Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Hi all!

Sorry I haven’t been posting as frequently as I usually do. Life gets the better of me every now and again; but I’m back with more delicious pumpkin recipes.

This dish is about as seasonal as it’s going to get at the moment. I hope you can also see that I’m linking thing’s I’m using with previous recipes so that you can follow along with my fridge. The idea behind this is to show you how much easier you can make your food and how much better it can be by simply setting yourself up and knowing how to use what you have on hand.

I’ve become a big fan of sweet and spicy combinations and I think this soup is a great introduction to the flavor combination. The soup itself is pretty simple to make, but I chose to serve it in a modern fashion where the soup is poured into a pre-garnished bowl; as opposed to having it on top. So if you want to skip the garnish, it’s really easy.

The soup is pureed at the end, so uniform cuts aren’t really important here at all. All these specifics of slices and dices are there for your understanding. Just know that you want to keep them all the same size so they cook evenly – that’s the key here.  

This is a great way to serve soup to guests! However, if you want to skip all the fanciness, just serve it straight with some fresh hearty bread and it will be sure to please.

Squash and sweet potato soup

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

Squash and sweet potato soup

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 large Spanish onions (sliced)

2 large carrots (diced)

1 stalk celery (diced)

3 cloves garlic (sliced) or 2 T minced garlic (jarred)

1 Thai chili (or jalapeno) (diced)

1 tsp siracha

¼ tsp vanilla

1 Quart butternut squash (diced)

2 Quarts pumpkin (diced)

1 Apple (diced)

1 pinch celery seed

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp dark chili powder

2 quarts stock (vegetable or chicken)

4 sweet potatos (diced)

Salt

Pepper

Apple Ricotta

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 Tablespoon apple butter

1 tsp olive oil

2 leaves sage (fresh) (chiffonade)

Pepper garnish

1 Tablespoon pickled Anaheim pepper (diced)

2 Tablespoons pickled red onion (diced)

¼ cup sweet and salty pumpkin seeds (chopped fine)

½ Tablespoon parsley (chiffonade)

1 tsp olive oil

2 teaspoons dried cranberry (diced small)

Directions:

Squash and sweet potato soup

1. In a large pot over medium heat, sweat off carrots, onions, and celery until the onions are almost translucent; add the garlic and chili pepper until onions become clear.
2. Add vanilla and siracha and stir until incorporated.
3. Add your squashes and apple; stir occasionally until they begin to give off steam and begin to caramelize.
4. Add celery seed, sweet paprika, chili powder. Stir in until it coats everything.
5. Add your sweet potatoes and stock.
6. Allow to come to a boil and then bring the heat down to a simmer.
7. Cook soup until potatoes are fork soft (about 1 hour).
8. In small batches, blend in a blender until smooth and carry through a strainer to remove any fibrous strands that remain.
9. Once the entire mixture is blended, add back into the pot on low heat and season to taste.

Apple Ricotta

1. Push ricotta cheese through mesh strainer before using.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until incorporated
3. Hint: use your tabletop mixer paddle attachment to make this more fluffy and smooth.

Pepper Garnish

1. Combine all ingredients and mix until incorporated
2. Hint: Do a really fine chop on the seeds, or substitute with pepitas. 

Pumpkin Puree

This is a great recipe to add to anything and make it “Thanksgiving” themed. I’ve been using this in a lot of my recipes, and will be used in my next 4 installments. It's a really great thing to have around in the house as well, think of it almost like canned tomatoes and you'll be surprised of where your creativity takes you. 

Pumpkins are a really awesome flavoring agent because it’s kind of sweet and savory, combined with the spices in the puree, it adds a great complexity to any dish.

You can also use this as a soup easily by adding a few quarts of stock and 1 cup rice and 1 cup black beans to the base recipe. Finish it with some cheese, drizzle of sour cream, herb, and toasted squash nuts. You will need to season this to taste. I’d suggest using some orange juice or apple cider as well.

Add eggs, cream cheese/mascarpone cheese, and sugar; and turn it into a pie. Put it on a cookie crust and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of ginger powder and cinnamon. 

You’re possibilities are endless with this great flavor base. Use it for an equal substitute with canned pumpkin in any recipe to make it your own.

