A Delicious, Hearty Soup... and there's no fat!

Every time I make this soup, I think of my sister Wendy.  She gave me this recipe (not sure where she got it) many years ago and it's now on my list of favourites - making many appearances throughout the winter months.  No matter how many times I've had it, it still always amazes me how filling and hearty the soup is - it has so few ingredients, you just wouldn't think it could be so satisfying.  

My partner has taken to mocking me when he sees this soup in the making.  It seems I've said one-too-many-times what still surprises me when I tuck in.  On his first spoonful, he says: "And, can you believe it, there's no fat!"  Well... it's practically true - with only a tiny splash of oil, there is very little fat yet this tasty soup is rich and buttery in flavour.  So I guess I've been a bit of a broken record about it - I'm not one to really watch how much fat is in what I'm eating - but I usually expect rich-tasting foods to taste rich for a reason (fat)!

Wendy's a wonderful and (therefore) very busy mom - so when she shares a recipe, the great thing about it is it's usually guaranteed to be pretty no-nonsense.  And who doesn't like to have those kinds of recipes??

So here it is:

Butternut Squash and Leek Soup:

2 large butternut squash

1.25 Liter (5 cups) chicken or veggie stock

4 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger, finely chopped or grated

2 large leeks (only need the white parts, finely chopped)

Olive Oil

Salt/Pepper

Slice squash in half, scoop out seeds and icky stuff, place on oiled baking tray (sliced side down), and lightly oil and fork (stab a couple times) outer side of squashes (skin side)

Bake at 180C Fan or 380F until you can easily put fork through (about 30-40 minutes, depending on oven or altitude). Let them cool down before handling.

Meanwhile, finely chop the leeks (only the white parts) and ginger

When the butternut squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out from skin

In large soup pot, put 1-2 tablespoons oil on bottom and heat medium high

Add chopped leeks and ginger and cook until softened (not browned) - around 5 minutesAdd the butternut squash and cook for another 1-2 minutes

Add 1 liter (4 cups) stock

Cook for 20 minutes on medium heat

Turn heat off and puree soup (A wand or hand blender is easiest, straight in the pot - but a blender can be used)

Add 250 ml (1 cup) of chicken stock (if needed, if you like the thickness, you can leave as is)

Stir in  1 teaspoon of salt, pepper to taste

And serve with crusty bread
Enjoy!

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And there's no fat!!!

(well, nearly none...)

The Not So Difficult Dinner Party That Was Still Quite Tasty

Round 2: The next time my sister and I were together was in mid-January 2012 in Singapore.  When she last visited me in the UK, she demanded we throw a Very Difficult Dinner Party for some of my friends (only recipes marked "Very Difficult" Steph!).  However, on my visit to see her in Singapore, she was quite content to take it easier on our recipes of choice for a dinner party for her friends.  Either she didn't think her friends were worth all the fuss, or perhaps behind that tough, I-make-it-all-look-so-simple-exterior, she too was a little broken from our Very Difficult Dinner Party Feat.

Either way, I didn't ask questions.

Our menu was:

Hors d'oeurvres:

Prawn & Lemongrass Lollipops w/ sweet chilli and lime sauce

Pecorino with Truffle Honey (found a version from Australia - good but not as good as the Italian versions)

Ricotta Cigars with a spicy tomato dipping sauce

Starter:

Seared tuna with cucumber salad

Main:

Chicken, lime and coconut parcels (I added chopped lemongrass and ginger to the parcels - and would do it again, dark meat is better for this slow steam-cooking method)

Seared beef with sweet chilli caramel sauce (second time I've had this - continues to be a winner!)

Seared Grilled Asparagus Bundles Wrapped in Prosciutto and Tomato Salad 

The food was, according to my taste buds, just as enjoyable as our very difficult dinner party in the UK - but with about a fifth of the effort. (I'm still haunted by artichokes.) The prawn lollipops, chicken parcels, and caramel beef have all made their way into my recipe binder - ready to be tried out in London.

The Very Difficult Dinner Party

My sister was in town this weekend.  One of our favourite pastimes is cooking together.  There’s a bit of an untold ritual to it – it begins with magazines and coffee.  More specifically, food magazines (from the piles of Olive, Delicious, Good Food, Donna Hay, and Bon Appetit food magazines) and 3-6 cups of coffee, dependent on how inspired we are by what we see.  This time, my sister tasked us with a challenge: Let’s only cook very difficult things! – the exclamation point reflecting her excitement.  And so, we pored through the magazines, only stopping on recipes labelled “For the confident cook,” “A bit of effort,” or the more direct “Very Difficult.”

