Fall Soups From the Beginning

It's always easy to buy a soup premade, but there is just something really special about making one from scratch. And the bottom line is that it is ridiculously easy.

Today I am having a group of ladies over from my church and I wanted to make a few soups that really captured the season of autumn. I had a few different squashes on hand in the kitchen. I also purchased a few great finds at our local farmers market here in Tacoma's Proctor District (I was surprised to find it is still open this late in the year...how delightful!). The items I speak of are beautiful organic carrots, purple kale and a spicy Thai chili-garlic paste. I was able to develop a few gourmet recipes around these ingredients to make two yummy, yummy soups.

First...

TOMATO FETA SOUP with TORTELLINI and PURPLE KALE

This is a slow cooker recipe, so bust out the crock pot!

Ingredients -
6 cups broth (vegetable or chicken work best)
1 large can stewed tomatoes, sliced up
4-6 medium carrots, sliced up
1 small sweet onion, chopped up
1 green pepper, chopped up
2 cups small heirloom tomatoes, whole
1 small bunch of purple kale, chopped up
1 c. feta or more if you like, crumbled
12 oz dried tortellini...any kind you like
sugar to taste (you may need up to a cup and a half)
salt to taste
Italian herbs if you like, to taste (basil is a good choice)
balsamic vinegar to taste

Pour broth into slow cooker. If you plan to leave it on all day, set it to low. If you only plan to leave it on for part of the day, set to high. Add carrots, onions, green pepper and tomatoes. Cook about 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low. Add sugar, salt, herbs and balsamic (I usually add about 1/2 cup). Stir. Add kale.

Cook for another 2 to 3 hours on high, or 4 hours on low. If you aren't going to be home or available to monitor the soup, throw everything in but the tortellini and feta (they kale may be a little soggy if you do this, fair warning).

About 20 minutes before serving, add the tortellini and feta. Serve once the tortellini is cooked. Pairs well will Italian breads.

Second...

AUTUMN SQUASH with SPICY THAI CHILI

I cooked this one in a dutch oven, but you can use a regular large pot.

Ingredients -

an assortment of fall squash...I used 2 medium sized acorn squash and one large butternut squash
1/4 cup butter
1 can coconut milk
3-4 cups water
cinnamon to taste
ginger to taste
spicy thai chili paste to taste
brown sugar to taste, between one and two cups

Preheat oven to 400 degrees C. Slice squash in half. Place on baking sheet and season with cinnamon and ginger spice. Bake for about an hour or until the outer skin looks and feels like paper that peels right off. Let squash cool about 30 minutes.

Slice squash into chunks and throw into pot/dutch oven with butter. Place on medium heat until it starts to simmer...simmer for about 3 minutes or until the soup looks like a good combination of mushy and chunky. Stir in water, switch heat to low and cover. Keep it on low heat for about an hour. Add brown sugar, more cinnamon and ginger to taste, as well as salt if you like. Add coconut milk. Then add Thai chili to taste...be careful not to add too much, so only add a little at a time. If you want a real twist, also add lemon grass when you add the water.

Enjoy!

Tips for the clueless chef...

When you aren't naturally a cook, the idea of becomming one can be...I know...overwhelming. If you are someone who has always admired those who seem to 'have a knack for cooking', but consider yourself to be useless in the kitchen, I have good news for you! Anyone can learn to be a great cook...and even to cook gourmet!

The trick is in the practice. There's an old saying that goes, "Practice makes perfect!" But in actuality, that saying is quite false. It ought to instead be, "Practice makes permanent!" If you practice something correctly, it will become a correct habit. But if you practice something incorrectly, it will become an incorrect habit. That is why, when you start out cooking, following a recipe is sooooo important. You may be REALLY excited about trying to create new recipes or experimenting in the kitchen, but until you know more about techniques, timing and how food reacts to heat and other foods ALL to create one magnificant (or horrifying) taste, it's best to stick to the recipe. These are things you won't know until you just get out there and try. My BEST advice is to find someone who DOES know how to cook well and ask to help them in the kitchen. Make sure it is someone who will enjoy teaching you in the kitchen so that you can ask lots of questions about how things work and how certain foods react with one another to create a new taste. (It's really just chemistry at its finest!)

But if someone like that isn't available, there are tons and tons of resources out there. Plenty of cookbooks have extra information about tools, techniques, spices, etc. Some even include history and culture of foods! Don't be afraid to do some investigating. Learning about food can be really fun!

Preparing ingredients ahead of time is ALWAYS, ALWAYS helpful....even for an experienced chef...and especially when you are following a recipe.

It's a good idea to get friends and family involved in cooking as well. The purpose of this blog is to encourage people to use food to build community. So have people help you in the kitchen (but not too many...because you don't want to be overwhelmed).

The final thing is this: DON'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL! In fact, you will fail at times. God knows I did often and will continue to fail in the kitchen at times. Something overcooked, undercooked, too much salt, not enough sugar, too dry, too watery. And that's OKAY! Because that's life! Just HAVE FUN! And, more importantly, enjoy who you share it with. :)

Tomato Gorgonzola Bisque

I've decided to start whipping up soups from scratch...recipe free...hoping that this will make me a true gourmand. Tonight's experiment was Tomato Gorgonzola Bisque. Recipe as follows...with plenty of "to-tastes" because that is how you cook gourmet!

In the slow cooker:
1 - 28 oz can of plum stewed tomatoes from Trader Joe's (I cut them up a bit)
2-3 cups of heirloom tomatoes (whatever you have on hand, tomatoes bigger than large marble should be cut up)
a small block of gorgonzola cheese crumbled up (this is to taste because it is a VERY strong cheese...I used maybe 3/4 c)

pepper to taste
roughly a teaspoon of cinnamon
roughly a tablespoon of basil
roughty a teaspoon of oregano
roughly 4 c water (I used the stewed tomato can and put 1 1/2 of that)

Stir it up really well.

Cook for at least 6 hours.
Add sugar and salt to taste (sugar and salt balance the acidity of the tomatoes...I used sugar pretty liberally for this one, maybe 1 c). Then add a splash of cream...maybe a 1/4 c depending on how creamy you want it.
Stir it up, let it cook for another 5 minutes and then serve with toast or grilled sandwiches! :)

ENJOY!