Month: February 2017

Directions

Peel, seed and chop pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and cut the pumpkin into manageable vertical slices. Cheese pumpkin rind is very tough. I cut it off by laying the slices sideways on a chopping board and cutting downward. Chop pumpkin into 2” pieces

In heavy stockpot or Dutch Oven heat olive oil until hot, but not smoking. Throw in onions, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally and adjusting flame to keep vegetables from browning, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add curry powder, red pepper, turmeric and cumin. Lower flame and cook, stirring occasionally, to allow spices’ flavor to bloom fully—about 5 more minutes.

Add spices and allow them to cook for a few minutes, stirring to keep them from burning.

Add pumpkin, stir to coat with spices and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting flame to keep vegetables from browning.

Add hot broth, cover pot, and bring to boil, then immediately reduce to low simmer.

Simmer broth and vegetables for 30 minutes, until very soft.

Spoon broth and vegetables into a food processor. Purée until very smooth. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to process in 2 batches.

Pour puréed pumpkin back into pot. (At this point, pumpkin soup can be set aside, stored or frozen until ready to serve. When ready to serve, thaw or reheat pumpkin over low flame, stirring occasionally to keep purée from scorching.)

Stir in cream and milk in any proportion you like—I like more cream. Heat for 1-2 more minutes. Ladle into tureen or bowls and serve. We like to accompany this soup with garlicky croutons.

Directions

Whisk all marinade ingredients together and marinate seitan for at least
30 minutes. Drain the seitan reserving the marinade.

Heat a skillet over high heat. When hot coat with cooking spray and
throw in the seitan. Reduce the heat only slightly, when the pan starts
to dry and the seitan browns, pour in 1/4c marinade. let reduce until
thick and sticky. Scrape the skillet to rotate the seitan and pour in
more marinade. When seitan is brown on all sides pour in any remaining
marinade and turn off the heat. Remove from heat when there is still a
small amount of thick marinade coating the seitan.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub cut surfaces of garlic with oil. Put halves
back together to reassemble heads. Wrap each tightly in foil; bake until
tender, about 40 minutes. Cool garlic in foil.

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and
celery; sauté until onions are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add
squash, broth and 2 tablespoons sage. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer
uncovered until squash is tender, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, unwrap garlic. Squeeze from skin into small bowl. Discard
skin. Mash garlic with fork until smooth.

Stir garlic into soup. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until
smooth. Return to pot. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered
until cold. Cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before
continuing.) Stir in 1/2 cup cream. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. Transfer soup to tureen. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon
cream.

Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sage.

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Cook the onion until it begins to soften, about three minutes. Add the carrot, celery and sage, and continue to cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about five minutes. Add half the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about one minute. Add the cabbage and a generous pinch of salt, and cook, stirring often, until the cabbage is limp, about 10 minutes. Drain the soaked beans, and add them to the pot, along with the squash, bouquet garni and 2 quarts water, or enough to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, add salt to taste and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the beans are tender. Remove the bouquet garni, and discard.

While the soup is simmering, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat in a medium-size nonstick skillet. Add the remaining garlic and the rosemary. Cook for a half-minute to a minute until fragrant, and stir in the tomatoes. Add salt. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the mixture is thick, beginning to stick to the pan and delicious. Stir into the soup along with the cooked farro. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Taste and adjust salt, and add lots of freshly ground pepper. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.