The Wearin' O' the Green

Yay!  It's the best holiday ever (almost)!  As a girl who practically bleeds green, I love St. Paddy's, in part because it includes shamrocks and Irish whiskey.

In our house, we have more than 1 whiskey to choose from.

There is only one problem (outside of drunk drivers) with St. Paddy's.  I realize that some people are going to take offense to what I'm about to say.  I can't help it.  Someone has to be brave enough to say it loud and proud ...

Are you ready?

Are you sure you're ready?

Here goes ....

I hate St. Paddy's Day food traditions.  

So sorry; please don't give up on me.  Those of you who know just how Irish I am are cringing right now, and I'm risking being haunted by 4 of my great-aunts, but I just had to admit it.    Don't get me wrong, the IDEA of cooking the meat, and then adding cabbage and carrots and potatoes, and keeping it all as a one-pot-wonder, is awesome and leads to hardly any clean-up.  In theory.  In actuality, cabbage isn't very nice if it's boiled.  Carrots aren't very nice if they're boiled either.  As for potatoes .... we liked mashed (hello butter and cream) a lot better than boiled.  

And that's not the only weird Irish food - what the hell is up with mince meat?

But the Irish do redeem themselves with trifle. Trifle isn't weird at all.  Trifle is awesome.  More trifle, I say! 

Lemon Blackberry Trifle.  I should have stopped at 2 layers but why?  Sometimes overkill is a good thing!

And despite my Irish heritage, I really really don't like corned beef.  There is just something about beef being brined and trying to turn it into a damn pickle that I find fundamentally wrong and wasteful.  I mean, it's pink!  Not pink because it's nice and rare and might just moo at you if you poke it hard enough; it's pink even after four hours of cooking because it's just supposed to be that color.  It's weirder than mince meat!

My mom agrees with me on this.

Red Beard, my dad, and pretty much the rest of the planet all think I'm off my rocker.  I see that look you're giving me.  It's the same look I get when I say I don't like turkey.  

Of course, since I'm not a complete monster and I do spoil Red Beard as often as humanly possible, I did cook corned beef and fixin's to celebrate St. Paddy's.  I just had to correct the recipes a little along the way.  Food is constantly evolving right?  Traditions can change as we learn how to make things taste better!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

My menu was a little different than most folks but it also turned out pretty damn tasty.  Ok, I still didn't like the beef, but it did taste better than it had in the past.  But everyone else was thrilled at the outcome.  My mom even liked the parsnips and we've been arguing about those for years.  Mean mommy says "ick", I say "yum!", and occasionally there's a swear word or two. 

We had corned beef cooked with Guinness and rosemary:

Sorry Aunt Katie; I'll never be a fan.

And roasted root vegetables (turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, and carrots):

Nothing boiled here!

And mashed 'taters, and braised cabbage with bacon:

Ooooh, pork fat. 

Let me tell you - by cooking everything as separate and important items, instead of just tossing them together in one pot, dinner was lovely.  Totally worth the extra pots and pans; coming from my dishwasher-less self, this is a huge endorsement.

The really cool part of this dinner was that the cabbage and beef could be done ahead of time - both hold really well and re-heat even better.  Come to think of it, the cabbage was actually BETTER the next day.  Which means when you've got 6 people coming to dinner and you're trying to get the food on the table by 7pm, AND you work all day, all you have to do is mash some potatoes (sorry, they just taste better fresh) and roast some veg on a sheet pan.  You'll have plenty of time to sip on 12-year-old Powers and kick back and enjoy yourself.  

Ahhhhhhhh...

Step-by-step and recipes coming soon.

Here's wishing you all a safe and happy March 17th.   Drink, eat, be merry, and don't drive.  If you are (soberly) driving any place Saturday night, watch out for the crazies & the snow they are predicting!

Hashin' Things Out

Thanks to nine days and nights of birthday fun, my jeans are a little tight this week.