3.5 cups of coffee later, we’d settled on a menu for our Very Difficult Dinner Party:

Emmental gougéres (delicious mag, from The Skinny French Kitchen by Harry Eastwood)

Braised artichokes with lemon hazelnut praline, cherry tomato sauce and a chard, potato, and Puy lentil cake (delicious mag, from Irish chef Denis Cotter)

Roquefort soufflé on a salad of watercress, poached pear, and toasted pine nuts (really a combination of recipes we found online)

Poached salmon with pink grapefruit and basil sauce served with asparagus (Good Food, GordonRamsay)

Limoncello Meringue Pie (Olive, from Janine Ratcliffe)

Menu set, it was time for the next part of our ritual – Borough Market, via Gordon’s Wine Bar.  After a leisurely pitstop in Gordon’s for a cheeky afternoon glass of cava, we walked along the southbank to Borough Market.  There, we inhaled the atmosphere – full of tantalizing smells and drool-worthy food sightings – and successfully came away with loads of fruit and veg for our very difficult menu.

Our dinner party wasn’t until the next day, so we enjoyed a relaxing night in, trying our hand at creating some new recipes. 

We embarked on cooking our menu at 3 o’clock the next day, telling guests to arrive anytime from 7pm – and I quickly learned just how inefficient I am in the kitchen, especially compared to my Cordon-Bleu-trained sister.   Here’s how the day went:

3pm – START THE VERY DIFFICULT COOKING, 4 HOURS TIL GUESTS ARRIVE

Me: I’ll start on the artichoke! It says it takes 1.5 hours to make and 1 hour to cook.

Sister: I’ll make the limoncello tart!

 base of the limoncello tart

 

 the journey begins on the artichoke dish, later deemed my kitchen Everest.

4pm – TART CHILLING AND SALAD MADE, 3 HOURS TIL GUESTS ARRIVE

Sister: I’ve made the limoncello tart (except the meringue), poached pears, toasted pine nuts, made a salad dressing – how are you doing Steph?

Me: I’ve peeled one artichoke.

Sister: Do you need any help Steph?

Me: (grumble grumble grumble)

Sister: Do you want me to make the Emmental Gourgeres?

Me: (slightly defeated) Sure. 

 

It's even prettier than the picture in the magazine!!

5pm –  GOUGERES DOUGH MADE, TART COMPLETE, 2 HOURS TIL GUESTS ARRIVE

Sister: So gougeres dough is done, I’ll start on the soufflés!

Me: I've peeled three artichokes. And while I've started on some other parts of the artichoke dish, I've also started to lose the will to live.
Sister: That's nice Steph - keep up the good work!

 Making the praline (with help from sis)

Lemon Hazelnut praline which gets blitzed in food processor and sprinkled onto artichoke dish)

 

(Puy Lentil and Potato mix to be wrapped in cavolo nero, instead of chard)

6pm – SOUFFLES PREP COMPLETE, 1 HOUR TIL GUESTS ARRIVE

Sister: So I’m done with the soufflé prep.  I’ll cook the gougeres and start making the Hollandaise for the salmon if that’s okay? Do you think you can work on anything else besides the artichoke Steph?

Me: The artichoke is very demanding!!  It needs lots of attention.  I’m enslaved. 

Sister: (Just stares at me)

Me: I’ll make the water to poach the salmon and cut up the grapefruit and basil.

6.45pm – I text friends and ask them to be late – “we” are very behind on our very difficult menu

7pm – ARTICHOKES FINALLY IN OVEN ALONG WITH LENTIL CAKES, HOLLANDAISE IN PROGRESS, 30 MINUTES TIL FRIENDS ARRIVE

 

(yep, this is all I have to show for - thankfully it was very tasty)

(yummy roquefort souffle)

7.30pm – EVERYTHING IS FULLY PREPPED/COMPLETED FOR THE NIGHT! (NO THANKS TO ME) – GUESTS ARRIVE

So not quite as smooth as it might have been had I started a little earlier.  Not only did it take me a whopping 4.5 hours to make artichokes, I also missed out on learning how to make the perfect Hollandaise (my sister didn’t even have to look at a recipe – she really sickens me sometimes).  The poached salmon with grapefruit/basil hollandaise was excellent - and really simple if you're only in charge of poaching the salmon.  Somehow I failed to get a picture of this one, but I'd do it again!  The limoncello meringue pie was standout - that recipe has made it into my binder for future use.

Was it all delicious? YES!  Would I make it all again – not on your life! …  especially that artichoke (despite it being very tasty).