Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream and Fried Sage Leaves

BLOGGER:  TONY

This soup seems to be an ideal autumn lunch.  The creamy and comforting texture of the squash-flavored soup is highlighted (and deepened) with the addition of sage and thyme.  The cider cream adds a bit of lightness, some visual appeal, and just a good bit of Mmmmm.  It has a sweet/sour dynamic that’s absolutely charming.  And then the sage leaves bring some crunch along with some more of that earthy sage flavor.  The soup is just a tad sweet from the cider but decidedly sophisticated.  Here’s the recipe:

Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream and Fried Sage Leaves, adapted from the Bon Appétit Cookbook (2006)

5 T extra virgin olive oil

about 40 fresh sage leaves

2 1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 pieces (about 6 cups)

2 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)

1/2 cup chopped, peeled carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp thinly sliced sage leaves

5 cups low-salt chicken broth (homemade, if you have it)

1 1/2 cups apple cider

2/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whipping cream

Prepare sage leaves:  Heat 4 T olive oil in a sauté pan till a whisper of smoke comes off the oil.  Add the sage leaves and fry until they become crisp, gently turning as necessary.  (Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in 2 batches.)  Remove from the oil (reserve the oil for the soup), place on a paper towel lined plate, and season liberally with Kosher salt.  Set aside.

Prepare cider cream:  Bring 1/2 cup cider to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until it is reduced to 1/4 cup.  Place in a small bowl and let it cool completely.  Whisk in sour cream until fully incorporated.  Set aside in the refrigerator.

Prepare the soup:  Heat 1 T olive oil plus the reserved sage leave oil over medium high heat in a Dutch oven or a stock pot.  There should be about 4 T left.  If not, add some more olive oil.  Add the squash, leeks, carrots, and celery.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Saute for about 15 minutes or until slightly softened.  Add the apples, thyme, and sage.  Stir and then add the chicken broth and the remaining 1 cup cider.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low.  Cover and then simmer until apples are tender, stirring occassionally, about 30 minutes.  Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth.  Alternatively, puree soup in a blender or food processor, in batches, until smooth.  Return the soup to the pot.  Mix in the whipping cream.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup:  Lade soup in to bowls.  Add a dollop of the cider cream and then sprinkle with the fried sage leaves.  Serve immediately. 

A few notes:  1)  Don’t get too worked up about getting your vegetables chopped precisely.  Everything is going to be pureed anyway, so a rough chop is all that is necessary.  2)  Dried sage can be substituted for the fresh.  Just use half of the amount.  Of course, without fresh sage, you can’t make the fried sage leaves either.  3)  Other garnishes?  Well, some lightly flavored croutons would be nice as would some chopped, toasted nuts.  4)  The soup and the cider cream can be made a day ahead.  Enjoy!

Vegetarian Cassoulet

BLOGGER:  TONY

Cassoulet is a great cold weather dish.  It’s warm, hearty, and chock full of flavor.  This vegetarian take on the French classic retains most of those characteristics but is missing a bit of the flavor.  I don’t know if there’s any substitute for the sausages usually found in a cassoulet.  The garlic bread crumb recipe, however, is  a definite winner.  It’s crunchy and garlicly and really tasty.  Here’s a picture:

And here’s the recipe:

Vegetarian Cassoulet, from this recipe at Epicurious

3 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only)

4 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch-wide pieces

3 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch-wide pieces

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

4 thyme sprigs

2 parsley sprigs

1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3 (19-ounce) cans mixed beans (Great Northern, Cannellini, Butter, and Garbanzo are nice choices)

1 quart water

4 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs from a baguette

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Make cassoulet:  Halve leeks lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces, then wash well and pat dry.  Cook leeks, carrots, celery, and garlic in oil with herb sprigs, bay leaf, cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about 15 minutes.  Stir in beans, then water, and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender but not falling apart, about 30 minutes.

Make garlic crumbs while cassoulet simmers:  Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.  Toss bread crumbs with oil, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a bowl until well coated.  Spread in a baking pan and toast in oven, stirring once halfway through, until crisp and golden, 12 to 15 minutes.  Cool crumbs in pan, then return to bowl and stir in parsley.

Finish cassoulet:  Discard herb sprigs and bay leaf.  Mash some of beans in pot with a potato masher or back of a spoon to thicken broth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Just before serving, sprinkle with garlic crumbs.

Tuna Gravy with green peas

BLOGGER: KATELYN

It’s these first few days of fall when I’ve really started to crave something comforting, something creamy, and something that reminds me of home. I’d been telling Tony about this fabulous dish for days and finally surprised him with my Tuna Gravy rendition tonight. My mom used to make this dish for my sister and I when we were kids, although I don’t remember the fresh parsley and I think we had it over white bread, I also added the peas. I emailed her to request the recipe and the funny thing is my mom didn’t have one! It’s the dishes that are made from memory that are usually the best anyway and each new bite was just as satisfying as the last.