Pumpkin Puree

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 quarts diced pumpkin

¼ stick butter

1 bay leaf

1 stick cinnamon (or 1 Tablespoon ground)

1 clove (or 1/4 tsp ground)

½ tsp nutmeg (ground or fresh grated)

¼ tsp coriander

1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger (or 1 1/2 T ground)

Directions:

1. Put a medium pot over the fire on medium heat
2. Melt the butter down with the spices
3. Once the butter starts to brown and the spices infuse, add the pumpkin.
4. Switch the temperature to medium-low
5. Stir mixture occasionally until squash breaks down like this
   
   
   
   
   
6. Transfer mixture to a blender and puree until smooth
7. Pass through a fine mesh strainer to make sure product is smooth
8. Return to the pot and allow reducing until it starts caramelizing (turning brown)

Apple-maple Granola aka “The Crunch Attack”

I’m nicknaming this granola “Crunch attack” because it is the crunchiest, most gnarliest granola EVER! It’s super easy to make and packed full of nutrients and protein.

I chose to us a wide variety of seeds and nuts based on their nutritional value; however you can substitute with your favorite variety as well. You can also substitute the dried fruit for whatever dried fruit you want. 

Just keep in mind that it comes down to a ratio of fat/sugar to the remaining product. I would suggest that no matter what you try and move around, that you keep the quinoa in it as it is one of the main crunch components.

As far as chopped nuts go, I did a pretty rough chop. The idea is that most of the large items besides the main garnish (apple) are the same size. This will allow for an easier cluster formation. You can also cheat and throw the nuts/seeds you want to use in a blender or food processer and buzz it up a few times (way faster and cleaner than doing it with a knife on the board).

Please enjoy with yogurt and apple butter/apple sauce. Store in a cool, dry place.

Ingredients:

2 cups oats

½ cup quinoa

¼ cup peanuts (chopped)

¼ cup almonds (chopped)

¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

¼ cup soy nuts (chopped)

2 Tablespoons flax seed

3 Tablespoons hemp seeds

1 cup apples (dehydrated)

½ cup cranberries (dehydrated)

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 Tablespoons apple butter

2/3 cup maple syrup  or honey

Pinch dark chili powder

Pinch pink Himalayan salt

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil, apple butter, and maple syrup in small sauce pot until coconut oil is melted.
2. Take remaining ingredients and combine in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add liquid and mix until incorporated.
4. Place the mixture on a sheet  tray line with parchment paper or foil.
5. Bake in the oven at 225 for 2 hours.

Potato Salad with no Mayo

Potato Salad

By looking at this picture, I’m sure you realize this is not your typical drowned in mayo potato salad that notoriously shows up at a summer barbecue or someone brings to a party. I hate mayo – absolutely hate it. 

So that being said, you will never see any of that on here!

This particular salad is usually served cold, but that doesn't mean that you can’t heat it up in the pan and serve it as breakfast potatoes. It’s super versatile! I've even been caught throwing it on naan bread with some roasted veggies and smothering it with cheese (of which I highly suggest you do).

Anyway, as you compile this recipe and mix it together, you will notice that the natural starches from the potato will break off from the main cube and act as a binder for the salad. I also chose to leave the skin on for this application. The skin of the potato is full of additional nutrients and if you wash it properly, it’s tasty – not dirty.

Ingredients:

8 Yukon gold potatoes

6 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 medium onion (diced small)

1 stalk celery (diced small)

1/2 green pepper (diced small)

½ pickled Anaheim pepper

Juice and zest 1 lemon

¼ cup of chopped (chiffonade) parsley

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1. Put potatoes in a pot big enough that water will cover all the potatoes by at least an inch.
2. Salt the water to the point where it tastes close to the ocean.
3. Put the flame on high and bring to a boil.
4. Continue to boil until a fork can break apart the potatoes.
5. Remove potatoes and let them cool (you can do this the day/night before).
6. Dice potatoes and transfer into a mixing bowl.
7. Add remaining ingredients to a mixing bowl with potatoes.
8. Once incorporated, allow to sit for one hour, mixing occasionally.

Corn and Peach Salsa with Pickled Jalapenos and Onions

Doing a lot of grilling this summer? Totally, me too! So I’ve found that after making a meal, I usually have some grilled corn left over. I’ve been throwing it omelets or just eating it cold. Needless to say, I’ve gotten bored with it quite quickly.

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been hitting the pickling scene pretty hard lately. So, for this post I decided to take two previous pickled items and combine them into an easily assembled salsa. You can also use (lemon vin) to make it a salad, or heat ingredients in sauce pot with some butter to make it a hot dish. Either way, the spicy-sweet-salty combo is a killer side dish, substitute for sauce, dip for chips… or serve it shooter-style like the picture below.

Make it Mexican: Add 2 tsp cumin, substitute lemon with lime, substitute chive with cilantro, add more jalapenos or other hot peppers (I would suggest Anaheim).

