Sweet Potato Soup

For this end of autumn and beginning of winter, sweet potatoes fit the bill.  What they call "yams" in the grocery store are actually just an orange version of sweet potatoes. Call them what you may, they are delicious. This recipe (adapted from the recipe in Bon Appetit a few years ago) has undertones of a traditional Thanksgiving dish of yams, albeit not half as sweet-which I really liked.

Sweet Potato Soup
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 1/2 orange sweet potatoes or yams, chopped
4 cups stock or broth
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
1 TBSP maple syrup
salt and pepper
leafy tops of celery

Saute onion and celery in olive oil for a few minutes, then add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Add in yams, stock, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg and simmer for 20 min. Remove cinnamon stick.
Use hand blender and puree until fairly smooth. Stir in milk and maple syrup and heat through (doesn't take more than a few minutes). Taste and add a little salt and pepper.
Garnish with leafy tops of celery.  Serves 2-3.

I served it with a grilled brie, gingered pear, arugula, and fig paninis. It was fantastic. We had a guest for dinner and all of us cleaned our plates.

Vegetable Stock

I know I neglected posting the last couple weeks, which, as my friend pointed out, is unusual given the time of year. There are many reasons but I won't go into those right now. I'll make it up somewhat by posting two this week! Sorry guys!

I kind of cringe at paying quite a bit of money for canned or boxed broths since I use broth so often in cooking. I don't often have a chicken or turkey carcass lying around, even close to the holidays, nor do I have a lot of time to necessarily make my own chicken broth but I DO always have lots of vegetables parts and pieces. Vegetable stock is also much quicker and much more tasty than any vegetable stocks/broths you can buy in the store. You can replace vegetable stock in recipes that use chicken broth fairly easily.

Here's the great thing, the complexity of flavors in a vegetable stock comes from all the different things you simmer in it. So, I just save all my vegetable trimmings for several days (this includes the ends, skins, peels, etc. of any hearty vegetables). This usually includes anything from a root vegetables (like potato, parsnips, turnips, onions and carrots) but also peppers, winter squashes, mushrooms, garlic, celery, tomatoes or anything else I may have used that week. I would only just stay away from any bitter skins (like on cucumbers, eggplant, or radishes).

Ingredients:
1 whole large onion
1/2 bunch celery
1/2 bunch big carrots or small bag of mini carrots
1 4 oz. can of tomato paste
1 oz. dried Shiitake mushrooms
3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed, but leave skin on)
other vegetable pieces, parts, skins
1/2 bunch of parsley
fresh sprig of thyme or 1 TBSP dried
4 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1-2 TBSP salt
water

When you are ready to start, get your dried mushrooms and soak them in very hot water for at least 30 min.
Get out your biggest stockpot. You do need to use a whole large onion, celery bunch and carrots as the base. Chop them roughly-they don't need to look nice, they are just going to be boiled to death to give up all their flavor.

Caramelize them in the bottom of the pot with a little olive oil. Stir them often and be patient since it may take a little longer than you would expect to get them browned. It will take about 15 min.
Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir until it turns a rusty color.
Add everything else and pour water over everything until it is about 3 inches from the top.

Bring to boil, then turn heat down to low medium and simmer for 1.5 hrs.
Scoop out all the large vegetable mush with a big spoon or strainer.
Take clean mason jars and put a strainer on top, lined with paper towel and pour the liquid through into the jar. You may need to replace the paper towel several times when it gets sludged up.

This broth is not shelf-stable like canned goods (it's not acidic enough), so I keep a jar or two in the fridge and then freeze the rest. I usually get about 4-5 quarts out of my big stockpot.

Pozole

I'm all about soups that are friendly to a variety of tastes. Sometimes it can be difficult to cook for a family where each has food dislikes or preferences and make everyone happy.  Pozole reminds me of how some people make tacos: lots of topping ingredients set out and everyone chooses what to put on their own dish. It doesn't come out super spicy like you might think as long as you don't allow many of the chili's seeds to get in. In fact, most of the kick comes later. My husband added some chipotle tabasco sauce to kick it up a bit while eating. Either way, it is very warming and satisfying for a cold windy night, like tonight.