Look it’s cooking:

 

Here is the recipe:

two cans tuna in water, drained

3 tablespoons butter

yellow onion, chopped

handful of chopped parsley

2 cups frozen peas

1 1/2 cups milk

a bit of flour to thicken

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pan and add chopped onion stir occasionally until softened. Add parsley. add a bit of flour. stir in milk. add tuna and peas. Bring to a bubble, reduce heat and allow to thicken. Serve over biscuits.

 Just like this:

Apple, Craisin, and Almond Salad with Maple Dressing

BLOGGER:  TONY

I’ve been making this salad for a number of years and it has never failed me.  The amalgamation of flavors is as beautiful as it is interesting.  There is a great crunchy/chewy dynamic in the dish that is wonderfully pulled together by the almost too sweet dressing.  The dressing itself is very simple, just maple syrup, vinegar, mayonnaise, and vegetable oil, but it adds up to something much more substantial.  It’s a great salad and I don’t plan to stop making it any time soon.

Apple, Craisin, and Almond Salad with Maple Dressing, based on this recipe 

For 4 appetizer sized salads

2 T mayonnaise

2 T pure maple syrup (use the real stuff, please)

1 1/2 T white wine vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 5-ounce bag mixed baby greens (about 10 cups lightly packed)

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut into matchstick-size strips

1/2 cup dried tart cherries

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Whisk mayonnaise, maple syrup, vinegar, and sugar in medium bowl to blend.  Gradually whisk in oil until mixture thickens slightly.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss greens with enough dressing to coat in a large bowl.  Divide salad equally among plates.  Sprinkle the plates evenly with the walnuts, craisins, and almonds.  Serve immediately.

A Day at the Races

BLOGGER:  TONY

The local Boy Scout troops held their annual kart racing recently.  The scouts race wooden karts down an inclined street.  I took a few pictures.  It appeared that all of the boys had a lot of fun. 

Here’s Jack during the pre-race:

Even Reece wanted to give it a try!

Here’s Charlie preparing to race:

 

And here’s Noah urging his car along.

And off to the finish line:

Jim Beam’s Terriyaki Marinade

BLOGGER:  TONY

Sometimes you have to break all of the rules, especially with food.  Otherwise, it’s way too easy to make your diet (and cooking) really boring.  Plus, sometimes when you do something wrong, you learn more than if you did it right.  My friend Allen gave me some Jim Beam Terriayki Marinade a few days ago.  It was a very thoughtful gift.  Although, I usually don’t use commercially made marinades, I thought, what the hell?  So I teamed with a steak simply entitled “London Broil.”  I didn’t even care to ask what kind of steak it was.  This was going to be a very low tech meal.  And you know what, it was pretty darn good.  The marinade was a little sweet, a little salty, and had that richness that only (and I mean only) comes from soy sauce.  Not bad at all.  I served it with some farm fresh green beans and had a great meal.  Here’s some pictures:

 

Labor Day Weekend Project

BLOGGER: KATELYN

Tony and I took advantage of labor day this weekend with a little home improvement project. We started taping up the kitchen and dining room in his house and then spent the whole weekend painting, and cleaning and scraping off wine labels that had been pasted to the wall… cool idea at the time but quite a pain to remove. In the end it was a success, both rooms feel bigger, brighter and a whole lot more sophisticated. All the better to cook and eat in! Here are a few pictures:

Chunky Vegetable Stew

BLOGGER:  TONY

As the weather turns a bit colder here in North Dakota, our appetites have turned to heartier dishes.  Yet we still cannot forget the bounty of fresh produce that still abounds in the local farmer’s markets.  This dish is a fairly good compromise between cold-weather heartiness and summer produce.

Chunky Vegetable Stew, based on this recipe

1 T olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

zest from 1 orange

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

12 oz zucchini cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 15 1/2 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

12 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add next 4 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add zucchini and tomatoes with juices; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until zucchini is tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add garbanzos and olives; simmer 3 minutes.

Serve over potatoes.  Potato pancakes are a nice choice.

The stew tastes wonderfully fresh due to the tomatoes and the zucchini but is simultaneously earthy from the garbanzo beans and onion.  The zest adds a nice lightness and uniqueness while the olives add a nice bright salty punch that really finishes the dish well.  It goes uncommonly well with potatoes (more earthiness while adding some substance to the dish).  We used a simple pan fried new potatoes.  Here’s a picture:

 

Enjoy!