Temple Food: Curried Roasted Squash Soup

After a week of meals that looked like

and

(along with other things that came from oil- and sauce-spotted containers, icing-stickied paper sacs, and lidded plastic cups which barely contained melted sugary goo topped with more sugary goo),

It's time for a bit of temple food after a week--and more specifically a weekend--of semi-hedonistic cavorting with old and new friends. More veggies, less meat. More roasting and steaming, less frying.

My week is still busy, so the simplest thing for me to pull together as part of my recentring was a pot of curried roasted squash soup. Like most soups (and most things I cook), I made it on the fly. I roasted the squash when I got home, let it cool overnight and made the soup the next night, after work. The end result was sweet and spicy, creamy with a bit of an edge. Exactly what my body craved.

Curried Roasted Squash Soup
Yield approx 1.5-2L, depending upon how thick you like your soup.

Ingredients
1 acorn squash (pepper squash), approx 1kg (2lbs)
a little oil for frying
1tsp (rounded) (6-7ml) curry powder
0.5tsp (2.5ml) turmeric
1 onion, finely chopped
0.5 thumb (2.5cm/1") ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves minced
water
0.5tsp (2.5ml) Worcestershire sauce
1tsp (5ml) vinegar
salt
black pepper
chilli pepper (to taste)

Optional:
finely chopped coriander leaf or flat leaf parsley, for garnish
sour cream, for garnish

Method
Preheat oven to 170C/325F. Lightly oil a foil-lined cookie tray.

Cut the squash in half. Scoop out the pulp and seeds.

Place the squash halves, cut-side down, on the oiled foil-lined tray and bake for about an hour or until the flesh is fork tender.

Remove from oven and let cool. When the squash is cool enough to handle, peel off and discard the rind. Chop the flesh into large chunks.

Fry the curry powder and turmeric in oil until fragrant. Add the onions, coat with the curry mixture, and cook until soft and translucent. Stir in the ginger and garlic until they release their oils.

Add the chunks of cooked squash, and give the pot's contents a good turn or two with a spoon. Pour in enough water to cover the squash. Turn up the heat and let the contents come to a boil for about 10 minutes. Turn the flame down to a simmer, lid the pod and let blurble for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

By this point the squash should easily yield to the pressure of a wooden spoon, if not have totally disintegrated. Either mash the squash, blitz with a hand whizzer, or puree the soup, in batches in a blender.

Return the soup to the pot. Over a flame, thin with more water to a desired consistency. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Add salt, pepper and chilli powder (if using) to taste.

If you wish, serve with a dollop of sour cream, chopped coriander leaf or parsley.

cheers!

jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!

Faux Chicken Pho

Hot cold hot cold hot cold.

This has been a very odd winter. For the most part we've had above-freezing temperatures, punctuated by the occasional reminder that this is Canada, at the time of year of short days and long nights with howling winds and fluttering snowflakes.

When temps vacillate as they have, people fall ill. It seems as if every third or fourth person I speak to is sick. Snuffly, feverishly, earpluggingly, barking like a mad seal coughingly, cracked voicingly and goopily sick.

Many of us grew up with the notion that chicken soup will cure whatever ails you. I think that's doubly true with Indian, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese soups filled with warming spices and revitalizing herbs.

Like many soups, I think a good pho can be made with what you have on hand--your choice of veggies and meats. The key, I think is in the broth--sweet, salty, hot and slightly sour. Once you get the broth tasting as you wish, the rest is up to you.

Chicken Pho
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
For the Broth
625ml (2.5c) chicken broth or stock
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.25cm (0.5") ginger, grated or minced
1 star anise pod
2dspn (20ml/4tsp) nam pla (fish sauce)
1tsp (5ml) brown sugar
1-2tsp (5-10ml) soy sauce, to taste

For the sustenance (suggested)
Rice noodles, cooked
Shredded chicken
Carrots, raw and thinly sliced
Deep, leafy greens, such as kale, chard or spinach, raw and chiffonaded
Mushrooms, raw and thinly sliced (or, if using enoki, broken apart)
Green onions, thinly sliced (both the green and whites
Red chilli pepper, such as bird's eye/Thai chilli, minced

Bean sprouts
Coriander leaf, chopped

Method
Add all the broth ingredients together and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the flame and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes

To serve
Add as much of the sustenance to each bowl and ladle stock over top

Notes:

• You can substitute turkey for chicken
• You may want to fish out the star anise before serving, but you can leave it in the pot, so it can keep flavouring the broth

cheers!

jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!