Most recipes I looked at were for very large groups so I scaled this down for just 4-5 people and made some last minute invitations to dinner at my house. My sister was lucky enough to be available that night. She called it a "fancy version" of the type of pozole she was used to eating with many Latin-American friends of hers in California, because of all the choices of toppings and the amount of meat I used. Everyone loved it. Yum.

Ingredients:
1.5 oz. red guajillo chilies (they come dried in a clear plastic package)
water
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
2 tsp oregano
1 lb. pork (shoulder, shank, roast or chops...as long as it is well marbled), cut into small chunks
14 oz. can of hominy
1 TBSP or more lime juice
1 tsp. salt

Toppings:
shredded cabbage
radishes (thinly sliced)
avocado
green onions
cilantro
mushrooms
spinach
tomatoes
mexican crema
tortilla chips or tostada shells

Directions:
1. Start 1.5 cups of water to boil in a small pot. Get larger pot with 6 cups of water heating as well.
2. Cut off the stem and any hard parts of the chilies, shake out the seeds. Roast the chilies in a dry skillet a few minutes until they soften. Add to the small pot of boiling water, cover with lid, turn off heat and let sit for 15 min.
3. Pat pork dry with paper towel and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Brown all sides of the pork in a skillet, then add 2 minced cloves of garlic for the last 2 minutes. Add to large pot of boiling water.
4. Take chilies, their soaking water and 2 whole garlic cloves into a food processor and puree.
5. Pour the chili mixture into the large pot, using a mesh strainer, to only let the liquid through.  
6. Add hominy to the large pot and boil for 1.5-2 hrs until pork is very tender. Add 1 tsp salt and lime juice (you could also serve with lime wedges for everyone to add their own lime). Either way you do lime is fine but don't omit. It is important to the taste!
7. Prep garnishes and set out for everyone to pick what add-ins they want.

Autumn Flavor Chili

Do you have Halloween food traditions? It seems a lot of people have either soup, chili, donuts or apple cider. I remember my family having soup or chili very often on Halloween night since it was a busy night for a crazy household of nine plus all the trick-or-treaters at the door. People could come in and grab a bowl before they went to get dressed up, went to a party, etc.
   It wasn't too busy of a night for me this year. My husband was at class so I was home alone and I got only about 20 trick-or-treaters.  I made chili anyway as a remembrance of my childhood days. I added an adult spin and autumn flair with the extra spices and flavors.  They gives the chili a fun, rich tasting base. Thanks to my friends at www.OurBestBites.com for the great idea. I really wish I had gotten an orange sweet potato (yam) instead of the white one to get that great halloween color incorporated, but oh well.

Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 small jalepeno, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 (14 oz) cans black beans
2 cups broth
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 package ground chicken
6 large cremini or shitaake mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper

Heat onion, jalepeno, garlic and bell pepper in pot with 1/2 TBSP of oil for several minutes until soft. Add in sweet potato, beans, broth, tomatoes and pumpkin. Cook chicken and mushrooms in the other 1/2 TBSP oil. Add in oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and chili powder to the meat and mix together in a skillet until browned and cooked through, then add to chili pot. Add cinnamon and cocoa powder. Simmer for about 45 minutes until sweet potatoes are nice and soft. Serve with cilantro and avocado garnish.

Chipotle Pumpkin Soup

For years, I have made a spicy pumpkin soup that gets its kick from a load of red pepper flakes.  This year I wanted to try a slightly different flavor profile and create something that would be more tolerable for all of my pregnant friends at a baby shower I brought the soup to. Thanks to simplyrecipes.com for the idea (I did have to adjust a few of the ingredient ratios they used for it to work like I intended).  I had a little leftover, which worked great for an appetizer at a dinner party I hosted the next day.

