Thai Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

I've been having fun lately with recipes from Morocco, Korea, Thailand, Jerusalem - anything with interesting flavors and spices.  I think it's my way of dealing with cooler weather without heavy carbs and cheese (can you say lasagna?).

Anyway, soup is one of my favorite cool weather foods so when a family member offered up a recipe for Thai Butternut Squash Soup, I had to make it.  It's an excellent and very satisfying meal with some crusty bread on the side.  The squash and coconut milk make it smooth and creamy, while the seeds add crunch. You can make it as mild or spicy as you want - as written, it's quite mild.  Add more red curry paste or hot sauce if you like the spice.

I won't lie - it's a fair amount of work if you make it start to finish all in one go.  Peeling and seeding and cubing the squash is not all that fun or easy in my book.  But, there are two ways you can simplify everything - either prep your vegetables in advance (this is what I did), or buy cut-up squash at the store and skip the squash seed garnish.  And since it makes a lot you'll have containers to freeze for the next rainy day, metaphorically or otherwise. (That's my standard rational for any soup recipe, by the way.)

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Thai Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Serves 6-8 Note: you can buy cut-up squash to save time and skip the squash seed garnish, using just peanuts. Soup 3 tablespoons  olive oil 1 sweet onion, diced 1/4 cup red curry paste 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger 8 garlic cloves, minced 3 cups uncooked butternut squash peeled, cut into 1”cubes, seeds separated 1 large sweet potato peeled, cut into 1”cubes 3 medium carrots peeled and chopped 4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable stock 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 14 oz. can coconut milk  1 tablespoon fish sauce 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 tablespoons lime juice Sriracha/Asian hot chili sauce to taste (optional) Honey Sriracha Butternut Squash Seeds (optional) Reserved butternut squash seeds 1 tablespoon honey 1/2 teaspoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha/ Asian hot chili sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin Garnishes Freshly squeezed lime juice 1 cup peanuts 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped  ½ cup plain yogurt

If you’re making the squash seeds:  preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking tray with a slip mat, parchment paper or foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Rinse squash seeds and pat dry. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, olive oil, Sriracha, salt and cumin; add seeds and stir until evenly coated. Spread seeds out evenly on baking sheet in a single layer. Cook for 30-35 minutes until golden, stirring every 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and stir so the seeds don’t stick; let cool.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large sauté pan (may use large soup pot or Dutch oven), over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and sauté until onions are soft, about 3 - 5 minutes. Add red curry paste, red pepper flakes, ginger and garlic; stir to combine with onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and chicken stock. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and then reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, toast peanuts lightly in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until golden. Let cool and rough chop.

 Once vegetables are soft, pour half of the vegetable mixture into a blender. Remove the middle piece of the cover and drape a towel over the cover before blending (this prevents explosions with hot liquids). Puree until soup is smooth, then transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining soup and pour everything back into the soup pot.

Add coconut milk, fish sauce, and basil to the soup and cook until soup is heated through (2-5 minutes). When ready to server, stir in 2 tablespoons lime juice. Taste soup and add desired amount of Sriracha, salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, squeeze fresh lime juice onto individual bowls for a fresh pop and garnish with roasted seeds, peanuts and cilantro.  Drizzle with a spoonful of plain yogurt.

Kale Chorizo Potato Quiche

Last Year's Post:  Yakisoba
Two Years Ago:   Chicken with Lemon Pomegranate Sauce and Pistachio Rice

The is a great quiche for fall or winter, because it's spicy and filling with big flavors from the Mexican chorizo and kale.  It makes a great dinner with a side salad, and an excellent weekend brunch with some fruit.

My recommendation is to use a mandoline to slice the potatoes into uniformly thin slices.  If you don't have a mandoline, use a very sharp knife or cut them into small cubes instead.

I've said it a million times but it bears repeating, Mexican chorizo and Spanish chorizo are not the same.  Mexican chorizo is a fresh chorizo that will typically be found in trays in the pork section of your store.  Spanish chorizo is a dried sausage that looks much like pepperoni.  You want Mexican chorizo here.  One of the big benefits of using chorizo is that it contains all the spices you need for the whole dish except for salt and pepper, which makes things easy.

First you pre-bake the crust.  While it bakes, prep the veggies and shred the cheese.  Then you just saute the chorizo and onion, and repeat with the potatoes and kale.  Stir together the eggs and milk, and assemble.   Make a big salad while it bakes.  Delicious.

