Squashes Galore!

Poor little Storkbite has been consuming her fair share of squash lately.  We’ve have all kinds: butternut, acorn, pumpkins, etc.  The CSA bestowed these gifts upon us and they started to pile up in our kitchen.  I decided to roast them all one night (six in total) and made them into various purees.  Some puree was saved for Storkbite’s lunches and dinners, others were processed into delightful things for Storkbite’s parents.

Butternut Squash Soup

The crisp fall weather bodes well for soups and Storkbite loves to eat them.  In this case I sauteed garlic and 1 small onion in 1 tbs. butter and 1 tbs. olive oil then combined 2 qts. of butternut squash puree with 1 box of vegetable or chicken stock, 1 box of water, salt and pepper.  I let it simmer away on the stove and served it with a dollop of yogurt.  The leftover soup has become a stay-at-home mom’s best friend for quick, easy and cheap lunches for mother and child alike.

Pumpkin Custard

If you have the craving for pumpkin pie, but don’t want to go through the trouble of making pie crust then this is for you.   For those of you that haven’t torn off your Libby’s canned pumpkin label and stashed it in your personal collection of recipes like I have then here is my verison of the knock off which can be used to achieve Pumpkin Custard.

Preheat your oven to 425.  Put one brick of graham crackers, 3 tbs. butter and 1/4 c. brown sugar in a food processor and combine.  Press it into the bottom of a large rectangular glass baking dish.  Bake that for 10 mins. in your preheating oven.

Assemble the custard part similar to the recipe on the Libby’s label, but slightly different as indicated here:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 1 qt. homemade roasted pumpkin puree, or 1 can Libby’s Pumpkin
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
• 1 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese

Mix up your eggs, sugar, add the evaporated milk, pumpkin, cream cheese and spices to your mixer bowl.  Mix it all up and pour over your graham cracker crust.

Bake for 45 minutes until the custard holds almost still when wiggled.  Top with whipped cream and ground nutmeg if you so choose.

It’s a lot less trouble that pumpkin pie and yet has all the same flavors!

Potato and Leek Soup

Sometimes we can’t get enough of a good thing, or our CSA keeps sending us the same stuff.  When that happens we do a lot of repeats with slight variations.  This time I added leeks to the basic potato soup and transformed it into what Storkbite’s Papa refers to as “Baked Potato Soup”.  In effort to be as thrify and possible and handcraft my own stork food, these pureed soups are becoming a real hit.  Just before adding the cream, I skim off a good portion and Storkbite eats it for her lunches and dinners.  So far the potato soup, butternut squash soup and now potato and leek soup have been a huge hit with the babe.

Potato and Leek Soup, a.k.a. Baked Potato Soup

For this soup I sauteed one small onion, three cloves garlic, and two chopped leeks (remember to soak in cold water to remove the sand!) in some olive oil and 1 tbs. butter.  Once everything was glassy and smelled good I added about two pounds of skinned and diced fingerling potatoes.  After turning it with a large wooded spoon so it was nicely mixed I added 1 box of chicken stock, refilling the same box with water and adding it.  Then some salt and pepper to taste.  When the potatoes have cooked down I used the handy stick blender and turned it into a puree.  I then skimmed Storkbite’s portion and added at least 1/2 c. heavy cream to the pot an stirred it in.

To build the baked potato style presentation, simply add croutons*, grated cheddar cheese and coarse chopped cooked bacon.  It really makes it a meal and is greatly satisfying on a fall night.

*Croutons - another thrifty tip.  Don’t throw away your stale bread, instead cube it and put it in a freezer bag.  When you need a handful of croutons for soup or salad, simply pull out your frozen cubes and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Put them in the toaster oven or under the broiler for a few minutes and you will have perfect homemade croutons.  They are so delicious that you won’t know then were previously frozen.

Basic Potato Soup

Storkbite and I just returned from an extended tour of the Midwest and we are trying to get our groove back.  Lately the goings on in our kitchen have been as easy on the chef as possible.  It was hard traveling alone with the babe, but dealing with an unreliable napper after getting home has been hard on Storkbite Stew and harder on me.  With all this in mind I’ve been making dinners that are both quick and comforting.  This soup reminds me of the time when I was 22, single, living in Chicago in the middle of winter.  I would find myself at the neighborhood bar under the “L” where all I could afford was a pint and a bowl of potato soup.

Basic Potato Soup

So, I recreate it now for my family and all those wonderful memories at the bar with a fireplace when the wind chill was 40 below come rushing back!

It’s easy: Skin a bag of small potatoes or half a bag of large potatoes.  Cube them.  Sautee a little garlic, an onion, and your potatoes in a few tablespoons of olive oil.  Pour in a box of stock (I like Imagine brand - chicken or vegetable), then fill the box of stock up with water and add it.  Make sure all the potatoes are covered.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Let it simmer until the potatoes are cooked through.  Puree in a blender or with a stick blender.  Top with grated cheddar and chives and serve with buttered toast.  That’s it - there is nothing to it.

Watermelon and Chowder

The CSA vegetables this summer are getting really darn fresh.  We have gotten the best watermelon - way better than the kind you get down at the Key Food.  Storkbite’s Papa doesn’t like his watermelon with anything on it, so I made this salad for my lady friends.   The summer chowder is one of those basic soups that has everything but the kitchen sink - an old summer standby.

Watermelon Salad with Feta

The key to this dish is to cut the watermelon as nicely as possible.  I sprinkled crumbled feta, basil and olives over it then drizzled on balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  A sprinkle of salt and pepper and that’s it.  The sweeter and juicier the watermelon - the better.  It’s a classic summer treat.

Summer Chowder

This starts with a box of chicken or vegetable stock (I like Imagine brand), the equivalent in water, then a bunch of chopped vegetables.  In this case I sauteed onion, celery, zucchini in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  When the onions were glassy I added carrots and corn cut off the cob.  I added the stock and water, more salt and pepper, and just let it simmer away until the vegetables were tender.  Maybe about 20 - 30 minutes.  Once I was ready to serve, I added heavy cream until the soup turned pale yellow and fresh cut basil.

We ate this hot and cold for days and days.  It’s always nice to have soup in the refrigerator for lunches, especially now with Storkbite when mama’s lunch can be a daunting prospect.