In an attempt to re-set my digestive track, and cease the exponential rate of expansion currently underway on my waistline, I've been taking the stairs at work (which equates to four flights, approximately 8 times per day, up and down).  Also, it's back to eating a lot of veggies, reasonable amounts of protein, and a whole hell of a lot less carbs.  It's sad, I know.  Believe me, I know.  I love carbs.  I love carbs soaked in bacon and dipped in cheese.  But let's face it, a carb-heavy diet when you aren't running marathons is No Bueno.  Unless you like buying your clothes from Omar the Tent Maker.

The hardest part for me, with regards to restricting carbs in any form, is that Red Beard doesn't need to restrict anything, ever, except maybe soda.  He loves carbs and thanks to having the metabolism of a hummingbird he can eat carbs constantly and in large quantities and still wear the same belt every day.  And they try to tell us that men and women are created equal.  Liars.

Last night, in an effort to both increase our veg intake AND get dinner on the table in half an hour, I made hash.  Really nice, meaty, kind of spicy kind of sweet hash with runny eggs and a green salad.  Yes, there were potatoes involved, but only a fraction of the amount I would have liked (only 1/3 of the entire mix!).  AND, for those of you who insist on being all vegetarian, this is easily converted to meatless.  Okay, if you ditch the eggs and butter, it's easily vegan as well.  It was also filling enough that Red Beard didn't need to go back for seconds - this is a huge deal.  One of my biggest gripes about low-carb food is that is just isn't as filling as a plate of pasta or a baked potato.  Between the veggies (which you hardly notice because they are all super finely chopped and well-hidden) and the spices, no one will go away hungry!

Side note:  Food processors.

If you don't have one, get one.  Seriously.  It doesn't have to be expensive or fancy.  I happen to have a Cuisinart only because it was a mommy hand-me-down.  But it doesn't really matter if all you can afford is the $29.99 Black and Decker at Amazon or the $34.88 Hamilton Beach over at Horrible Wal-Mart.  Just get one!  They are completely worth the investment.  Not only for hash, but for 1,093 other recipes, both ones I'll be sharing with you here and all over the planet.  Some examples are stuffing (like for turkey), deviled eggs, tapanades, salsas, salad dressings, any dip a chip would ever want to meet, fresh pasta, ravioli fillings, lasagna fillings, pie dough ... you name it.    A food processor will save you time and energy and you will want to cook more often because it is just THAT MUCH FASTER.  Even better, as much as grating and slicing blades can come in handy, you really only need two things - the standard choppy choppy blade it come with (usually stainless steel) and the dough blade (usually plastic).    Okay.  Off of my soapbox now.

And on to hash!

Imagine the ooze potential of that egg yolk.

The meat I used this time is leftover pork roast that's been pulsed in the Cuisinart.  It's from Christmas and it's been hanging out in the freezer since Dec 26th.  I've also used turkey and beef (though the beef can't be rare for it to chop nicely, you have to roast off the leftovers until there isn't any pink left, then whir it).  We never manage to finish leftover roasts, no matter how many sandwiches I fix, especially when it's pork.  Leftover chicken is a whole other story - chicken and dumplings, enchiladas, tacos, roasted pepper and goat cheese pasta ... oh so many uses!  Once the meat is whirred, just store it in the freezer, in a zippy bag.  It's easy to pull out a cup or two here and there, for hash or meaty pasta sauces or pasta fillings (ravioli, rigatoni, lasagna, and tortellini).   I don't even mind turkey hash if it's been ground down - and I hate turkey with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.  

The ingredient list, minus the green salad fixin's, is pretty easy peasy:

Frozen hash browns, finely chopped pork, onions, celery, garlic, carrots, bell pepper, parsley, thyme, & sage.

I was nice enough to pay attention to my measurements, but really, it's more about ratio.  These amounts will serve four normal people OR myself and Red Beard with just enough leftover for him to have the rest as a second breakfast (like Hobbits, he eats a lot during the day ... breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, dinner, tea, supper ....).  Add more as needed, depending on how many people you're feeding:

• 2 cups finely chopped pork
• 2 cups frozen hash browns
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 a large onion (or in my case, 1/4 white onion & 1/4 red onion)
• 1/2 of a bell pepper (any color you happen to have)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 stalk of fresh sage
• 1 stalk of fresh thyme
• a small handful of fresh Italian parsley

Please ignore the eggs shown above.  The eggs are an extra, a topping, a perfect compliment.  They do not actually go into the hash.  And because I forgot to add it to the first picture (I'm a dork, yes, I know):

Butter, olive oil, apple, salt, & pepper. And an apple!