This soup also ended up being a lot lower fat and healthier than my other go-to pumpkin soup since I didn't need to use coconut milk as the liquid base and source of flavor, just as a garnish.

Chipotle peppers give a bit more depth, smokiness, and southwestern bite than just straight "heat", unless you get a chunk of pepper in your first bite like my husband, then it may seem too hot. I'll have to use a real blender instead of a hand-blender next time. (He still ate the rest...which is impressive considering he has never been a big fan of pumpkin). If you really like heat, give it the whole pepper-I'm just warning you that they are potent.

I made it for a crowd so the listed amounts are adjusted from what I used to create a smaller batch.

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2  of 1 chipotle pepper (canned in adobo sauce), chopped
24 oz. canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 cups broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt (if needed depending on how salty your broth is)
1 TBSP lime juice
chopped cilantro
roasted pumpkin seeds
coconut milk

Saute the onion for a few minutes in olive oil, then add garlic, pepper and cumin and cook a minute until very fragrant. Add pumpkin, broth, oregano, salt and simmer for 20 minutes on med heat, stirring often. Add lime juice and then puree soup together (my immersion/hand-blender left a few little chunks...so I would recommend a real blender).  Add more broth, if needed, for desired consistency. Garnish soup with a drizzle of coconut milk, toasted pumpkin seeds, and cilantro. I had a flask of additional coconut milk available for anyone that wanted to tame down the heat a bit.

If you are feeling in the mood for a "theme" meal, you could serve it in a hollowed-out pumpkin OR a pumpkin shaped bread bowl!

Rustic Cabbage Stew

I made this up one day when I felt like doing theme nights for our dinners...different types of cuisine for each night: Mexican, Italian, Japanese, American, Thai, Russian. This was for Russian night. Most Russian cabbage type soups/stews usually involve a tomato base and pickled cabbage (we'll get to that recipe later) but I took a little different route this night and liked the outcome. My brother-in-law (who lived in Russia for a while) got our leftovers last time and ate it all before my sister even got to taste it, so I believe it was a hit.

We had it with Russian rye bread (you can get some good rye at the European Market at 4700 S. and 900 E. if you live in Salt Lake area).

I didn't write the recipe down that night but recreated it today and got pretty close to my original creation. Ben said it was just as good.

I like my stews like this to have a good spicy feel (it helps accentuate the hot, comforting essence of soup) but you may wish to leave out the extra red pepper flakes and let the sausage be all the spice you use.

Ingredients:
1/4 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 oz. hot spicy chicken or turkey or pork sausage (I just bought one link at fresh meat counter)
1 14 oz. can white beans
1/2 head of fresh cabbage, sliced
4 cup chicken broth
1-2 cup water
1/2 tsp coriander
few turns of cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Saute onion and sausage in pot until a little brown, add garlic for a minute then add everything else. Let stew (or boil) for a good 15-20 min. until cabbage is relatively soft. You may grate a little parmesan cheese on top if you are feeling sassy.

Pumpkin Coconut Soup

Pumpkin season has started. I usually start by doing my annual pumpkin waffle party. This year I start the pumpkin festivities by making this soup. I created it a couple yrs ago as kind of a knock-off of Zupa's seasonal pumpkin soup.

Ingredients:
2 cloves minced fresh garlic
1/2 chopped onion
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP fresh grated ginger (or 1/2 TBSP ground ginger)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
10 oz. canned pumpkin
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1 potato (chopped into small cubes)
1 large roma tomato (or 2 little ones) chopped into small cubes1 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper
shredded coconut

In a soup pot, saute the garlic and onion with the ginger, and nutmeg in the oil until fragrant and translucent (do not brown), then add the pumpkin, broth, and coconut milk. Stir to combine, bring to a boil. Add in the potatoes and tomato and cook until the potatoes are soft (I like to precook the potatoes in the microwave to cut down on prep time). Add the salt and pepper. Toast shredded coconut lightly and top soup when serving.