Bob's Your Uncle!

We're all friends here, right?

Would anyone be willing to start a support group with me? The "Entirely Smitten with Jamie Oliver" support group? I liked him plenty before, when he was naked or motivating troubled youth or tromping through Italy... but I especially adore him at home. (And that Gennaro?? Can we have a sub-group for him?!?!) For both Jamie and Gennaro, I am done-in by their real-person-ness. As I watch Jamie at Home, I feel like I'm there, hanging out with him while he cooks. He doesn't put on a yum-face when he tastes something, he admits when it isn't quite right and how to fix it, he slops ingredients around... his kitchen is one I long to be in and one I long to have as my very own.

Something else I like - watching him prepare this particular soup, he used a pressure cooker. Now, I don't have one, but want one someday. The recipe he provides, however, assumes you don't have one - which is nice. No weird complicated math pressure/volume/time calculations needed. That Jamie, totally thoughtful.

I wasn't sure that this version of butternut squash soup could live up to the delicious wonder that is my friend Liane's butternut soup, but it surprised me. Jamie's soup is thick and luscious and is just delightful over the Parmesan toasts (and packs a dainty but noticeable heat). I particularly like how moist and sloppy the toast becomes. I had a bit of a struggle making the them. I couldn't get the Parmesan to stick nicely to the bread and then they smoked a bit as they heated up. Of course, I wasn't thinking about it when I dished it out, but a clear bowl made for a funny presentation. Doesn't it look like the soup is just floating there?

It's been a while since I've been so excited about a new cooking show. I hope Food Network schedules Jamie at Home for a good long while. Jamie Oliver has a lot he can teach to home cooks. Personally, I'm going to try to work "Bob's your uncle!" into my day-to-day conversations.



Superb Squash Soup with the Best Parmesan Croutons
c/o Jamie Oliver, Jamie at Home on Foodnetwork.com
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_105309,00.html

This fantastic soup is best made with varieties of squash that have dense, orange flesh, such as butternut or onion squash. It's important to use good chicken stock and season the soup well to bring out the nutty, sweet flavor of the squash. Once you've mastered this recipe, you can take the soup in different ways by adding pearl barley, dried pasta, or some chopped bacon. Even the smallest amount of dried porcini. P.S. I made this in my pressure cooker the other day, with really great results - it's so quick!

Olive oil
16 fresh sage leaves
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
1/2 fresh red chile, to taste, seeded and finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 1/4 pounds butternut squash, onion squash, or musque de Provence, halved, deseeded and cut into chunks
2 quarts good-quality Chicken or vegetable stock
Extra-virgin olive oil

For the croutons:
Extra-virgin olive oil
16 slices ciabatta bread
1 chunk Parmesan, for grating

Put a very large saucepan on a medium heat and pour in a couple of glugs of olive oil.
Add the sage leaves and fry for around 30 seconds or until dark green and crisp. Quickly remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl lined with paper towels - you'll use these for sprinkling over at the end. In the pan you'll be left with a beautifully flavored oil, so put it back on the heat and throw in your onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary leaves, chile and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are sweet and soft. Add the squash and the stock to the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for around 30 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, make your croutons. Drizzle a little olive oil over the ciabatta slices, and press some grated Parmesan onto each side. Place in a non-stick pan without any oil and fry until golden on both sides.

When the squash is soft and cooked through, whiz the soup with an immersion blender or pour it into a standard blender and pulse until you have a smooth puree* (but you can leave it slightly chunky if you like). Most importantly, remember to taste and season it until it's perfect. Divide the soup between your bowls, placing 2 croutons on top of each. Sprinkle with a few of your crispy sage leaves and drizzle with a swirl of good-quality extra-virgin olive oil.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

See the recipe...

Butternut Dumplings with Brown Butter and Sage

I feel all out of sorts. As though I've stepped out of time, really. I mean, how how how has it gotten to be mid-November already? What is this craziness? I honestly don't know where the time has gone. I hope that some of this changes after Thanksgiving, when I start my NEW JOB(!!!), because not only are the hours a little better, but my daily commute will consist of a walk across the street. In addition to the regained time, I hope to get a little sanity and happiness back.... both of which are necessary, I think, for a more present life. More present, more awareness of time, more blogging. I am counting the days.

Something you will have to forgive me for in the meantime is the disconnection of my entries to when they actually happened. I'd cook, I'd photograph, I'd even enter the recipe and picture into blogger... and then I'd walk away from the computer. I have our anniversary cakes from the end of October, I have Dave's birthday dinner and cake from early November, I have... maybe 28 other entries from day-to-day life just piled up... so... yah. Lots to post about... but the timing will be all off. I want to share everything with you, and catch up, because Lord knows, I'll still be cooking... ]

Now, I don't remember exactly when this dinner happened... maybe three weeks ago? I made the dumplings on a Sunday afternoon during football... or it could have been while Hubs was off at the hockey game... either way, it happened during sports. :) This was my second go at the dumplings.. I'd tried them last winter, and they were miserably bad. It was before I got a handle on how to do gnocchi/dumplings and added waaaaaay to much flour... blech! This time around, I knew what consistency to look for, I knew when to stop messing with it.