This isn't rocket science, it's hash.  It's really hard to screw up.  You'll also need:

• 1/2 of an apple (I like granny smith, but whatever you've got)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock (not pictured at all because I'm just that smart)

Chunk up your veggies and pitch them and your fresh herbs into your handy dandy food processor because you ran out to buy one when you read the note above, right?.

It doesn't have to be pretty; let the machine do the work.

PULSE repeatedly until everything is finely chopped.  Do not (repeat, DO NOT) turn on and walk away.  You'll end up with mush.  Mush isn't yummy.  Or, in the words of the genius Alton Brown, mush just isn't "good eats".

Do you know how long this would have taken with a knife??

Voila!  In less than 30 seconds, you're done chopping. Now preheat your oven to 250ºF.  I know, again, I'm making you pre-heat your oven.  You may as well get used to it, it's going to happen a lot.  Also, if you're going to continue cooking with me, I recommend buying your onions, garlic, bell peppers, and butter in bulk.  Like Costco-sized bulk.  Butter stores great in the freezer, while onions and garlic can live in the pantry.  The peppers are the only thing that need fridge space.

All good pans start with butter & a little olive oil to raise the smoke point.

Heat a skillet with some olive oil and one tablespoon of the butter.  Add your veggies to the pan once the butter is melted.  Stir them once in a while, letting everything get nice and hot and happy.

If nothing else, it's a pretty color.

After about 5 or 6 minutes, add your meat.  Mix well and let the meat and veg make friends for 3 or 4 minutes.  They'll be BFF's in no time!  One of the tricks to this is let all the ingredients have time in the pan without rushing them. 

Notice how the meat looks pretty close to the same amount as the veg ... hmmmmm.

Now add your hashbrowns.  Try and break apart any frozen lumps before you chuck them into the pan.  I like to get a little violent and bash the bag (unopened) on the counter a few times.  It's really noisy.  After 2 or 3 minutes, add your liquid.  I used white wine.  If you really insist, you can use chicken stock.  But trust me, wine is best.

And we're starting to get somewhere.

Once your liquid is absorbed, add the other tablespoon of butter.  Also, add salt to taste and as much pepper as you think you can stand.  Once the butter is melted and you've stirred it all together, and adjusted your seasonings ...

This is really important!

... Squish the whole mixture into a ginormous pancake and LEAVE IT ALONE.  Now is when we're going for those lovely crusty brown bits that make the whole thing taste sensational.

After a minute or two, check a small section.  If it's getting some good color, NOW you can stir.  Flip it all around, and make a big ugly mess.

Making a mess is fun!

Then squish it back out.

And we're back to being adult orderly.

Keep repeating every couple of minutes until it's as brown and toasty as you like it.

So easy to pretend that it's all just a pile of meat, potatoes, & onions.  Veg?  What veg??

When it's done, transfer the hash to an oven-safe dish, cover with foil, and stick it in your nice hot oven to keep warm while you're cooking your eggs (I prefer sunny-side up, for the ooze potential, but whatever) and tossing your salad.

See all the white space on the plate?  This is my portion.  Red Beard's plate has 2 eggs & looks like Mt Everest.  I also think I need a new camera that doesn't make hash look like rice.

When you're done, you'll have something that has approximately 957 servings of veggies (in the hash alone, nevermind the salad), is super filling and wonderfully peppery and meaty, and won't make you feel like a beached whale when you're through with dinner.

Variations:

To all of my veg-head friends:  Obviously, omit the meat.  Either cook 2 cups of sliced mushies (sauteed please until they are starting to brown, with a little butter and olive oil .. or just olive oil) OR approximately 2 cups of tofu (sauteed until starting to brown in whatever the heck you cook tofu in) broken up into bits.  Then add at the same point as I say to add the pork.  

