Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Pictures
It just occurred to me that I should be taking pictures of the finished product for each recipe. I will try and update past recipes and be good about keeping up with future ones.
Sweet Potato and Squash Soup
I made a potato and leak soup from a recipe last year that was terrific and gave me a working knowledge of how to make a creamy potato soup. A cold, rainy October day when I had sweet potatoes and acorn squash on-hand provided the motivation to give this a try.
Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes
1 large acorn squash
1 large onion
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock (one 49.5oz can)
3T butter
1/4t kosher salt (or 1/8t table salt)
1/8t fresh ground pepper
Steps:
1. Heat butter in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. If you don't have a dutch oven, use a 6qt pot.
2. While it heats, dice onion into 1/2" pieces. Cut squash in half, clean out middle, than cut into 3/4" slices. Then you can cut the rind off of each slice and cut into 3/4" cubes.
3. Stir onions into the butter. Stir occasionally for 10-15 minutes until onions have softened and have a mild onion flavor. (This is called sweating. It softens the flavor of the onion without letting them caramelize which would give them a sweet flavor.)
4. While sweating the onions peel the potatoes and cut into 3/4" cubes (tougher than it sounds, sweet potatoes are much harder than regular potatoes).
5. Dump potatoes and squash into pot. Pour the stock over them and bring to a boil over high heat.
6. Bring to a hard boil then turn down heat slightly so that the boil continues without getting out of control. Boil for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes and squash are soft enough to easily cut with a spoon. Add the salt and pepper and remove from the hot burner for a couple minutes.
7. Using a plunge blender, puree the soup. You will need to start about an inch deep then push down to the bottom, doing this all over the pot. Once you have gotten most of the chunks, blending around the pot about 1.5 inches below the surface should get the remaining chunks. Stir the soup with a spoon to find any remaining chunks and blend them in too.
8. The soup should be quite thick, if not put the pot over medium-low heat and stir constantly for a few minutes, then remove from the heat again (if you don't stir you will have a major mess on your hands). If it is too thick add some milk or stock then blend a bit more to thin it.
My rating: 9/10
Potential rating: 9/10
Notes: This soup is easy, delicious, and pretty tough to mess up. Only have 2 sweet potatoes and 2 acorn squash? No problem, just use them. Only have a spaghetti squash? Nobody will know the difference. Have some extra pumpkin meat after baking that pie? Yum. No squash at all? You'll lose some flavor but it will still taste good with just sweet potato. The toughest part is going to be getting the amount of liquid correct. I found that after adding the stock, a couple shakes of the pot let the vegetables settle just below the surface. If you aren't close to that, adjust your liquid before it start boiling.
Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes
1 large acorn squash
1 large onion
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock (one 49.5oz can)
3T butter
1/4t kosher salt (or 1/8t table salt)
1/8t fresh ground pepper
Steps:
1. Heat butter in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. If you don't have a dutch oven, use a 6qt pot.
2. While it heats, dice onion into 1/2" pieces. Cut squash in half, clean out middle, than cut into 3/4" slices. Then you can cut the rind off of each slice and cut into 3/4" cubes.
3. Stir onions into the butter. Stir occasionally for 10-15 minutes until onions have softened and have a mild onion flavor. (This is called sweating. It softens the flavor of the onion without letting them caramelize which would give them a sweet flavor.)
4. While sweating the onions peel the potatoes and cut into 3/4" cubes (tougher than it sounds, sweet potatoes are much harder than regular potatoes).
5. Dump potatoes and squash into pot. Pour the stock over them and bring to a boil over high heat.
6. Bring to a hard boil then turn down heat slightly so that the boil continues without getting out of control. Boil for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes and squash are soft enough to easily cut with a spoon. Add the salt and pepper and remove from the hot burner for a couple minutes.
7. Using a plunge blender, puree the soup. You will need to start about an inch deep then push down to the bottom, doing this all over the pot. Once you have gotten most of the chunks, blending around the pot about 1.5 inches below the surface should get the remaining chunks. Stir the soup with a spoon to find any remaining chunks and blend them in too.
8. The soup should be quite thick, if not put the pot over medium-low heat and stir constantly for a few minutes, then remove from the heat again (if you don't stir you will have a major mess on your hands). If it is too thick add some milk or stock then blend a bit more to thin it.
My rating: 9/10
Potential rating: 9/10
Notes: This soup is easy, delicious, and pretty tough to mess up. Only have 2 sweet potatoes and 2 acorn squash? No problem, just use them. Only have a spaghetti squash? Nobody will know the difference. Have some extra pumpkin meat after baking that pie? Yum. No squash at all? You'll lose some flavor but it will still taste good with just sweet potato. The toughest part is going to be getting the amount of liquid correct. I found that after adding the stock, a couple shakes of the pot let the vegetables settle just below the surface. If you aren't close to that, adjust your liquid before it start boiling.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Quick and easy marinara sauce
I whipped this marinara sauce up in about 15 minutes to refresh some leftover pasta that was a little dried out. It turned out to be a pretty good basic marinara, like what you would get as a dip for mozzarella sticks or over spaghetti as a side at Italian restaurants. This recipe should also scale quite well. As stated it would be good for about 1/2 pound of pasta, but doubling for a full pound should work fine.
Ingredients:
1 14oz can plain diced tomatoes
1T butter
1/4 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1t sugar
1/4t kosher salt (or 1/8t table salt)
Steps:
1. Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. While it heats, drain excess water from tomatoes and put in food processor. Process until tomato is finely minced, but not completely pureed, about five 1-second pulses.
3. Once butter has melted and foaming subsides, stir in diced onion and turn down heat slightly.
4. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened.
5. Stir in garlic, cook about 30 seconds until fragrant.
6. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and salt. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, then continue simmering uncovered over medium heat until excess water has evaporated off, about 10 minutes.
My rating: 8/10
Potential rating: 8/10
Notes: Like I said, nothing fancy, but it fulfills its intended purpose quite well. I don't think I would change a thing. If you are looking for a heartier sauce that would be the centerpiece of a meal, I wouldn't attempt to use this as a base.
Ingredients:
1 14oz can plain diced tomatoes
1T butter
1/4 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1t sugar
1/4t kosher salt (or 1/8t table salt)
Steps:
1. Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. While it heats, drain excess water from tomatoes and put in food processor. Process until tomato is finely minced, but not completely pureed, about five 1-second pulses.
3. Once butter has melted and foaming subsides, stir in diced onion and turn down heat slightly.
4. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened.
5. Stir in garlic, cook about 30 seconds until fragrant.
6. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and salt. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, then continue simmering uncovered over medium heat until excess water has evaporated off, about 10 minutes.
My rating: 8/10
Potential rating: 8/10
Notes: Like I said, nothing fancy, but it fulfills its intended purpose quite well. I don't think I would change a thing. If you are looking for a heartier sauce that would be the centerpiece of a meal, I wouldn't attempt to use this as a base.
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