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Kale Chorizo Potato Quiche

Serves 8

1 pie crust

1/3 lb Mexican chorizo

1/2 small white onion, diced

1 russet potato, sliced thinly or diced into small cubes

1/4 cup water

4 cups torn fresh kale leaves

4 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3 oz. white cheddar cheese, shredded and divided

Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F. Roll pie dough out to 1/4″ thick and fit it to a pie pan. Line with foil and pie weights. Cook for 8-9 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, brown the chorizo. Cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until it is all browned. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, then remove the chorizo and onions. Add the 1/4 cup of water and deglaze before adding the potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.   Cover and cook until the potatoes are softened but not breaking apart, approximately 3 minutes, gently stirring once.    Add the kale to the pan and cook until just wilted (1-2 minutes). Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and about 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper. Layer 1/3 of the cheddar cheese in the crust, followed by half of the potato mixture, then all of the chorizo mixture and the other half of the potato mixture. Pour the custard over all.  Top with the remaining cheese. 

Bake at 375F for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is puffed and golden and the middle is set.

Grilled Korean Shrimp

Last Year's Post: Coconut Chicken Fingers
Two Years Ago:   Ravioli with Fresh Corn

If you like Korean food or spicy food in general, you'll love these shrimp.  The sauce gives them big, bold flavor with enough kick to make your lips tingle for a few minutes so be sure to serve them with a nice cold beverage. I particularly like the look of the shrimp and onions after grilling.

They're very quick and easy to make (no marinating) and would be perfect as part of a summer grilling party - serve one or two shrimp with green onions on mini-skewers for each person.  Larger skewers could be served over a big green salad, or with fried rice, or as I did over a tangle of noodles with garlic, olive oil and parsley.

The Lawyer said this picture looks like music.  :-)

The only unusual ingredient is Gochujang, which is a thick, dark red Korean spice paste that's essential to Korean cooking.  At one time I would have hesitated to post a recipe using it, but I recently found it in the Asian section of my local Fry's store so it's getting much easier to find.  If your grocery store doesn't carry it, you can find it at your local Asian market.

One of my favorite parts of the recipe is the green onion - crispy-charred and spicy from the basting sauce, they taste sort of like spicy fried onions.  This is a unique and unusual twist on grilled shrimp that's completely delicious.

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Grilled Korean Shrimp

Serves 4

16 colossal (U10-12) or 20 extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 green onions, trimmed, white and light green part cut into 2 inch lengths

Kosher salt

Gochujang sauce

1/4 cup Gochujang paste (Korean red pepper paste.)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Wooden skewers, soaked

  

Using 2 skewers side by side, alternately thread on pieces of green onion and shrimp, beginning and ending with green onions. Sprinkle the skewers lightly on both sides with the kosher salt. Whisk the Gochujang sauce ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (400°F).

Put the skewers on the grill over direct medium-high heat and cook for three minutes. Flip the skewers and baste with the sauce.  Cook for another two minutes, flip the skewers, and baste again. Cook for one more minute. Remove the skewers to a platter, and brush one last time with sauce (or serve with additional leftover sauce on the side).   Serve hot or at room temperature.

Pasta Arrabiata

Last Year's Post: Coconut-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Rice
Two Years Ago:  Sesame Seed Chicken Salad

Arrabbiata is a spicy sauce for pasta made from garlic, tomatoes, and red chili peppers cooked in olive oil.   The word "arrabbiata" literally means angry in Italian, which supposedly is a reference to the spiciness of the sauce.  If that's true, this recipe is more grumpy than angry - it's mildly to moderately spicy depending on how much crushed red pepper you add.  Additional depth of flavor comes from the paprika and optional pepperoncini without adding a lot of heat.  I just happened to have a jar of pepperoncini in my refrigerator (no idea why) so I added some, but didn't notice it in the finished dish so I listed it as optional.  I don't think it's worth buying an entire jar just for this recipe.

In addition to being spicy, Arrabbiata recipes often include black olives and capers to give it additional flavor and texture.  I particularly like the salty pop of the capers.