To all of my beef loving pals:  Trade out the sage for rosemary, and use red wine instead of white.  Also, add a handful of mushrooms to your veg mix when you're whirring.  Beef likes mushrooms and red wine and rosemary.

Printable version now available at Tasty Kitchen! (click me! click me!)

Happy Happy Happy; Joy Joy Joy

The last week or so has been a crazy whirlwind of birthday related fun - there was cake:

Orange Cake, Whipped Cream, & a Mixed Berry/Nectarine filling with Orange, Vanilla, & Ginger.  The fruit makes it healthy!!

And more cake:

Coconut Cake, courtesy of Whole Foods.

And raspberry chocolate tart from Coney Island Bar:

It was very yummy.  Which is why I forgot to take a picture until it was almost all gone.

 And complimentary mixed-berry cheesecake from Western Village Steakhouse:

Which, after our very excellent dinner, we were only able to take 2 bites from.

And chocolate eclairs.  And banana cream pie (no, of course I didn't eat anything banana flavored, that was for the Adorable Roomie).  And ice cream.  There was also Chilean sea bass with brown butter, herb crusted lamb chops, garlic mashed potatoes, escargot, bacon wrapped scallops, general's chicken, pulled pork, pad thai, pork sirloin with homemade sage gnocchi, ceasar salads (the good stinky kind, full of raw eggs and anchovies), wild mushroom pizza, duck confit hash, potato soup, eggs benedict, wine soaked oxtails, five spice calamari, shu mai dumplings with shrimp, szechuan lamb, risotto alla milanese (you'll be seeing a recipe soon for this one), grilled portobello mushies ....

Not to mention a whole lot of these:

Because a birthday celebration would hardly be complete with out a libation.  Or two.  Or twelve.

Between work friends and family and other friends, and regular everyday cooking, and a few gift cards to very nice restaurants, and a day trip to Truckee, it's safe to say that we may have overdone it slightly, in terms of caloric intake.  Thank God for Tums and Pepto.

It was, really, kind of fantastic.  Exhausting after nine days, but fantastic.  I got to hear from people I don't hear from very often (which reminds me, I still owe a few folks a phone call), there were presents, I got to dress up; all in all, a great way to kick off my own personal new year.  

I've also been reminded just how lucky I am that I have so many people all interesting in celebrating my birthday.  Because really, in the cosmic scheme of things, I'm pretty much a nobody.  Reminders are good.  Reminders keep us from taking things for granted.

Now back to the grind!  And just never you mind if my jeans are fitting a little tight this week.

Flowers are Totally Overrated.

While this may be on some folks wish list:

Ok, who died?

... they've never really been on mine. 

I don't mean the bouquets you buy on the bi-monthly Costco trips, or the flowers your friends bring you as a hostess gift when you invite them over; those are great.  Those are reasonably priced and usually last at least a week and they look and smell wonderful while you've got them in your house.   I'm not a monster, of course I like flowers; especially outside - I've been planning my 2012 flower beds since last September.

I'm talking about arrangements like the picture; the kind of flowers that Sparks Florist and 1-800-Flowers makes a living on.  The kind you get on your birthday or anniversary or one of those pesky Hallmark-inspired fake holidays Valentine's Day.  To me, expensive flowers are good only for funerals.   Yes, really.  This last Valentine's, we celebrated with take-out Thai food, and we picked out our own "gifts" on our monthly Costco trip.  It was all flowers-and-candy-free.  I mean, I've got approximately 471 vases in different sizes and colors, and how much knowledge, really, does it take to stick flowers in a vase? 

Granted, Red Beard has gotten me flowers before.  He surprised me with some really cool dark purple daisies that he'd seen at the grocery store, and just happened to think that purple daisies reminded him of me (because I'm so cool and dark, right?).  

What you don't see is the huge mess of stems and petals and leaves and water all over my kitchen.  Eh, whatever. 

 And once in awhile he'll grab a bouquet on his way home from work when we've got people coming over for dinner.

