Pumpkin Rice Laksa - Jamie Oliver

It's my first time posting from across the pond! This is a Jamie Oliver recipe. I've made it several times, and it never disappoints.

Ingredients

• 600g/1lb 6oz pumpkin, butternut squash, onion squash or acorn squash, halved, peeled and deseeded
• A small handful of lime leaves
• 2-3 chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled
• 3 sticks of lemongrass, outer leaves removed
• A large handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), leaves picked, stalks chopped
• 1 heaped teaspoon five-spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Olive oil
• 1 white onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 565ml/1 pint chicken or vegetable stock
• 200g/7oz basmati rice
• 2 x 400ml/14oz tins of coconut milk
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 or 2 limes
• Optional: 1 fresh red chilli, sliced
• Optional: fresh coconut, grated

Directions

First of all you need to chop the pumpkin flesh into 5cm/2-inch pieces. To make your fragrant soup base, first chop, then whizz or bash up the following in your food processor or pestle and mortar until you have a pulpy mix: the lime leaves, chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, coriander stalks, five-spice and cumin. Remove any stringy bits that may remain in the pulp. Put this fragrant mixture into a high-sided pan with a little oil and your finely sliced onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes to release the flavours.

Add the pumpkin and the stock to the pan. Stir around, scraping all the goodness off the bottom of the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 15 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. At this point, add the rice and give it a really good stir. Some of the pumpkin will begin to mush up, but you’ll also have some chunks. Continue to simmer with the lid on until the rice is cooked, then off comes the lid. Add the coconut milk, stir again, taste and season carefully with salt and pepper. To give it a bit of sharpness add the lime juice – the amount will depend on how juicy your limes are, but the idea is to give the soup a little twang.

Sarah's Soup

I had to make some adaptations based on what I had, and the fact that I find it more difficult to get fresh Asian ingredients in the North of England. (It was very easy in Australia!) So I used a "culinary pumpkin", and I toasted the seeds for topping. It was a big pumpkin, and it weighed in at about 2 lb 6 oz after peeling and removing the seeds. 

Instead of fresh, I used dried lime leaves and lemongrass paste (called "very lazy" brand for a reason). I also added some galangal paste, and used coconut oil instead of olive oil. I certainly didn't bother getting rid of the stringy bits because no one in this house would notice. I only used 1 tin plus a bit more of coconut milk because that was plenty rich; but I needed a lot more water, especially because of the massive pumpkin. Beware that it keeps absorbing water as it sits, but I love very thick soups, so I don't mind a bit. I also used bottled lime juice because limes are a bit hard to come by at the supermarkets in the North. This is a very filling and extremely flavourful soup. 

As you can see from the background, I am getting overly excited about the fact that I now have access to a variety of pumpkins and squashes again. In Australia they only have a couple of types of pumpkin, and they don't really have a variety of squashes. So I was sad to see my little culinary pumpkin go. I'll just have to buy another!

Oddly, I served this with a sweet potato cornbread with collard confetti (recipe here; I used spring greens because I can't get collards here). I know it doesn't go with the soup, but I had some leftover from the weekend. It worked somehow.

Just for fun....here's another picture with my stuffed wombat in the background. I'm (more than a bit) mad, and absolutely obsessed with wombats.

COCONUT CURRY LENTIL SOUP (apparently a Whole Foods recipe and published Nov.11, 2015 in the Albuquerque Journal)

1 T. coconut or olive oil
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. minced fresh ginger
2 T. tomato paste
2 T. curry powder
1/2 t. red pepper flakes or more to taste
4 c. vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1-1/2 c. dry petite red lentils, rinsed and sorted
2 to 3 handfuls chopped spinach, kale or other green
salt and pepper to taste
Chopped cilantro, chopped green onion and/or sour cream for garnish

In stockpot, heat oil over medium heat and stir-fry onion, garlic and ginger a couple of minutes until onion is translucent.  Add tomato paste, curry powder and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute.  Add broth, coconut milk, diced tomatoes and lentils.  Cover and bring to boil, then simmer on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes until lentils are very tender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Just before serving stir in greens and garnish with cilantro, green onion and/or sour cream.  

ANN'S SOUP

I've been intending to make lentil soup since the weather has cooled so this recipe which appeared this morning in the newspaper looked very appealing (plus I had all the ingredients on hand).  It proved to be very quick to put together and cooked fast since I used very small lentils.  Best of all, it is delicious!

I love coconut in any form so used the coconut oil instead of olive.  For the pepper flakes I used 1 t. aleppo pepper and 1 t. urfa pepper (I know, that's quadrupling the amount but I've got a real pepper habit and it honestly wasn't too spicy).  I stuck with the veggie broth rather than my usual chicken substitution and just smushed up with my hands the can of whole tomatoes I had.  The rain and cooler temperatures of the past couple months have been wonderful for my garden greens so I used some beautiful rainbow chard.  

