Recipe 43: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

The great thing about soup, it quickly turns into a weeks worth of food for a single person...even a single person foisting some food off on her boyfriend because she has way too much. Some will most likely be frozen, it has to be...but I will not remember there's soup in the freezer until I move, or some freak event reminds me at the oddest moment when this info is of absolutely no use to me, and when I need it, I'll likely have forgotten again. However, I'll be cooking enough soup in this cookbook that I'll be going to my freezer for storage more often.

Now, onto the soup...I have always wondered how to make butternut squash soup, or any other squash soup, you start by cutting the squash into small 3" chunks, versus a big large oblong boat. Place the squash on a baking sheet, rimmed, and drizzle oil, salt and pepper on it. Roast it at 450 degrees for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in pan, add all veggies...onions, carrots, garlic, and herbs-thyme. Cook over medium-high heat for ten minutes.

After 10 minutes, add the brandy. I had to work in faith here, James only had homemade brandy, and he didn't remind me it was peach brandy until after I was done. I reminded him that if I made this at my house, it would be with the blackberry brandy he gave me sometime ago. I think the blackberry brandy could lend a fun flavor for this, but the brandy nearly overpowered the soup anyway. We'll save it for another day. In the future I might consider using half-and-half for creaminess and body instead of brandy.

Cook soup another five minutes...add stock and water... and bring to a boil.
James did insist on adding celery, I don't think this soup needed it. Reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes, just like most soups. Add roasted squash to the pot and discard the thyme sprigs, if you tossed them in whole. I tossed in just the leaves and discarded the thyme sprigs earlier.

Now comes the fun part, because the squash is still in whatever size chunk you cut it into earlier, and that's not gonna get you pretty yellow orange smooth soup. So, grab a blender, pour the soup in, or immerse it, and make it smooth. I have a regular blender with a pitcher, and worked in batches. I got three batches and three and a half quarts plus dinner portions out of this soup. Way to much for one person to eat by themselves, or two to eat when they other person started another pot of soup that day.

I did feel the brandy overpowered the soup a little bit, maybe I should have cooked it off a bit longer or checked my times more closely. James added sharp cheddar cheese the next day, and said it improved the soup a lot.

I will definitely make this recipe again, but as before, with less brandy, maybe a half cup instead of a whole cup.

Recipe 42: Broccoli Rabe

After 41 good recipes by Emeril, some great and worth making again(as in, I already have, or am), I have found one that I will definitely not make again. However, I still feel Emeril is a genius about food, most of the time. Unfortunately, the bitterness of this vegetable, broccoli rabe, also known as rapini, almost made dandelion greens look sweet. The almost is key here, because dandelion greens are one of the most bitter foods I know. Even James did not finish this dish.

If you are one of the five or so people in the world who loves broccoli rabe, I say more power to ya. And for those five, or for the sake of no one thinking I boiled the flavor right on out of these greens, here is what goes into them: olive oil, crushed red pepper, garlic-thinly sliced, chicken stock and salt.

It was simple and quick to prepare, which was nice on a week-night, but it was just too bitter for our tastes. Good luck with your own greens/cole crops.

Sorry, Emeril, I will not make this recipe again.

Recipe 41: Corn Oysters

No oysters were harmed in the making of this recipe. This does not mean oysters will not be harmed in future recipes.

Corn, jalapeno, and cayenne pepper...many people take this and make a spicy cornbread or corn muffin. But that may be too ordinary for Emeril. He'd rather use a little less sugar and deep-fry it.

I must admit, I'd never been so intimate with a corn cob in my life. Usually, I put it to my mouth and chomp away. But Emeril insists you slice off the top of the corn kernels going length wise down the cob, holding the cob over a bowl. I was grateful for a shallow bowl and a short knife. The knife and the bowl do not always work together very well. Next you take the back of the knife and slide it down the corn cob, basically massaging out all the milky liquid you can. Then you slice off the rest of the kernels. After about two cobs, I found a good slicing point where you got the best of both worlds without having or being able to go back for the rest of the kernels. I utilized it on the last two cobs.

Then I minced the jalapeno, after I seeded and ribbed it and added in the spices and flour, and searched for the baking powder I'd left behind my dish drainer. If ever I go to cooking school, I fear I will fail Mise' en place(everything in its place), class. Maybe I just need to double the size of my kitchen and triple my counter space. First I have to be able to afford cheese and other expensive ingredients for this book. More about the budget later, for now, back to the food.

This recipe did call for heavy cream, but its already being deep-fried, so we know it is not healthy. Heavy cream can be healthy, in moderation, but there are waist-friendlier options out there. I did decide only to deep-fry half of the batter. I baked the other half. This served 2 purposes: 1)Some of this preparation was approaching a healthier form(I might try this with half and half or whole milk instead of the heavy cream in the future), 2)Deep-fry food needs to be served immediately, and a full recipe is hard to get rid of. Baked food can be left overnight.

I would also use less jalapeno for the baked recipe unless you like your food spicy. The jalapeno flavor with the cayenne comes through better in the baked recipe than it does the fried. When you bake it, you get basically jalapeno corn biscuits, that I expect James will ask for again.

Also, this recipe gets garnished with Essence of Emeril Creole seasoning, or whatever creole seasoning you have on hand. I bought the Essence sometime ago preparing for this recipe and used it. It did add a little spice to the semi-spicy corn fritter/oysterss, and its a little pretty but not wow and not required. They're called corn oysters, according to Emeril, because they resemble oysters. I think they're fritters or biscuits depending on the preparation.