But then he started getting creative and showing off a little, about just how well he really knows me, and bringing home anything BUT flowers:

• Sparkly pink flamingo Christmas ornaments
• Three Olives Vanilla Vodka  
• 12 year old Powers Irish Whiskey
• Fireball Whisky (it's like melted red hots)
• Red spray paint (I was feeling crafty)
• Cup hooks (long story)
• Firewood (be still my heart!)
• Catnip mice for Wonder Kitten
• Vietnamese chicken salad from Golden Flower
• Potting soil 
• Vintage Ball jars (with the glass lids)
• Old leather-bound books (Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott)
• Batteries
• New baking dishes
• A pony (okay okay, an adorable hand-blown blue glass seahorse.  Still, HORSE)

And most recently he took a little side trip to Trader Joe's on the way home:

Isn't someone a smarty?

•  8 jars of Organic Tomato Basil Marinara (yes, I can make my own, but why?  This is an awesome base)
• Baby heirloom tomatoes  (because I like cute food)
• Sweet potato fries (Trader Joe's store brand, from the freezer section - awesome with chili powder and cinnamon)
• Grinder of smoked sea salt  (ooooooh, it defies explanation)
• Sweet chili sauce
• Thai peanut sauce (because I've been attempting more Asian foods lately)

Sure, it all has to do with me cooking for him, but that's okay.  I like to cook.  Now if he was bringing home laundry soap and a new mop, he'd have a mutiny on his hands. 

 

Squash Me!

Lately, I've been craving grilled cheese.  So of course, this led to soup because how else can you justify grilled cheese for dinner?  Or in my case, Red Beard would have a hissy if all I fed him was a sandwich for dinner.  And the butternut squash I'd bought was thisclose to spoiling.  And soup like this definitely qualifies as a winter food.

Side note:  I'm sure you all remember the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machines, right?  Come on, I bet you have one stashed somewhere in the back of a cupboard, all dusty and disgusting!  Well, while it may not be what ol' George had planned, and it certainly isn't "lean", those little grills make excellent panini presses.  As in, the BEST GRILLED CHEESE EVER.  E-V-E-R.  Hot, crispy, gooey, the middle is hot, and the outside is golden and delicious and perfect.  Turkey and havarti on sourdough (with caramelized onions and roasted peppers); provolone, tomato, and avocado on wheat,  colby on white .... it's like having your very own Gourmelt Truck, in your kitchen.  Seriously.  Dig through your appliance graveyard, pull it out, dust it off, and butter up some bread.  

Ooooh, swirly!

Where was I ...?  Ahhhh yes, soup.  Butternut squash soup.  Even better, roasted butternut squash soup.  Now don't pull that face.  Everyone pulls a face when squash comes up, even my own mother.  You're going to have to trust me though, this isn't like the squash or the squash soup you've had in the past.  It's even far removed from what I was taught in culinary school.  There's no heavy cream base, the vegetables aren't boiled into submission, and there's no heavy starchy babyfood-esque quality to it.  I promise.  And there's approximately 189 servings of vegetables and fruit in every bowl.  If you're like me and have to force yourself to eat vegetables, this will help.  It completely balances out all the cheese you're going to eat along with it.

This recipe is also easy peasy to amend for all of my vegetarian/vegan friends out there (amazingly, I have quite a few).  Just omit the bacon, cream, and butter.  You may have to use a bit more olive oil, and your only garnish will be the chives (so no pretty pretty swirl) but that's it.  No fuss, no muss.  

For those of you with kiddos and/or those of you who think squash is the devil, this has recipe has been tested out by a whole room full of adults (Red Beard included, and my mother) who pulled scrunchy faces at the mere mention of squash soup, as well as kids and teens ranging in age from 2 up to 14.  With the exception of the 7 yr old (I do adore her, and I give her credit for trying it, but damn she's one picky eater!), everyone loved it and ate 2nd and 3rd helpings.  

The ingredient list is fairly simple.  

Okay, it may not look simple, but it is.  Trust me.

