Some cooking stuff

[pecunium]

I’ve been cooking lately. Picking up a knife case from the discount bin at work helps. A knife case is more than just a handy way to store/transport knives (and it’s a very handy way to transport them. People on the train/bus think I’m carrying an instrument case. They are right, but not in the way they think). It’s also a sort of portable kitchen. The primary purpose is to keep knives, and at least one steel, in a handy package. A compact package. But aside from the knife pocket, there are, usually, pouches and pockets suitable for other gadgets and spices.

Which means one can have the saffron, or nutmegs, or cloves, or nigella, etc., which the kitchen to which one is going might not, as well as one’s preferred whisk, etc.

I’ve been spending a couple of nights a week at CG's. It happens that another friend of theirs has been wanting to reduce her commute, and is staying over every so often on nights I am going to be there. So I’ve been cooking, and it’s been fun cooking, because she has a number of allergies. Last week we made butternut soup. Dead simple.

Take a couple of medium squash (when I grew them at home they were much larger, and I could have done with just one). When selecting a butternut look for one which is more squat. Those tend to have more meat in them, esp. if you are going to be lazy and just slice of the shell.

Cut the squash into chunks. Steam until a fork slides easily into the pieces. If you left the rind on, use a paring knife, or vegetable peeler (though a grapefruit spoon will work), to remove the skin. You’ll need to let them cool a bit.

While the squash is steaming cut some onions fine, and sweat them (olive oil, or butter are fine; we used bacon fat because of dairy allergies), and toss with a moderate amount of curry.

Drain the pan, and return the squash, with a can of coconut milk, and the curried onions. Bring back to a low boil, and serve.

Comments

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

I made butternut squash soup last night myself. I'll have to try using curry next time. I usually cut the squash in a couple of pieces, remove the pulp, then roast it in the oven for about an hour. I've discovered roasting the seeds at the same time produces an excellent treat for munching.

[dianyla.livejournal.com]

I also prefer to roast the butternuts rather than steam them. MMMMNOM!

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I find, for all the tastiness of roast butternut, that roasting it doesn't add enough flavor to make up for the massive increase in cooking time for soups (which is, in part, caused by having to stew it to replace the lost water before it will becomes soup).

[dianyla.livejournal.com]

Increase in cooking time?

I throw the fully cooked by way of roasting squashy chunks into the liquid of choice (broth, usually, but sometimes creaminess) and then use a hand blender. It's basically done at that point.