Corn and Peach Salsa with Pickled Jalapenos and Onions

Ingredients:

6 ears of grilled corn (cut off the cob)

3 ripe peaches (diced around the same size as the kernels of corn for a salsa, larger for a salad)

½ cup Pickled Red Onion

¼ cup Sweet-Pickled Jalapenos (chopped)

2 Tablespoons Chives (chopped)

Juice and zest 1 lemon

1 Tablespoon olive (or corn) oil

“Makes Everything Awesome” seasoning to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into mixing bowl. Mix until incorporated.
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper, or “makes everything awesome” seasoning.
3. Serve hot, chilled, or room temp. 

Sweet-Pickled Jalapenos

One of my favorite flavor combinations is sweet and hot; so what better thing to do than sweet-pickle some hot peppers? I chose to use Jalapeno peppers here because I know a lot of people grow them and around this time they are super abundant.

If you’re into jarring/canning things, this is something I would suggest highly. They also make great gifts when transferred to mason jars. Keep in mind though that the shelf life probably won’t be more than a few months – if that.

I haven’t really experimenting into how long these pickles last before they spoil. I can tell you from the restaurant industry that refrigerated pickled vegetables can last up to four or five months if kept properly. The key is to keep the pickled whatever under the liquid so it doesn’t get a chance to grow mold on it.

One industry tip for doing this is putting a plate on top of the product to keep it submerged. However, the normal person doesn’t have a large enough container for something like that. So, fill a plastic Ziploc bag with dried beans or salt to create a weight. Important: remove as much air from the bag as possible by submerging it in water while holding the top of the bag. Once you get as much air out of there as possible, seal the bag. Do this once more, creating a double bag (so you can use it again). This creates the closest you’re going to get to a vacuum seal without a vacuum sealer. Anyway, place the bag on top of your pickled veg so the product is forced down and cover the container your pickle is in with the appropriate lid.

That being said, pickling peppers does take some of the heat out of them, so they aren’t as spicy as when they are raw. If you want to remove even more heat (like if you were pickling a habanero), remove the pith and seeds before you pickle it. This will result in the full pepper taste, but dial the heat down quite a bit. You can also add more sweetness to the liquid, or add fruit into your combination.

Sweet-pickled jalapenos

Ingredients:

8 Jalapenos (sliced)

3 cups apple cider vinegar

4 Tablespoons pickling spice

2 Tablespoons salt

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons honey

Sauce pot (medium sized)

Mandolin or knife

Container large enough to hold four cups (a quart)

Directions: 

1. Sanitize your peppers 
2. In a sauce pot over medium heat, slowly toast the pickling spice until you begin to smell it (you may hear some popping too)
3. Add your vinegar, salt, sugar, and honey; and bring to a boil
4. While you are waiting on this, slice down your peppers and place into container
5. Once boiled, either strain the spice mixture out or leave it in
6. Pour into container with peppers
7. Let sit uncovered until it begins to cool down a bit
8. Place your weighted bag on top of the peppers and make sure they are submerged fully
9. Cover the container and store in the refrigerator for 48 hours before transferring 

Tomato and Herb Sauce: How-to

Anyone up to their ears in tomatoes? Well, first off – share some with me! Secondly, don’t let those delicious fruits get the best of you and wind up rotting away. These gorgeous colorful gobfuls of flavor are just waiting for you to use them.

One of the easiest and tastiest ways to preserve a tomato is with a sauce. Now, see, I don’t really like tomatoes all that much unless something is done to them. It’s embarrassing, but such is life. So, I’m always taking them and morphing the tomato into something spectacular.

This recipe explores a tomato and herb sauce. It’s pretty basic and comes straight from the garden (or farmers stand) so it’s not very labor intensive at all.

In the culinary industry, we are taught to concasse the tomato to make a sauce. This involves taking the stem out, making a few incisions, blanching them, cooling them, peeling them. I think it’s silly and it takes too long. 

However, my process still has the same principles in mind. Luckily there is more than one way to get things done in the kitchen!

Before I get into the recipe with you, I would like to bring up a few variations on the sauce:

1.       Romesco – add some peppers to the roasting process (seeded of course). Finish with lemon, basil, and oregano.

2.       Make the sauce more red – before transferring ingredients to pot, put about ½ tsp of tomato paste in the hot pot and stir until it starts to brown up and caramelize. This will make the sauce a little heavier in flavor and you may have to offset it with a little acid (white balsamic, lemon, champagne vinegar)

3.       “Fire roasted” style – keep the tomatoes in the oven longer until the skin starts to roast and gets black in some areas. Don’t peel the skin off! Simply add to the pot and puree it up after it reduces. This is also another way to add additional color to the sauce.