 

• Small Butternut Squash (you're aiming for about 1.5 lbs of diced squash, ready for oven)
• Olive Oil
• Salt (Sea or Kosher please, nothing iodized)
• Black Pepper
• 5 Cups Chicken Stock, low sodium (40 ounces)
• 2 Strips of Bacon (thick cut is always best!)
• 1/2  Medium Yellow Onion (or White or Purple, it's an onion not rocket science)
• 1  Leek, cleaned and trimmed, with most of the dark green top taken off
• 2 Carrots, peeled please 
• 2 Celery Stalks (this is a great use for those rough 'n' tough outer stalks)
• 1 Granny Smith Apple (or any mostly green apple you've got hanging around)
• 1 Orange Bell Pepper (or yellow, but not red; red will make the color funny later)
• Flat Leaf/ Italian Parsley (if you have to use curly, I guess it's fine...)
• Fresh Sage
• 4 Garlic Cloves (big ones!)
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence (available almost anywhere & a very useful spice mix to keep on hand)
• Fresh Chives or Green Onions (optional)
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Sriracha Sauce (or whatever hot pepper sauce you like; but really, Sriracha is awesome)
• Heavy Cream (optional) 

A quick note about the picture quality in this blog ... the battery on my digital camera gave out after about 4 pictures.  Towards the middle, the pics start looking a little "different" - it's because I had to switch to the iPhone.

For the Roasted Squash:

This part can be done days ahead of time.  I usually roast the squash at least the day before, because it makes getting soup on the table that much quicker the night you're serving it.  Just make sure you cover it well and keep it in the fridge.  

Preheat your oven to 400º F. 
 

First, you'll need to peel and clean your squash. 

Cut the squash across to separate the fat round bottom from the slimmer neck.  It's easier to peel in two pieces.  Peel using a regular vegetable peeler - the skin is thinner than you'd think.  

Poor naked squash. 

 
Then, cut open the round bottom part (like a pumpkin) and scrape out the seeds and goo.   

Poor eviscerated squash.

 
Cut all of the squash into a large dice (approximately 3/4 inch cubes).  Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and about a 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper; arrange in a single layer in a baking dish.    

Okay ... APPROXIMATELY a single layer.

 
Roast, uncovered, for approximately 20 or 30 minutes.  The squash should be very soft, soft enough to squish with a fork, and starting to get brown and toasty around the edges.  Stir it once during the process.

This is where the iPhone pics begin.

After it's cooled, or the next day, or whenever you're ready to put all of this together, toss the squash into a blender with about 1.5 cups of the chicken stock and puree the heck out it.  It should be really really smooth.  

Smoother than a baby's butt.

If it seems too thick, and it's not blending all the way, add some more liquid.  If you're using an immersion blender, it's the same process just in a container.  But, I have to say, for this step I prefer a blender - it seems to come out creamier.  Though I do love an immersion blender; more on that later.

When you taste the puree, don't be alarmed; it will be really bland and have some of that starchiness and baby food quality that makes everyone terrified of squash.  Don't bother seasoning it.  Just set it aside and move on to the rest; it'll fix itself later.

Not yummy yet.  Bleh!

For the Soup:

One of the joys of a pureed soup is that you don't need to spend a lot of time making sure your vegetables are cut nicely and prettily.   Instead, just aim for getting everything approximately the same size, in order for everything to cook evenly.

Cut all of the veg into a medium dice.  Just keep your onions, leeks, and garlic a little separate from everything else because they're going to be added at different stages.

Like a half a rainbow....

 

The garlic doesn't even really have to be cut - just give it a good squish with the flat of your knife.  

 

No curly parsley!  No curly parsley!

While you're cutting, go ahead and rough chop the parsley and sage as well.  You're aiming for about a 1/4 cup of each, loosely packed.

Sage.  A little stinky, but worth it in the end.

Then, give your bacon a chop.

Now go wash your hands, the knife, & the cutting board - raw pork germs are nasty!

Time to start cooking!  In a shallower, heavy bottomed pot (not a deep stock pot you'd boil pasta in, you need room to maneuver), start your bacon on a low-to-medium heat - not too hot; while you want the bacon to get a little crispy, you also want the fat to render out.  