I will definitely make this recipe again. I suspect James is already plotting ways to make it healthier so I will cook it more than once a year;-).

Recipe 40: Tuscan Kale With White Bean Ragout

I originally attempted to make this recipe at my best friend's house. But since I didn't pack up my entire pantry, and she doesn't much like Kale, we had to improvise. I used regular onion instead of the red onion, chicken boullion in water instead of broth, and simple little things like that. I also included half spinach in place of some of the red kale, because I couldn't find Tuscan Kale.

Having thought I had some left over kale and some of the ingredients, I chose to make it according to the recipe. I still haven't found the left over kale, it must be at Andrea's. So, we bought more kale, and I went with the regular, its what the store had. My sous-chef, James, and fellow food taster is now off strike(thank goodness) and sliced some onion and roughly chopped the garlic. and did any opened any number of cans for me...I really need a new can opener. I do love his patience. Now that James has been mentioned, lets get back to the food.

And, gasp, yes, Tanya bought and used canned food. Its the only way you can get Cannellini beans. And while any white bean can be used, when you forget to soak them, or you don't have good luck soaking them, you tend to lean a little towards the cans. I'm spoiled with Cannellini beans. They have a certain creaminess and a hint of sweetness that isn't found in other beans. As I type this, I hope that sweetness isn't due to added sugar, but since its in beans...as long as its not too much, I think we'll be okay.

So, you begin with a little oil, and carmelize your onion and garlic, just a bit with some crushed red pepper and a bay leaf. Then you add in the kale with some salt and pepper.

Add the wily-beans, tomatoes. Next comes a small amount of vegetable or chicken stock, though in the future I will try it with beef stock. Broth may be used in place of stock. Once the kale is wilted, serve with oil drizzled over it(I skipped this step) and enjoy.

James and I both liked it. Note about the beans...I thought I bought two cans of beans...but when I got the groceries inside, I only had one can. I searched high and low and wondered if I'd left them at the store 15 miles away that I was not going back to. I have not yet found Cannellini beans at our local store and didn't want to mix beans that night, so I used one can instead of two for the entire recipe. I wanted more beans, but if you have only one can of beans, it will work.

Later, after picking up my nephew for the weekend, I found the beans had almost rolled under the front seat of my truck. Maybe they weren't ready to meet Kale in a bath of vegetable or chicken stock yet;-).

I will definitely make this recipe again. And since it isn't terribly expensive, it might even be made regularly.

Recipe 39: Curry-Scented Cauliflower

Secret #1: "I'm not picky. I simply like the best." I'm sure someone else has uttered those words before...just not quite sure who. Secret #2: I have never liked cauliflower, especially in mixed veggies. I'd eat all the broccoli and carrots in there, but never ever the cauliflower...that's what trades and dogs were for;-).

So, I came upon this recipe with a wee bit of anxiety, but a good deal of hope, and a lot of faith in Emeril's abilities as a chef. But if I really didn't like it, that's what trades are for. Lucky for me, James does like cauliflower.

Then I happened to catch the episode of Emeril's _Fresh Food Fast._ He made them look easy, and told you how delicious your kitchen would smell...like you've been cooking Indian food all day. They did smell wonderful, and surprisingly, tasted good too. Not perfect, not exceptionally great...but good until I got into the middle of the cauliflower and tasted only cauliflower. It was a small transgression for this dish, and since cauliflower is healthy and this dish is very healthy, its worth another look.

The recipe tells you to mix all the other ingredients in a bowl, then pour over the cauliflower, coating it evenly. Emeril on TV shows you to sprinkle each ingredient over the cauliflower then add the ghee...being careful to toss and coat it evenly.

I sprinkled the kosher salt...a little more than I needed, oops; the curry powder, cayenne pepper, and the garam marsala (aka mix of 5 to 7 warm indian spices). Then I poured homemade ghee (clarified butter) over top. I tossed to coat and popped in the oven for almost 20 minutes. I forgot to stir midway through cooking. They still came out pretty good.

I will make this recipe again, just with smaller cut florets of cauliflower;-).

Recipe 38: Mashed Rutabaga

This was easier to make than I thought, though it is tough to chop the rutabagas...James, having more patience than me...by a smidgen, and more strength, tends to dice the rutabaga smaller than I did. Otherwise, its made very similar to mashed potatoes. Emeril does tend to use heavy cream...My upbringing used milk, when we got real potatoes...but this is Farm to Fork and I do it the way the recipe says first. It includes thyme and chives as well as a little butter, and salt and pepper to taste, of course.

It did have some of the slight bitterness left to it, but overall, it turned into a pretty good dish. However, I have learned that since usually I'm feeding 2 of us...I should halve each recipe as I was eating mashed rutabaga for lunch for a few days. Lucky for me, its pretty good, and something I will make again. I expect rutabaga is slightly more bang for your buck than starchy over-farmed white potatoes...And 1 rutabaga should yield just enough mash for James and I and will be considerably less chopping.

To make this more diet friendly, I would use a 1% or 2% milk, or even a half and half instead of heavy cream. I'm sure the cream gives excellent flavor and body, but when calories matter, use a lighter milk, or use cheese. Hmmmm....I see another tangent...

I expect we'll have to try this with cheese sometime...the question is, which one? I'm thinking a really sharp cheddar would go well with it...but so would parmigiano-reggiano...or any other hard or most soft white cheese.

I will definitely make this dish again...with cheese! ;-)