soup « DinnerCakes

Butternut Squash and Onion Soup (That Won't Ruin Your Diet)

December 12th, 2008

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

A friend recently sent me a recipe for roasted butternut squash and shallot soup she found from Cooking Light. I love butternut squash soup, but I love it the way you should never have it – with heavy cream and sherry.

Cooking Light outlines a healthier way to enjoy this soup, but unfortunately the recipe was a little expensive and called for ingredients that I don’t usually keep on hand, such as shallots, fresh ginger root and fresh chives. Ginger root is not expensive but I don’t love an overpowering ginger taste, shallots may be a little sweeter than regular onions but they’re also more expensive, and fresh chives are also expensive, especially if they’re only acting as a garnish.

I tried to minimize the cost of this recipe and make it a little more manageable for the average pantry. I found the onion taste to be a tad strong, but my husband had no complaints. Yet you do have to like onions to enjoy this recipe. There are other milder versions of this soup, as well as versions that incorporate nuts and apples. These sound absolutely delicious, and I’m excited to try them, but for this particular recipe I was trying to keep it simple.

I served this as the main course for dinner for my husband and I, so we had two full bowls with a little bit leftover. This would also be great as a side to have with a grilled cheese sandwich; I had a piece of bread with my soup and I enjoyed dipping the bread into the soup. If you have other vegetables in your kitchen that you would like to use, such as carrots, that would make an excellent addition as well.

Butternut Squash and Onion Soup
inspired by Cooking Light

4 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 thinly sliced scallions
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons (1-inch) slices fresh chives
black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine butternut squash cubes, oil, salt, minced ginger, minced garlic, chopped onion and minced ginger in a jelly-roll pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Cool 10 minutes.

Pour half the squash mixture and half the broth into a blender. Remove the center piece of the blender’s lid to allow heat to escape; lay a folded paper towel over the opening. Blend mixture until smooth, then pour into a large saucepan. Pour the remaining squash mixture and broth into the blender and repeat previous process. Cook over medium heat for five minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top with scallions and pepper as desired.

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Season Of Soups – Winter Minestrone with Fennel

December 8th, 2008

by Chef Edwin

Winter is officially here in DC, and by officially I mean it has been decided by me. It didn’t feel like we had much of an autumn this year, which is a shame. Autumn is a beautiful time of the year, with the mild cold adding a crispness to the air without being harsh enough to shuffle you indoors and into a quasi-hibernation state (I’m talking about you winter). Alas, all good things must come to an end.

For me, winter lends itself to old-fashioned meals; comfort foods. Slow, languid cooking just seems right. The crock pot and dutch oven become the stars this season, using their special skills to transform the bitter winter vegetables into a sweet and savory meal. Yes, it is the season of soups and stews; some of my favorite food.

While volunteering for chef Christine Illich at L’Academie de Cuisine a few months ago I picked up a delicious minestrone recipe, perfect for the winter. This soup freezes well and like all good soups is flexible with regard to the ingredients used. Feel free the experiment. You’re sure to come up with delicious results.

Winter Minestrone with Fennel
adapted from Christine Illich
If you enjoy the fennel flavoring, consider chopping some of the fronds leftover and adding it in addition to the rosemary.

parmesan (optional)
1/4 pound spiral pasta (fusilli, rigatoni, etc)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion; chopped
2 large carrots; chopped
4 stalks of celery; chopped
1 fennel bulb; chopped
2 large leeks; chopped
8 cups of water
1 medium-sized winter squash (I recommend butternut); peeled and chopped
10 ounces spinach (if frozen, drained); chopped
1 large sweet potato; peeled and chopped
1 can great northern beans; drained
1 teaspoon salt
2 sprigs of rosemary; chopped

Boil the pasta as per the package’s instructions.

Sweat the onion, carrots and celery for ten minutes. Add the leeks and fennel for another 10. Add the water, squash, spinach, sweet potato, beans, salt and rosemary and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft. Add additional salt to taste.

