam or roast them, puree them and start cooking !!

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.

Stuffed Baked Squash

I love to look into the fridge and see what needs to be used and what I can create with those leftovers. That is how this dish came to be.
I had two beautiful Heart of Gold winter squash from a friend's garden. They are very similar to an acorn squash. I had some leftover brown Basmati rice and carrots and cabbage that needed using.
Here is what I came up with !! Bob and I were amazed at how tasty this dish turned out.

Stuffed Baked Squash.
Cut open two squash and scoop the seed. Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet at 400 F for 30 to 40 minutes. You can use Acorn squash or any winter squash that has a big enough cavity to stuff.

Filling:
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 finely chopped cabbage
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 onion chopped
1- 2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp.fresh herbs: rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano finely chopped. This really made the dish. You can use dried as well.
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sunflower seeds
1 tbsp. bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese ( optional)

Saute the onion in the olive oil, as it begins to soften add the carrots, cabbage and fresh herbs. Cook until the cabbage is soft and wilted.

In a bowl mix together the sauteed vegetables, brown rice, sunflower seeds, bread crumbs and salt.

Spoon the filling into the pre-baked squash.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 375 F. Remove the foil and add the grated cheese, bake another 5 minutes. Serve !!

To make this dish vegan leave off the cheese, to make it gluten free forget the bread crumbs. No sunflower seeds on hand use whatever nuts or seeds you do have. Make it Asian by adding sesame oil, and soy sauce, make it Indian by adding some curry in place of the fresh herbs and add 1/2 raisins or currants. Instead of the brown rice, try quinoa or couscous. The possibilities are endless ;-)

Pumpkin Pie

Winter squash is now in season. As I drive up the northern California coast I see fields of pumpkins of all sizes, shapes and colors. The great thing is that most winter squash make great pies. I have tried butternut squash, sugar pie pumpkins, delicata squash and blue moon Cinderella pumpkins.

Recently a friend gave me  giant blue hubbard squash, I wasn't sure whether to keep it as a pet or cook it up. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo, this thing was huge, probably 20 pounds. Bob even had trouble cutting it up for baking.
Here's a photo I found on the internet.

So after baking it, and making it into puree in my food processor ( sorry I didn't photo document that either), I decided to try it out in pie and cupcakes( I'll post about those soon).
What I didn't use, I froze in freezer bags in two cup portions.

Here's my classic pumpkin pie recipe.

Pumpkin Pie

Preheat oven to 425 F

Prepare your favorite single pie crust in a deep glass pie plate.

In a mixing bowl place:

2 cups  pumpkin/winter squash puree
2/3 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp.cloves
1 3/4 cup whole milk

Blend well.
Pour the filling in the pie crust.
If you have them use a pie crust guard and a drip guard.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 F and bake for 45 to 50 more minutes.
Allow to cool at least 2 hours before serving with whipped cream.
I think pumpkin pie is even better the second day :-)