The soup was great  topped with green onion, cilantro and yogurt (instead of sour cream since I wanted some tang) and eaten with some warmed up naan topped with olive oil and a sprinkle of za'atar.

New York Times Mushroom Beet Borscht

It may be a bit soon to put another soup out there but, just in case anyone has found beautiful beets at the market today I thought I'd go ahead. This is an unusual borscht with no cabbage or meat but mushrooms, both dried and fresh. I've loved borscht since living on the Russian River in California. My neighbor was a weekender from San Francisco and I cleaned her house. She'd spend the weekend cooking Russian food and leave the leftovers for us to finish up. 

I'll condense the recipe a bit as it is long but you can find all the details on the NYT website.

1. Soak 1 oz. dried mushrooms (about 1 c. porcini or shiitakes) in 3 c. boiling water for 30 min. Strain and save liquid, rinse mushrooms and chop.

2. While mushrooms soak cook 1 bunch beets with 2 sliced garlic cloves, 1 tsp. salt and 1-2 tsp. sugar in 1 qt water, uncovered, for 30 minutes. 

3. Remove beets to cool then peel and dice or julienne. Note: recipe suggest peeling beets before cooking but I think this works better. Add enough of the beet broth to the mushroom soaking liquid to  make 6 cups. 

4. Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in a large heavy pot. Add 1 large chopped onion, 2 medium diced carrots and 2 sliced celery stalks, pinch of salt and 1 minced clove garlic. Cook until tender. Add 1/2 lb. sliced fresh white or cremini mushrooms and cook until they begin to sweat. Add chopped dried mushrooms, the reserved broth, beets and bouquet garni*. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

5. Add chopped beet greens and simmer another 5 minutes. Stir in 1 Tbs. cider vinegar, adjust seasonings, remove bouquet garni, stir in 1/4 c. chopped parsley and serve, garnished with yogurt.

*bouquet garni made with 10 parsley stems, 2 bay leaves, 6 black peppercorns, 2 sprigs thyme and 3 allspice berries tied in a cheesecloth bag.

Ellen's "Beat Soup"

Just got around to making the borscht recipe I recommended. I had used my new senior free Gold pass on the bus (what a bonus of getting old!) and walking home I noticed our neighborhood farmer's market in full swing. Laden with library books, backpack and now beets I headed out.

I found the recipe just as delicious as it sounded. I used dried porcini (and now have a stash for future stews and soups) and baby Bellas but didn't othwise take any liberties other than throwing the garnis straight into the soup as I never seem to have cheesecloth on hand.

It makes a large amount and I have very little freezer space. Luckily I was visiting with a friend just as the soup finished so I took her some. Monique dubbed it  "Beat Soup" with help from her automatic spell check in her text and I like the name. She and Erwin liked it too.

Ann's Beet Borscht

I used some beautiful dried mixed mushrooms from the Farmer's Market in Boulder in May. There must have been about ten different kinds in the mix, all of which were fairly small, and they smelled incredible when I poured on the boiling water.  I agree with Ellen about cooking beets before peeling.  The peels rub right off and you lose hardly any beet.  I substituted a couple of leeks for the onion and about a cup of chopped lovage and tiny celery stems and leaves from my garden for the celery.  A mesh tea ball works great for a bouquet garni and I had fresh thyme, bay leaves and parsley in the garden so I doubled all the seasoning amounts (no one ever says "too much thyme or bay leaf", right?).  When everything was cooked the soup seemed a little more stewy than soupy so I added about 3 cups of water. At the end I added 2 healthy tablespoons of pomegranate red wine vinegar instead of cider vinegar just because the slight sweetness seemed to complement the beets. 

I ate a bowl for dinner topped with a big spoon of greek yogurt and a tablespoon or so of minced chives.  This soup is fantastic--really hearty and satisfying even though it's totally vegetarian.  I've definitely had some bland borschts in the past, but this one is far from dull and it will be a my go-to borscht recipe from now on.  Thank you Ellen!

Cassie's Friend-Approved Borscht

I just finished up the last of this soup.  I thought it was good, but not as interesting as I had hoped.  I did, however, eat almost all of it myself, so I clearly enjoyed it!  The one ingredient I forgot to buy was yogurt, and I think that adding a generous scoop to each serving might really have made this soup into something excellent.

Aside from this omission, I didn't make too many modifications.  I used the greens from two bunches of beets, because they weren't all that voluminous, and I added in a few extra beets as well as mine were quite small.  I also doubled the amount of vinegar, but I think lemon juice would have been even better.

My Polish friend stopped by my office one day while I was eating this soup.  She was very happy I was eating borscht, and did not seem at all dismayed when I told her in what ways it had been bastardized.  In other words, she approved of the mushrooms!

We're finally back... with minestrone!

We unfortunately took a very long hiatus from our blog.  Among the many reasons for this break was a freezer containing an overabundance of homemade soup.  As supplies are now depleted, we are back to cooking, and just in time for the beginning of fall.