To service, place a spoonful or more of pasta into a bowl and pour the soup over. Grate parmesan on top.

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Beauty Underneath – Celery Root Bisque with Butternut Squash

December 6th, 2008

by Chef Edwin

If spaghetti squash is the oddest vegetable I’ve ever worked with, then celery root is by far the ugliest. Harsh, I know, but look at it. Knobby, rough texture, no vibrant colors. But like Mom always said, it’s what’s underneath that counts; and underneath is a cream colored flesh with a slight nutty flavor.

I’ve never done anything with celery root before but have had this quiet desire to coax a soup out of one some day. When I saw some on sale at the local Whole Foods I felt it was time. This is a very winter soup with the addition of butternut squash and sweet potatoes. The celery root is faint, but present.

The best way to remove the rough outer skin is simply with a quick pass or two through with a vegetable peeler. From there you can remove any deeper blemishes with a paring knife. For some reason this really dried my hands out and I haven’t figured out why. Keep that in mind while your handling it.

Celery Root Bisque with Butternut Squash
An easy way to clean leeks is to soak then in water while chopping the other vegetables. When ready to use, just scoop them out.
1-1 1/4 pounds celery root; peeled and chopped
3/4 pounds butternut squash; peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato; peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves; minced
2 large leeks; sliced (to the greens)
1 yellow onion; chopped
8 cups of water
1/2 cup heavy cream; approximately (I used half & half simply because I had it)
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon or more to taste

Sweat the leeks, garlic and onion with some oil in a large heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven for 10 minutes. Once the onions are translucent, add the remaining vegetables with the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes until vegetables are soft. Remove from heat and let cool.

Either blend in batches with a standard blender or all at once with an immersion blender, adding cream until you get a nice creamy texture. Add the salt to taste. Optionally, a bit of ancho chili pepper for a kick.

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Hooray For Soup

November 4th, 2008

by Chef Edwin

Soup. Is. Awesome. That’s right, I said it. I am no longer the reckless youth I once was. I no longer eat what can be barely considered food. I no longer leave a pot of Campbell’s Soup sitting on the stove over night only to eat it the next day. No, today I am mature. Sophisticated. And sophisticated, mature people (read: OLD) eat mature things, like soup.

It’s safe to say there is rarely a week that I don’t eat some kind of soup. It’s delicious (when done right), it’s healthy (when done right) and if you prepare a big enough pot it can last you the whole week (or you could freeze it, depending on the soup). This is usually want I do. Come the weekend I cook a pot of soup for lunch throughout the week. It’s also nice for a quick last minute dinner, but when you’re already eating the stuff once a day for a week already, the addition of it on the dinner menu gets old.

One of my staples is lentil soup. Legumes (beans) are an excellent source of protein and lentils are the second highest source in the legume family (soy takes first). Lentils are also great because you can buy them dried (cheap) and don’t have to worry about softening them prior to cooking. This dish also demonstrates another great thing about soups: their flexibility and versatility. You can really do a lot to vary this recipe and chances are it’ll still come out delicious (unless you do something wacky like add peanut butter or cheese or something. i offer no guarantees if you go all “mad scientist” on this thing). This can really be considered a “base” recipe. I often up the veggie ratio. Go nuts with this one. And better yet, let us know how it turns out!

And yes, I totally acknowledge how visually unappealing this soup is.

Simple (Healthy!) Lentil Soup
adapted from Alton Brown

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion; chopped
1 carrot; chopped
1 celery stalk; chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
8 cups of water or broth (I normally use eight cups of water and some frozen stock, but bouillon cubes could also work)
10 oz of lentils; picked over, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes (whole or stewed could also work in a pinch)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp pepper
salt to taste

Sweat the onions, carrots, celery and garlic with the olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot for about 10 minutes. The onion should start appearing translucent.

Add everything but the salt (simple, huh?). Let simmer for 45 minutes. Add salt to taste. Done. Eat. Be full.

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