Autumn Squash Soup with Sage

Autumn is such a cool time to be a cook. Pretty much no matter where you live in the States, there are seasonal foods to be found; more obviously found than in other months, anyway. 

Pumpkins are an incredibly under-utilized vegetable here in the States. In Europe, the squash are found in endless savory dishes this time of year in restaurants and in home kitchens. In fact, it is rather unusual to find pumpkin in a sweet dish across the pond. 

Last year at Thanksgiving time, being the only Americans in our little, English village I felt it my duty to bring some pumpkin pies into my daughter's 4th grade class. Not one of the 27 children had ever heard of using pumpkin in a pie. Some had had it in entrees when they had traveled to Italy, France or Spain on holiday, but none had eaten it as a dessert; and none of the children wanted to that day, either.

Lucky for me, English school teachers are extremely strict (Pink Floyd's, Another Brick in the Wall, was really not that far off), the class teacher insisted that every child try the pumpkin pie. 20 of the children loved it, 3 felt ambivalent, and 4 spat it out. 

I took those ratios as a compliment.

So, taking a cue from the Europeans, I developed this recipe for pumpkin and acorn squash soup. It is not at all sweet, rather savory and velvety. The Pecorino croutons add so much to the final dish-- they are most definitely worth making.

Soup

1 acorn squash, halved, seeds and stringy membrane scooped out, flesh and skin cut into cubes

1 pie pumpkin (small pumpkin, about the same size as the acorn squash), processed as above

1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved

1 head garlic, top cut off to expose some of the cloves

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 and 1/2 quarts (1 and 1/2 litres) chicken or vegetable stock

8 leaves fresh sage

Sea salt to taste

Heavy cream (optional)

Croutons

1/2 baguette (preferably a day old)

EVOO

Grated Pecorino cheese, or Parmesan

Cayenne pepper

Popcorn or fine salt

Pre-heat oven to 375F (190C). Scatter the squash, pumpkin, onion and head of garlic, skin side down across a baking tray and drizzle over EVOO.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until fairly soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel the skins off. Toss the cooked vegetables into a soup pot with the stock and bring to a simmer.

 Chuck the sage leaves into the soup (you don't need to tie them together, I just thought was a pretty shot). Simmer all-together for 20 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender and puree).

While the soup is simmering, cut the old bread up into small squares and toss with EVOO, cheese, cayenne and a bit of salt. Bake in that hot 375F oven for about 10 minutes, then toss and continue to bake for 5 minutes more.

Just before serving, drizzle some heavy cream on top (of you like), place a few croutons strategically in a spot and serve hot.

Makes 2 quarts (2 litres), serves 6

Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing

When I turned 16 years old, my parents told me that I could take my five best buddies out for dinner at a nice restaurant of my choosing. My favourite restaurant at the time (and still a fun place to go on occasion today) was the Japanese Teppanaki restaurant in our city, The Japanese Steak House. I loved the drama of sitting around the chef as he chopped, diced and tossed our dinner ingredients in the air before stir-frying them alongside a volcanic, fire-spitting onion. 
It was magical.
And delicious.

Eating in that Japanese Steakhouse was a rare treat, and one that I coveted. Although the food served there was a far cry from authentic Japanese food, (sort of what Taco Bell is to Mexican cuisine), it introduced my teenage taste-buds to Japanese flavours, (soy sauce, ginger root, miso paste, to name a few) and lead the way for my life-long interest and love of all foods Japanese.


The first Japanese food revelation I had at the Steak House was the salad dressing. It was not creamy, but it was thick. It wasn't vinegary, but had an acidic bite. It was fresh and light and I always ordered a salad when eating there. 


I still love that dressing, and today and finally got  around to figuring it out. It couldn't be easier to make at home-- if you've got a blender, you are set. A food processor or immersion blender work great, too.


1/2 vidallia onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup ginger root, peeled and chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 small clove garlic, peeled, chopped
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon good quality soy sauce (I like Kikkoman)
2 tablespoons ketchup
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt flakes (less if using fine salt)
1/4 teaspoon wasabi (optional)

1) Place everything in a blender and puree. Stash in the refrigerator until ready to use. Keeps for at least 4 days. Makes about 1 cup.

Healthy Fish Curry

I have developed a better appreciation for Indian food since moving to the UK. It is a fabulous cuisine! Often though, it is loaded with gee (clarified butter)-- yummy, just not too healthy. Here's one solution for a healthy curry; no gee, no coconut milk-- just bright, vibrant flavours and lovely, fresh fish.

Watch the video here

1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 huge shallot, or 1 medium onion, chopped

2" piece fresh finger root, peeled and chopped

1 heaping tablespoon garam masala

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 tins chopped tomatoes with their juice

2 mild green chillies, seeded and diced

1 red bird's eye chilli (hot!), carefully seeded and diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup natural (plain) yogurt

1 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped

1 and 1/2 pounds firm fish cut into large chunks (turbot, cod, haddock, salmon, even shrimp)

1) Have everything chopped and ready to go. Place a large wok or large soup pot over medium high heat and pour the oil into it. Heat the oil up then add in the shallot (onion), garlic and ginger. Stir fry for just a minute then add in all the spices, sitr fry to 'toast' everything, for 1-2 minutes. Now add in the tomatoes, both chillies and salt. Stir, bring to a simmer and allow to cook for 10 minutes.

2) After 10  minutes, add in the yogurt and coriander (cilantro), stir then chuck in the fish- submerge all of the pieces, cover and simmer gently until the fish is just cooked-- at least 10 minutes.

Serve with basmati rice and naan bread. Serves 6