Here is Charmaine Solomon's recipe for vegetarian minestrone, which seems a perfect way to use the wonderful produce available this time of year.  We've made another of Solomon's soups before - the complex and fragrant Indonesian Spicy Chicken Soup.  It was a notable success, so we're excited to give this one a try.

From Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon

8 oz. dried haricots verts or a mixture of dried beans2 tablespoons olive oil1 cup chopped onion3 cloves garlic, finely diced1 stalk celery, finely diced1 large carrot, diced1 small can tomatoes8 cups vegetable stock1/2 cup fine, small pasta1 cup sliced or diced zucchini1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Soak the dried beans in cold water to cover overnight.  The next day, drain and cover with fresh water and simmer until almost tender.

In a heavy-based saucepan, heat the olive oil for a few minutes.  Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot.  Cover and cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and stock, then cover and summer for 1 hour.

Add the pasta, zucchini, and more boiling stock if necessary.  When pasta is tender the soup is ready to be served, with parmesan cheese and parsley sprinkled over the top.

Joining from Michigan - Ellen's Version

So fun to be part of this soup blog! It's an honor to join these good cooks as an aunt and midway between geographically--I'll have to check the miles.

Minestrone was a perfect choice to start. Who doesn't have onions, garlic, celery, tomatoes and onions on hand? I also happen to have a couple of Parmesan rinds in the freezer and a glut of green beans in my garden along with parsley and home grown garlic. I decided on yellow squash rather than zucchini for the color. I decided to finish off some chicken broth as part of the liquid rendering it non-vegetarian but the fridge can always use a clean-out. 

All said, a quick and easy delicious soup for today and several lunches. Thanks Cassandra for the recipe and happy cooking.

Maybe a nice fall borscht next? I found a nice vegetarian recipe.

Ann's Version

I used an heirloom Soldier Bean grown in Maine.  The beans are white, about 1/2 inch long when dry and have a red marking on the seam side that is shaped just like a soldier standing at attention, hence the name.  I did a quick soak (bring to a boil, cover and turn off the heat and let sit an hour), then simmered the beans with salt, pepper and a few fresh bay leaves until they were just barely tender.  Drained the beans and got on with the rest of the soup.  I sauteed the onion, garlic and carrots but discovered I had no celery (perhaps a first for me!).  In the herb garden there was a small clump of lovage that had just come back up after a lush spring growth then dying back in the summer heat and it tastes very strongly of celery so I used about 1 tsp. of that and a couple of teaspoons of celery salt.  I'm not crazy about cooked celery so the substitution actually tasted better! 

I wanted to use cherry tomatoes instead of canned and tried a trick I'd recently read about where you put the washed cherry tomatoes on a plate, cover it with another plate and then cut horizontally between the plates while holding the top one flat.  Works great!  I cut a whole basket of tomatoes in one sweep much faster than halving them individually.  You do need a big, very sharp knife though. 

When the vegetables were soft I added the tomatoes, a couple of parmesan rinds from my freezer bag full, and chicken stock since I don't care if it's vegetarian and I've never found a commercial vegetable broth that doesn't taste very strongly of one vegetable (usually celery unfortunately).  After it simmered for an hour I added the drained beans, farfalline (a tiny bowtie pasta) and a couple of pattypan squash (beautifully speckled green and yellow) cubed small.  It simmered then for about 15 min. until everything was tender.  Then I added a couple of big tablespoons of basil pesto I'd made last night.  That really made a huge difference for the good! 

The soup was really delicious and filling.  The original recipe was pretty minimalist--hardly any seasoning and not even salt and pepper--and I noticed she never mentions when to add the beans.  The parmesan rinds, bay leaves, chicken broth and particularly the pesto made this recipe one I'll definitely use again.

Cassie's Version

I finally got around to making this soup, and it's very good!  Since the recipe was so basic, I only used it as a guide, and I really loved the end result.  

I started by cooking dried kidney beans with bay leaves, garlic, and peppercorns.  They ended up a bit mushier than I had intended - I always seem to do that with beans - but they mostly held together.  I discovered my celery was a little passed its prime, so I omitted it, and added dried Mexican oregano to the carrot and onion.  I then threw in sliced yellow pear tomatoes and broth.  I was too impatient to wait an hour for that to simmer, so I instead waited half the length of a Gilmore Girls episode (22.5 minutes).  (Rory and Lorelai are no longer speaking, because Rory stole a yacht, got arrested, and dropped out of Yale. But I digress.)

Because I seem to add greens and dried chile to everything, I added fresh pea shoots from the farmers' market and several shakes of Aleppo pepper along with the zucchini and pasta (I also used mini farfalle - so cute!).  I'm not sure if Dhruva will be eating this, as he's currently out of town and also currently not as big a fan of soup as I am... but I refrained from adding cheese for his sake, and shook in some nutritional yeast instead to add that elusive umami taste.  Once I put the beans in, I did have to add more water, and of course some fresh ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon at the very end.

A very delicious soup!