Curry Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I don’t know if it’s the chill that’s been in the air lately but I’ve been craving soup, which really is a little odd for me.  I love soup once I’m eating it but to crave it isn’t something that happens often.  Since I had a lonely butternut squash in the cupboard that had to be used butternut squash soup was the winner.
Curry Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 medium Butternut Squash, halved and seeded
• 1 small head of garlic
• 1/2 large red onion, chopped
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 – 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• fresh grated nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• Maple syrup to drizzle over when serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Drizzle your halved squash with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper roast till flesh is soft when pierced with a knife.  I roast mine skin side down for part of the cooking and skin side up for part of the cooking.

While your roasting your squash you can roast a head of garlic at the same time.  Cut off the top of the garlic drizzle with EVOO, salt and pepper.  Wrap with foil and place in the oven.
While the squash is cooking sauté your onion in some EVOO till caramelized.  When it’s caramelized to your liking add the curry powder and toast slightly to bring out the flavour.
When the squash is cool enough to handle scoop the flesh into your blender or food processor along with the onion and curry mixture.  Squeeze the garlic out of the cloves out of their skin and add to food processor or blender.  Process till smooth.  Add some broth if necessary for processing.  Place mixture in your pot add remaining broth, bay leaf, and fresh ground nutmeg.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 – 15 mins.  Drizzle with maple syrup when serving.

** Note: I served with a garnish of Cilantro.  I really enjoyed the combination of flavours.  So the next time I make it I will all a small amount (don't want it to overpower the soup)maybe a Tbsp or less of chopped Cilantro**


I served mine with some Quinoa that I rinsed well and drained till mostly dry.  While that was drying I browned some butter in the pot.  Add the dried Quinoa and cook till toasty.  It only takes a few minutes. Add your water (or broth) and salt cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer till liquid is absorbed. Let sit for 5 mins and fluff with a fork.
Simple and delicious.
~ Jackie

Weekend Plans + Photo Post

It finally arrived... the weekend's here!!  For me as I'm sure for most of you, I can't wait for the work week to get over and the weekend to arrive.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older now, but I'm quite happy to spend the weekend relaxing watching a movie, cooking in the kitchen, reading a good book or going for a stroll.  I don't have that need to be on the go and looking for the next big event or party.  Gone are the days when I was out till all hours of the night every weekend, once in awhile is fine with me.

So my plans for the weekend include most of the above with some studying and probably a glass or two of wine thrown in there.  My kitchen plans include trying out the new pasta roller attachment  for the KitchenAid.  I'm hoping to make some homemade lasagna noodles for some pumpkin lasagna ... wish me luck.  I'm also planning some Roasted Butternut Squash soup, fudge (with a secret ingredient), and I suppose I should throw something in there that Tom likes so probably a steak and some roasted potatoes.

Fingers crossed I'll have some yummy food to share with you after the weekend.  Until then I'll leave you with a photo post.  I've had my new camera for about a year now and have really done nothing with it, so I thought it was about time I start trying to take some more thoughtful pictures and learn how to use the umpteen different settings.  I also need to learn how to take better food pics now that fall / winter are upon us and the lighting in the house leaves a lot to be desired.

Have a great weekend everyone.  Hopefully I have success in the kitchen this weekend and I'll be back with some delicious eats for you.

~ Jackie

Project Organize

One of my goals for October was to organize the kitchen.  Well I tackled that and then some while I was on vacation.  I not only organized and de-cluttered the kitchen cupboards, I washed all of them.  Even though we have a big kitchen I still wish I had more cupboard space, That is until I decide to wash the cupboards that’s when I wish I had a teeny tiny kitchen. It took me a day just to do that. I don’t really have any earth shattering suggestions about how to organize your kitchen but some of the things I find helpful are.

* Mason jars for storing items.  I have been slowly accumulating mason jars to store my dry goods like beans, lentils, chickpeas, flours, teas etc. That way I don’t have 5000 different plastic bags and packages strewn about in the cupboards.  I also label the tops of the jars so I can actually see what’s in them without pulling them out.

*Baskets make great holders for a lazy susan cupboard.  Ours is metal so things would fall through the cracks or fall off as you spin it.  Annoying!!!  So I try to keep like items together in the baskets and now I don’t have to be a contortionist to crawl inside to try to retrieve what fell off.  I also keep my potatoes in a basket helps eliminate rotten ones at the bottom of the bag. 

Before and After

Some things I figured out during this task

-  I have a lot of tea.  I mean does one person really need 24 different kinds of tea???

-  I also have a lot of vinegar – 13 kinds to be exact, seriously what was I thinking.

- Another thing I realized was I could have outfitted another entire kitchen.  Some of the things I donated, toaster, pressure cooker, pots, pans, juicer, food processor, blender and the list goes on.

A little treasure I found buried in the back behind the tea and vinegar was this

This stuff is super good on toast but it would be amazing as a topping for Brie or with pork or chicken.  I will be picking some more of this up for sure at the next Epicure party I go to.

G’night all.

~ Jackie

Quinoa Turkey Burgers

Something I've been doing for awhile now is attending the Presidents Choice (Superstore) Cooking School.  They offer a wide variety of classes,  Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Italian, French and many more.  There is even a class dedicated to Chocolate!  I enjoy going so I can try out different or new to me foods and  cooking techniques that I wouldn't necessarily try on my own.  You don't actually get to cook, but what you do get is a chance to sit and relax while a Chef prepares a full meal (appetizer, main dish, and dessert) for you to enjoy, a copy of the recipes to take with you, and the best part is you get a break from cooking and dish duty!  The supper classes are very reasonably priced at $18 + HST.

They also have a What's For Dinner session at lunch time (check with your local store to see if it's available). This is an hour long class where you show up the Chef prepares lunch (usually salad and main dish, or main dish and dessert). They have most of the prep work done so you basically just sit down and eat.  Easy to fit in on your lunch break if you work close to a location that offers them.  Here's the best part.... these classes cost $10, but when you go you get a $10 Presidents Choice gift card so lunch is in fact FREE! How can you beat that, real food cooked for and served to you for free.

One of the classes I went to was "Cooking with Quinoa" and these burgers were one of the items on the menu.

Quinoa Turkey Burgers

2 lbs Ground Turkey

2 cups White Quinoa, cooked

2 garlic cloves (minced if you don\t use the food processor)

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

3 Tbsp Tzatziki, plus additional for serving

2 Tbsp fresh Rosemary, (chopped fine if you don't use the food processor)

Salt and Pepper

Feta, and Tomatillo Salsa for topping finished burgers

12 Ciabatta buns

Combine all burger ingredients in the food processor, and pulse till combined.  Form into 12 burger patties.  Cook burgers on preheated grill, BBQ or in a saute pan with a small amount of olive oil.

Top burgers with Feta, salsa, and veggies of choice.

*Note - I don't usually use the food processor just combine everything in a bowl.  I also use other fresh herbs if \I have them on hand (oregano, thyme).  

 

I wasn't in the mood for a bun so I just topped some Arugula with the burger and accompanied it with a Carrot Beet Salad and homemade tortilla crisps and guacamole. Delish!!

It's back to work for me tomorrow.  Have a great week.

~ Jackie