Because the sauce is relatively light, it's important to throw the cooked pasta into the pan with the sauce and toss it around for a couple of minutes.  This allows the sauce to evenly coat all of the pasta and infuse it with flavor.  I've heard Lidia Bastianich, one of the foremost Italian cooks in America, state that this step is so important that she wouldn't finish pasta any other way. I've discovered there's only one caution to this approach - add the cooked pasta to the sauce gradually unless you're very sure of your pasta-to-sauce ratio.  If you dump it all in at once and decide it was too much pasta for the amount of sauce, you're up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

This is a simple, fast healthy and light pasta dish that won't weigh you down but is perfect comfort food on a cold night.  And, it even qualifies for meatless Mondays.

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Pasta Arrabbiata

Serves 4

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons drained capers, rinsed

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

¼ - ½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, depending on your preference

½ teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons anchovy paste

2 tablespoons stemmed, seeded and minced pepperoncini (optional)

1 28-ounce can crushed Italian tomatoes

1 pound hot cooked pasta

Grated Parmesan Reggiano

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil.  Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the olives, capers, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, red pepper flakes, paprika, anchovy paste and pepperoncini and sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and simmer until reduced slightly, about 20 minutes. Add 1-2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan to the sauce and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings.   

Coconut-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Rice

 Last Year's Post: Raspberry Dark Chocolate Wonton Cups
Two years Ago:   Banh Mi

If you'd like a little island getaway without the hassle and expense, try this Caribbean-inspired menu.  It's full of interesting flavors and not particularly hot despite the addition of the chile.  I love the idea of serving the pork with hot sauce so each person can kick it up as much as they want.  The pork tenderloin is marinated in all sorts of ingredients that are tempered by the addition of coconut milk, then grilled and served with a wonderful garnish of green onions, cilantro, allspice and peanuts.  (If you live in a climate where you currently have feet of snow on the ground and/or below zero temps, go ahead and use an indoor grill pan or broil the pork. We all have our limits, even The Lawyer.)

The rice is the perfect accompaniment - dried pineapple adds sweetness that balances the heat, plus lime juice, cilantro and green onions echo the same ingredients as in the pork recipe.  I've posted the rice before here with grilled shrimp, but it's so perfect with the pork that I had to do it again.

Notice that you marinate the pork for 2-8 hours, so be sure to plan ahead.  The original recipe called for a Scotch Bonnet chile which I couldn't find at the store, so I substituted a Habanero chile instead.  Both are hot, so be careful when handling or wear gloves.  The heat is lessened by removing the ribs and seeds, plus it's tamed down by the coconut milk so don't worry - the finished dish is mildly spicy at best.  Hence the hot sauce - I tried red and green Tabasco and preferred the green by far - the red overwhelmed the other flavors.

One last note - the little jalapenos in the photo are just for looks because they're cute, so not to worry.

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Coconut-Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4

You can make a chunky purée from the green onion/peanut relish, if you prefer, by pulsing it in a food processor. Handle the Scotch bonnet chile carefully as you chop it.

1 (14-oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk

Grated zest of 2 limes

Juice of 2 limes

1 heaping tbsp. mild curry powder

2 tsp. mild Spanish paprika

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 tbsp. grated fresh ginger

 1 Scotch Bonnet or Habanero chile, minced

1/4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

1 (2-lb.) pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat

2 tbsp. canola oil

Kosher salt

4 green onions, green and pale green parts, halved lengthwise and finely chopped

2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 c. coarsely chopped roasted peanuts

Green Tabasco hot sauce

Combine coconut milk, lime zest and juice, curry powder, paprika, garlic, ginger, Scotch bonnet and pepper in bowl. Add pork, turn to coat in marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.

Heat grill to high for indirect grilling. Remove pork from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking and pat dry with paper towels.

Brush pork with oil and season with salt. Put pork directly over heat and cook until charred on all sides, about 8 minutes. Remove to cooler part of grill (indirect heat) and continue grilling until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 140 degrees, about 12 minutes longer.

Remove pork from grill, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Combine green onions, cilantro, allspice and peanuts in bowl and season with salt.

Slice pork into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle with green onion-peanut relish and serve with hot sauce.

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Pineapple Rice

Serves 4

Note: dried pineapple is sweeter and more intense in flavor than fresh; don’t substitute.

2 cups water

1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice

½ cup chopped dried pineapple

1 tablespoon butter

½ teaspoon grated lime zest

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon chopped green onions

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan and add rice and next 4 ingredients (through salt).  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat; stir in cilantro, onions and juice.