The squash and potatoes meld beautifully together. Oooh, and the brown butter sauce? Divine! What I really enjoyed about this was how warm and satisfying it was. It's finally cold outside, and these dumplings are creamy and soothing and super-yummy.

And whats better, is it makes bags and bags of dumplings, so our freezer is two bags fuller!! So on nights I don't feel like going to the trouble of putting something new together, and I don't want take-out, I can just pop them into some boiling water and we have dinner! Sweet!

Butternut Dumplings with Brown Butter and Sage
c/o Alton Brown, Food Network Channel
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_17864,00.html

1 1/2 small butternut squash, halved and seeded
4 medium baking (russet) potatoes, pierced
1 egg
11/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 pinch nutmeg
11/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional, for dusting
Oil
1 bunch sage, leaves chiffonade
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

On a sheet pan, place the squash flesh side down and roast until very tender (about 45 minutes). At the same time, bake potatoes directly on the rack of oven for 1 hour.

Split the potatoes and allow to cool slightly, or until you can handle them. Don't let them cool completely. Scoop the flesh of the potatoes and the squash into a bowl and mash with a hand masher. Mix in the egg, salt and nutmeg. Then add the flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Do not do this in a mixer, it will overwork the dough. Add flour by the spoonful if it's still too moist.

Turn out onto a floured board and divide into 8 portions. Roll out into ropes and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Line the pieces up on a floured sheet pan as you work. At this point you could freeze them on the pan until solid, then transfer to zip top bags and store in the freezer.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water gently drop in the dumplings. Don't overcrowd. As they begin to float, remove them with a slotted spoon and toss them into an ice bath.

Drain off the water and toss in a little oil. Store loosely in containers until ready to use.

To reheat, in a saute pan over high heat add 1 tablespoon of soft butter. Cook until the butter begins to foam and turn brown. Add 2 teaspoons sage leaves and 1 cup of dumplings. Cook for an additional minute until the dumplings are heated through. Repeat until you have desired amount of servings. Plate and top with freshly grated Parmesan.

See the recipe...

Summer Squash Soup with Basil

Whoa baby. You are going to see A LOT of South Beach Diet phase 1 dinners over the next few weeks.... so be prepared! We're going on our Anniversary Vacation soon, and we plan to eat as fancily as we can afford while in Vegas... so... we need all the spare calories we can get! (That, and I imagine the bulk of our days will be spent lounging at the pool... in swimsuits... you see where I am going with this?)

So anyway, Dave suggested we do the SBD... and initially, I hated the idea. I still remembered the first time, years ago, that we did phase 1... and how cranky and miserable we were... sure, we both lost a delightful amount of poundage... but still... No cereal or crackers or ice cream? Fiiiiiine. I was resistant, very resistant, but realized that this was what he wanted to do, and I'm the one that makes the food.. so... by default.. I had to go along for the ride, too. (And considering all the stuff *I* get *him* to do... its only fair!)

All that aside, what's different this time around is that we have better resources. I have two more SBD cookbooks (and they rock) and we have a far better understanding of how to cope with our various cravings... so... bring it on! (and it helps that in the last week, we've both slimmed down) (yay motivation)

Anyway, this soup recipe has a skoshy bit of flour in it, and it was on our menu before our rules had been established, but I think that it mostly still counts... its vegetable and stock based, and the flour itself plays such a minor role... Sure, I'm rationalizing... but whatever.

The recipe didn't call for curry or Cayenne pepper, but I added them at the end, after I'd blended everything together. I thought it needed a little something, and I knew squash soup and curry were friends. This recipe was also useful for us, because it allowed me to cook up all the yellow squash my mom brought over, so that I didn't incur any guilt letting it rot. Thanks, Mom!

Quick, easy, tasty, and healthy. I'll take it.

Summer Squash Soup with Basil
Recipe courtesy of Curtis Aikens, via Food Network

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ¼ lbs zucchini, crookneck or pattypan squash, roughly chopped
1 large onion, chopped
6 cups Summer Vegetable Stock
½ cup julienned basil
1 ½ tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ tablespoons flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
Sour cream or plain yogurt as an accompaniment

[Added curry and cayenne pepper to taste.]

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or stockpot, add zucchini and onion. Sauté for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent and zucchini is crisp tender. Then add stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat and partially cover and cook for 25 minutes. Add basil during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Mix the butter and flour together into a paste. Remove 1 cup of simmering stock and whisk in butter mixture until smooth. Add back into soup, stir until thickened. Remove soup from heat to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add lemon juice and serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

See the recipe...