Feast: Gung Hei Fat Choi! Kung Pao Prawns and Squid

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon!

According to this cbc.ca article, the Dragon brings optimism, as well as high amounts of energy and prosperity, and specifically movement.

Whether or not you believe in zodiacs, is truly beside the point. It's a cause for celebration...and with celebrations come food. (Really...I don't know of any joyous moment where food is not present).

This year I decided to play with a favourite at many Chinese restaurants: Kung Pao Chicken.

Like many dishes, this one is open to interpretation. At its heart are chicken and chillis and nuts. I've had some really salty versions (where the only seasoning seemed to be soy sauce) and I've had others where it seemed to be a chicken and veggie stirfry with chilli peppers and peanuts.

My version is heavily borrowed from a Kung Pao Chicken recipe I found on NPR, by the wonderful Fuschia Dunlop. Apart from the pedigree, one ingredient struck me: Sichuan peppers.

I first used the fizzy, rose-tinted pods when I reviewed Beyond the Great Wall a few years ago. They are gorgeous, tiny little pods that make your tongue go tingly and fizzy...and, if you're like me and tend to snack on such things, just a wee bit numb. Apart from their signature buzz, there's a citrussy note to them that, to me, borders on juniper. They aren't peppercorns per se, but the Chinese prickly ash seeds. They aren't necessarily the easiest spice to find in shops (unless you've thorough spice merchants or gourmet shops in town), but you can purchase them online.

I really can't think of another spice you can use, that has a similar effect to Sichuan peppercorns. If you don't have them, you could use lightly crushed black pepper (not fully ground pepper) and you should be fine, and add a squeeze of lemon near the end of the recipe.

As it's the Dragon, I thought I'd take liberties and make this a seafood kung pao, with jumbo prawns and squid. I suppose you could throw in some scallops as well, or just leave it as one type of seafood--it's up to you.

This is a very quick and easy recipe to pull together--the important things to keep in mind are to realise there's a balance of flavours: salty, hot, sour and sweet and not to overcook the seafood.

Gung hei fat choi!

Kung Pao Prawns and Squid
adapted from Fuschia Dunlop's Kung Pao Chicken Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients
225g (0.5lb) jumbo prawns, cleaned, deveined and chopped into two-three pieces each
225 (0.5lb) squid, cut into rings

2-3Tbsp (30-45ml) flavourless oil, as needed
0.5-0.75tsp (2.5-3.75ml) Sichuan (Szechuan) peppercorns
1-2 fresh red chilli peppers, seeded (if you wish), finely sliced, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 thumb (4-5cm/1.75"-2" piece) ginger, grated
6 green onions, white and light green parts only, cut in 2.5cm (1") pieces, slit in half

200g (250ml/1c) toasted cashews

For the marinade
0.5tsp (2.5ml) salt
1Tbsp (15ml) light soy sauce
1.5tsp (7.5ml) rice wine vinegar
2dspn (20ml/4tsp) water

For the sauce
2dspn (20ml/4tsp) brown sugar
1.5tsp (7.5ml) cornflour (cornstarch)
1.5tsp (7.5ml) light soy sauce
1.5tsp (7.5ml) dark soy sauce
1.5tsp (7.5ml) rice wine vinegar
1Tbsp (15ml) black Chinese vinegar
1.5tsp (7.5ml)sesame oil
2dspn (20ml/4tsp) water

For the garnish:
finely minced spring onion greens (to taste)

Method
Mix squid and prawns in the marinade ingredients and let sit for about 15 minutes.

Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat the oil over a high flame, until it's almost smoking. Drop in the Sichuan peppers and the chillis and stir until the the spices release their scents. Remove from the wok.

Add the garlic and ginger to the seasoned oil and stir until fragrant. Add the seafood and stir until the prawns are opaque and take on a pinkish hue.

Add the white and light green parts of the green onions as well as the fried chilli mixture. Stir to combine. Pour in the sauce, stir so everything is coated and the sauce thickens. Balance flavours to taste. Tumble in the nuts and stir.

Garnish with the minced stalks of the green onions and serve with rice and veggies.

Note:

• If don't have Sichuan peppers, you can use crushed black pepper instead ( you won't get the same buzz as with Sichuan peppers) and add a squeeze of lemon.
• Traditionally peanuts are used instead of cashews
• Of course, if you don't want to use seafood, you can use 450g (1lb) of chicken or pork instead

cheers!

jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!