A Big Batch of Squash Soup

 These days I'm getting loads of butternut squash in my weekly vegetable box.  Yesterday morning I had five, all lined up like chubby soldiers just waiting to be called to action.

I don't always cook things in big batches but when I do it's so satisfying I wonder that I don't do it more often.  In this case I roasted three of the squash, face down on parchment (brushed lightly with olive oil).  I sprinkled the squash halves with coarse sea salt and some ground black pepper before lying them down on their parchment.

 The flavour base of this soup was very simple, shallots sautéed with olive oil, dried parsley and black pepper.  As the shallots became translucent I added some sea salt.  The shallots then remained in their pot until the pureed squash was ready.

 I roasted the squash for a decent amount of time, 45 minutes.  I like some of that roasted flavour to come through.  Once the squash had cooled somewhat, I scooped it out of the skins and added it to my vitamix blender with some filtered water, just enough to cover the squash by about an inch.
I did this in two batches so I wouldn't overload the blender and create an exploding mess.

 The first batch I pureed was added to the pot, the second was stored in a large glass container in the fridge.  The next time we want some squash soup, I'll just saute up another flavour base of shallots and dried herbs (or maybe red onion and fresh herbs) and pour in the pureed squash.

The best thing about this soup is the topping.  I snipped away at the tops of some living pea shoots, about a half cup per serving.  Then I sprinkled about a quarter cup of roasted and salted pumpkin seeds all over.  Those pumpkin seeds are great sources of protein and healthy fats, as well as minerals.

There you have it, a perfect winter soup.
Have you done any batch cooking lately?  What are your favourite dishes to prepare in bulk?
xoxDani

Christmas Gnocchi

 Last summer my bestie K served up a spread for crostini that had a base of sun-dried tomatoes and pumpkin seeds.  It was so delicious that I've been thinking about it for months, trying to figure out how I could recreate it and transfer the deliciousness of it to a main course meal.
Turns out it was quite easy, although there are a couple of key tricks.  They involve soaking and using a food processor, both easy kitchen tasks (provided you have a food processor, I just bought one in September and it changed my life).  It's a perfect recipe for this time of year because it is filling, festive and has an almost decadent flavour due to a fairly humble (and healthy) ingredient: sun-dried tomatoes.
The key with using pumpkin seeds in a recipe like this is that they need to be soaked for several hours, I soaked mine for about six.  This softens them up and gives them an almost meaty texture.

Soak one cup of pumpkin seeds for six to eight hours.

 I have a soft spot for gnocchi because it is so filling and easy to cook.  A quality packaged gnocchi from Italy is an easy item to keep stocked in your pantry, and not an expensive one.  I bought this gnocchi for $1.79 a package at a discount grocery store. The other bonus?  It takes two to three minutes to cook once you have your water boiled.

I cooked up two packages of gnocchi for this recipe.

 The sun-dried tomatoes will want a soaking too, but a very brief one.  I poured hot water from the kettle over mine in their bowl while I was assembling the other ingredients, letting them sit in their bath for a few minutes.  Then you'll want to drain them and gently squeeze out any excess water.

Two cups of sun-dried tomatoes briefly soaked in hot water.

 Into the food processor you can then chuck the squeezed sun-dried tomatoes, along with the drained pumpkin seeds, two cloves of garlic, two tablespoons of nutritional yeast (you can see this ingredient takes the place of parmigiana in many of my recipes these days), three tablespoons or so of olive oil, salt to your taste, and a good grinding of black pepper.
Give that a good fine chop in your processor while on your cutting board you roughly chop up two medium zucchini and begin to saute them in olive oil:

 You'll want to give the mixture a good saute to bring out the flavour of the garlic and meld it with the pumpkin seeds.  All of those good fats in the seeds will bring about a delicious caramelized flavour to the whole lot.
Just when it begins to stick to the pan a little, add in a cup of good white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio).

I didn't do a very aggressive cooking of the zucchini, I wanted it to have some bite compared to those soft pillowy gnocchi!

Once your gnocchi have cooked their non-demanding two minutes, drain them well and add them to your festive mixture: voila, you have an easy, healthy dinner everyone will love.  This was a big hit with my Rascals.
We have a very special day planned today, Ole Rascal arrives home for the holidays and we're having a big Christmas lunch with the extended family.
Hope your day is festive not hectic, and if you try the Christmas gnocchi please let me know!
xoxDani

The Home's Engine

 January was such a busy month that by the end of it my house was a filthy, disorganized mess.  I went back to basics this week with a whole-house scrub followed by a detailed kitchen cleaning.

The kitchen is the engine of the home and family, there's no doubt about that, and the center of the kitchen is surely the refrigerator (as evidenced by the typical magnet-like qualities of the fridge: walk into kitchen, open fridge and stare inside).

A good refrigerator cleaning begins with removing most of the food and scrubbing away at all surfaces.  I usually just use a mild dish soap with warm water.  If things have become really out of hand I might throw a couple of cups of vinegar into the dish water to add some natural disinfecting power.

 As you can see I avoid plastic containers whenever possible.  We are fortunate to have our milk cheerfully delivered in recyclable glass bottles (by Wolfgang of Pfennings Organics) and whenever possible I store food in re-purposed glass jars.  I'm also a fan of wax paper to wrap up cheese.

 With the price of nuts and seeds gone through the roof it's an excellent idea to store them in the fridge- which gives them a better chance of staying fresh. 

As you can see my family are fans of cheese, we always end up with odds and sods which need corralling into some sort of container: I use this wire basket I bought in Provence many years ago:

 There's a whole debate about storing eggs on the fridge door (is it cold enough there etc) but I think it's fine.  I also like to see them lined up like little soldiers:

 When I do a big fridge clean-up I have a peek into every jar and bottle to look for freshness.  If your family are extremely messy sandwich-fixers they are more likely to stick knives and spoons with peanut butter and crumbs into jars and vessels in their haste to make that sandwich pronto. 

 There are a couple of recipes I can pretty much always put together out of the contents of our fridge and pantry.  The first is the old reliable crepe.  These are so easy to whip up and always have the feeling of a special treat.  They are great to serve for breakfast but I also give them to my youngest daughter for an after-school snack.
This is the recipe I use (the basic crepe recipe, this link includes a delicious-sounding mushroom sauce paired with asparagus, there's a good crepe lunch recipe right there).

 To tell the truth I don't even measure it out, I know the crepe batter has the right consistency when it falls off the whisk in cascading ribbons:

I use my flat grill set-up on my stove top to cook them:

 Serve a stack with various jams, maple syrup and for a bit of decadence some whipped heavy cream.

 How about an easy lunch recipe?
I've been trying to incorporate pumpkin seeds into our diet as they are so healthy.  The raw seeds are quite bland so I roast mine in a skillet:

Don't get distracted: they burn easily.

 It took me some time to get used to cooking quinoa but I'm not sure why, it's actually so easy.  I buy mine in bulk from the health food store and I cook it at a 2:1 ratio (two cups of water to one cup of dry quinoa).  I saute a shallot in olive oil, add the water and an organic vegetable bouillon cube, some chopped parsley and the quinoa.  Cover and boil low for 15 minutes or so... towards the last 5 minutes I chuck in some greens, in this case a bit of shredded kale:

 Top with the pumpkin seeds and you have a filling, superfood lunch:

 I garnish it with a bit of pink salt:

If the refrigerator is clean and organized I find my nerves are far less frayed.  How about you?
Enjoy the weekend Tooties.
xoxDani