Pork fat.  Enough said.

When the bacon is happy, add a little olive oil and some butter (about a 1/2 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter) to the pot, and add the onions and leeks.  I think that sauteing everything (vs. chucking it all in raw to boil in the stock) keeps the flavors a lot fresher.  Plus, all that browning and caramelizing it just yummy.   While it may seem excessive to add extra fat on top of the bacon fat, it isn't.  You're going to be adding a lot of veggies.

Breathe deep.

When the onions are translucent and just starting to brown, and the leeks are soft, add the sage and parsley and herbes de provence, as well as the garlic.  Let them hang out for about 2 minutes. 

Another deep breath.  If only blogs included scratch 'n' sniff.

Now chuck in everything else, stir, and let cook for about 5 minutes longer.  This should start smelling very very nice.  Now deglaze your pot with the white wine, stirring and scraping to get any brown bits up off of the bottom of the pan.  Brown bits = yumminess.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

In goes the rest of the chicken stock.  Stir, bring up to a simmer, and allow to cook (covered) for 15 or 20 minutes - until the carrots are fork-tender.  

Do not try this at home!

Now, the Adorable Roomie and I like spicy foods.  So at this point, I added 1 full teaspoon of sriracha sauce.  Don't do this!!  Wait, until after the whole thing is assembled, and then add a little at a time - start with maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon and taste as you go.  If you're cooking for kids, I'd just put the hot sauce on the table and let the adults spice up their own bowls.  

To Assemble:

Now is the time to bring out your immersion blender.  If you don't have one already, they aren't expensive at all, you should consider getting one.  They are the best way ever to blend hot liquids, because you never have to take the hot liquid out of the original pot.  And, it's just damn handy to be able to blend something in it's own container.   But of course, a regular blender works great here too, just be careful because they can splatter and I'm not sure how much you need to cool the soup before it won't crack the glass on the blender (are blenders heat tempered?  I've never checked). 

  

It may seem odd that we've already pureed the squash, and now we're doing the soup separately.  That's on purpose.  In order to achieve the perfect texture it really is best to puree the roasted squash separately from the soup base. Trust me when I say, it’s worth washing the extra dishes!  The squash blends much smoother than the base and adds to the creaminess in the finished product. 

I'm going to assume you've got an immersion blender, because that's what I used.  

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Set your pot of soup into your sink (to reduce splatter) and begin blending the base.  When you're starting to see some progress, add the pureed squash and blend the entire mixture until it's as smooth as you can get it.  It'll take a minute.

Pepper, pepper, and more pepper.

Then, put the pot back onto the stove and bring it back up to a simmer.  Season well with salt and lots and lots of pepper.  Pepper is our friend.  And I got a new pepper grinder for Christmas that I'm in love with and it's brought my love of pepper to a whole new level.

While you're at it, add 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.  Yes, it sounds weird.  But it makes such a difference!  A huge but subtle lovely difference that is oh so worth it.    If you haven't added your spicy sriracha yet, add it now too (slowly, and in very small quantities).  

Taste one last time, make any necessary adjustments, and start serving it up! 

Is cream every bad? 

As a garnish, using about a half a tablespoon of heavy cream per bowl, drizzle the cream over the soup.   Granted, this is completely optional, so if you don't want to add any calories or don't like things pretty (ahem), skip this step.  

Please ignore my lack of a manicure.  Eventually, I'll use my latest Groupon & get my damn nails done.

Then, sprinkle the top with finely sliced chives, for just a little crunch and a burst of freshness.

So pretty.  So tasty.  Even without a snowstorm.

I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful this is.  There's a fresh quality to it, where you can just tell it hasn't been cooked to death.  There's a smooth creaminess that is surprising given the lack of dairy.  And the overall flavor begs to be sipped slowly and savored.  

I highly recommend you pair your soup with something grilled and gooey .... 

Roasted peppers, caramelized onions, thin sliced turkey, & a whole lot of havarti.  Ooooh, oozy.

Soup recipe, all handy dandy and printable, is available over in my recipe box at Tasty Kitchen!