4.       Tomato soup – simply add carrot, celery, and onion to a hot pot on medium heat. Stir and cook until onions are translucent. Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil/butter and allow to melt/heat up. Sprinkle in some flour (enough to coat the vegetables) then add a large amount of tomato sauce (I figure 1 quart of sauce per 2 cups of additional veggies) slowly, while stirring. Cook that down for about two hours, blend and enjoy!

5.       Colored sauce – with the ever popular heirloom tomatoes, the color variation is superb. Follow the same recipe, but use yellow, brown, or purple tomatoes. I would suggest blanching tomatoes if they are green though – it preserves the color better.

So, as you can see by taking this very simple sauce, you can go much further. The best thing I’ve found to do is to do batches in different styles, then portion them off into pint containers /freezer bags and then freeze it for a later use. There’s nothing like having an amazing go-to tomato sauce right at your fingertips in the dead of winter.

Enough jibber-jabber; on to the recipe!

Tomato and Herb Sauce 

Ingredients:

10 ripe tomatoes (the big guys are usually the ones used here)

1 sweet onion (large dice)

2 cloves garlic

Olive oil

2 stems worth of basil leaves (or as much as you like)

3 stems worth of thyme leaves

(optional) “makes everything awesome spice” to taste

Mixing bowl

Oven

Large/medium pot

Stirring spoon

Sheet tray/cookie sheet

Blender

Strainer (optional)

Directions:

1.       Take all ingredients, except herbs, and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper.

2.       Place in oven at 400°F on a sheet tray.

3.       Once cracks in the skin form on all the tomatoes, pull them out and shut off the oven.

4.       When tomatoes cool, peel off the skins and toss them out

5.       In a pot on medium heat, place all contents of the sheet tray

6.       Once the tomato concoction comes to a light boil, turn heat down low and cover the pot

7.       Stir occasionally every fifteen minutes or so.

8.       After an hour and a half you should have been able to cook down the tomatoes pretty well.

9.       Blend contents in a blender, or use a little stick blender right in the pot if you have one.

10.   Transfer back to the pot

11.   Leave  the pot uncovered and add your herbs.

12.   Cook down for at least another half hour, or until color desire has been achieved, or you are satisfied with the flavor.

13.   Season to taste with salt and pepper or “makeseverything awesome spice”

Rotini and Kale Salad

Given my last post on pasta, I thought it only appropriate to make some kind of pasta dish. 

However, I ate it! 

So, I did what any good cook does and utilized a ton of leftover product; and made this delicious concoction I am dubbing “Pasta Salad with Kale.” I try and sneak in and experiment with dark leafy greens in dishes as much as possible.

This application makes a marinade/dressing for the pasta and really works well with kale to provide a great texture differential. You also get some of the bitterness from the kale which contrasts nicely with the other ingredients.

On a side note, I realize there were other ingredients in my pasta salad that aren't displayed in this picture and will make a better effort next time I do a pasta salad or something to have them in the picture. It really doesn't help when you do a photo shoot and you’re hungry…

Anyway, this is a great way to utilize pasta from the previous day and kind of clean out the fridge of random stuff. Please don’t feel limited to this ingredient list at all. Pasta salads are super unique in that they can be an entire grab-and-go meal depending on what you put in it. So, for instance you could increase the veggies and add a protein. I tend to view my unlisted ingredients as flavor builders and not as main stars of the dish – in this case it’s pasta and kale.

It is also super easy to just use (lemon vin) or any style dressing you have chilling out in the fridge. 

I used rotini pasta , but the goal is really to have something that is medium in size and in a shape that is more willing to include the other ingredients with it. Curled pasta works best here, don’t use string-style pastas or delicate pastas such as those wheel shaped ones (they break apart and don’t look good).

Ingredients:

1 lb pasta

1 tomato diced small

1 red pepper diced small

1 suntan pepper diced small

1 medium red onion (julienne)

2 cups (packed) red leaf or Tuscan kale (ripped or cut small)

¼ cup olive oil

Zest and juice 1 lemon

Sprig fresh dill chopped

Sprig fresh basil sliced thin

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1.       Cook your pasta (learn the proper way here) or pull it out of the fridge

2.       While you’re cooking up your pasta, cut your veggies and remaining ingredients set aside.

3.       Combine ingredients with cooled pasta in mixing bowl or in original pot pasta was cooked in

4.       Season to taste

5.       Let sit/cool for at least an hour and a half before service

6.       Serve cold or room temp