I'm alive!

Here's an entry I wrote a couple months ago--I couldn't find the cable to transfer photos from my camera and then forgot about the draft I'd written.  Alas, I still haven't found the cable, but I did figure out a way around the problem.

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With final exams, the busyness of Advent and Christmas, and traveling, there weren't too many cooking experiments around here in the last month or so.  I did try this Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese somewhat successfully, and I can't stop thinking about the Pork Chops with Sauerkraut that my mom made for New Year's (hint: it has sour cream and paprika).  I've also made cabbage rolls twice--really easy to bake a large casserole of them and then freeze in small portions.


If ye be worried that this post might lack photographic culinary detail, do not despair.  I almost wrote that I had lots of potatoes, left, but that is no longer quite the case.  Having many potatoes on hand, as well as bacon in the freezer, and random cream in the refrigerator, I tried this Loaded Baked Potato Soup recipe from Slow-Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen.  Delicious.  Click on the recipe to view it.

I also made Smitten Kitchen's Sour Cherry Slab Pie yesterday, and it turned out fantastically.  I used the all butter crust that she linked (as opposed to my standard shortening crust), and--provided one keeps everything cold--it was very easy to make and work with.

Unfortunately, the pie slab finished off the last of my sour cherry stash in the freezer.  I think I know of a place that has more, though, if I really get desperate.  Just don't tell my roommate.  She's probably enjoying being able to see a little bit of the back wall of the freezer again.

And the list goes on

Zucchini, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, green beans, purple potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes of various sorts, green peppers, habanero peppers (much hotter than I anticipated, even at a very unripe stage), butternut squash, eggplant, pattypan squash, beets, okra, multi-colored carrots...I think that pretty much covers what I've been getting from my CSA subscription and the community garden.  Needless to say, I haven't been buying much in groceries lately except for eggs, milk, and the occasional bag of sugar for canning.  Speaking of which, I bought a half bushel of peaches the other week which I--besides simply canning a large portion of them--made into preserves as well as this delicious peach barbecue sauce (a great recipe that you could simply make fresh).  There are still a few boxes of jars sitting around waiting for an apple-picking excursion followed by applesauce making.  Hopefully they're not bothering my roommate too much!

So what does one do with all the aforementioned produce? Especially when extra, unanticipated zucchini show up on your doorstep?  Well, I've made buttermilk zucchini soup, ordinary zucchini soup, chocolate zucchini bread, pineapple-raisin zucchini bread, cucumber salad, cucumber and basil slush (I was incredibly skeptical of this, but it actually tasted fairly good), ratatouille, roasted root vegetables, sauted squash, okra and tomatoes, and borscht. For the latter (a great soup that utilizes a lot of mid- to late-summer vegetables), Mary and I used a conglomaration of a few recipes, and it turned out well.  We actually only used one beet.  One beet, which yielded 4 cups when grated.  No joke.

The beet which became the borscht:

I hope you're enjoying the bounty of summer as much as I am!

Apple-Butternut Squash Soup

I have the good fortune of having a friend whose family can produce a serious amount (read = 900 pounds) of produce in a season in their garden.  On more than one occasion I've visited said friend only to return with a butternut squash from their pantry, and this is what I developed the first time that happened.  It's become one of my favorite recipes--a thick, slightly sweet soup with just enough cayenne to provide a little heat.  It's also a great way to make something fresh in the dead of winter!

Apple-Butternut Squash Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 green apples, peeled and cubed
• 1 large butternut squash (3-4 lb.), peeled, seeded, and cubed
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups apple juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4+ teaspoon nutmeg
• salt to taste
• sour cream to garnish
• optional ingredients: celery (be forewarned that it may leave strings), coriander, cumin, jalapeno peppers

1. Melt butter in large saucepan.  Saute onion and carrot for 5 minutes.  Add potatoes, apples, and squash, and saute for 5 more minutes.

2. Add stock, juice, and spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for approx. 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft.

3. Puree in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth and return to saucepan.  If desired, adjust consistency with more stock, juice, or water.

4.  Garnish with sour cream and herbs.

Makes approximately 3 1/2 quarts.