soup

Ajo Blanco

~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

 

IMG_2919To say it’s been warm here in sunny San Diego is an understatement. In the words of my four year old, it’s been a “fiery furnace” outside. As the weather cooled down to a nice 78 degrees I flashed back to a memory of sitting along the ocean eating charred octopus. The octopus, perfectly cooked was sitting on a silky bed of Ajo Blanco. It was delicious, lick the plate delicious.

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Ajo Blanco, a popular cold Spanish soup is made with a base of bread, grapes, garlic, almonds and olive oil. Perfect for a hot summer day, beachside or not.

*Recipe from Bon Appetit

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 green apple, peeled, cored, chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, chopped
  • 3 cups crustless day old white bread, cubed
  • 1 cup seedless green grapes, halved
  • ½ cup blanched almonds
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • Kosher salt
  • ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more for serving
  • 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar plus more for serving
  •  black pepper
  • ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted

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Combine apple, garlic, bread, grapes, blanched almonds, milk, and 2 cups water in a medium bowl; season with salt. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.

Transfer soup base to a blender and purée, adding water by tablespoonfuls if too thick, until smooth. With motor running, gradually add ¾ cup oil and 3 Tbsp. vinegar and blend until soup is smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and more vinegar, if desired. Strain soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl; cover and chill until very cold, about 2 hours.

Toast your sliced almonds in the oven or stovetop until golden brown, let cool.

Divide soup among bowls or bowl, drizzle olive oil and toasted almonds. Enjoy

 

Butternut Squash Bisque

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

I am back on the Farm Fresh to You bandwagon. This time I am taking the time to personalize each delivery and try to meal plan around it. It’s really nice to know what will be delivered to your doorstep and that it will all taste so good, much better than the store bought produce. Last week I got some butternut squash and hemmed an hawed all week on what to make, none of the recipes looked good. I decided since the weather dropped a good 10 degrees that I would make a soup. 80 is totally soup weather in San Diego.

I like to hang out in my kitchen during the day when I only have one child, it’s my favorite PDA. (primary daytime activity) I planned on having the bisque done by lunch so Shane could have a hot meal waiting for him when he walked in the door. Awww, aren’t I the best?

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I meshed a couple recipes together and came up with this.

Ingredients

2 butternut squash

1 apple, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 TBS olive oil

2 TBS red curry paste

1 TBS coriander

1 tsp cayenne pepper

4 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup full fat coconut milk

2 tsp honey

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375

Cut the squash in half, de seed and put on baking sheet face down.

Roast for 1 hour or until super tender. Let cool and then spoon into a bowl.

Heat the oil in a dutch oven over med high heat and then add the onion and apple. Sauté for 5 min or until tender. Add the curry paste, coriander, cayenne (You can omit the cayenne if you don’t like it spicy) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let cook for 2 minutes and then add the chicken stock and squash. Let that come to a boil and then bring it down to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes.

Transfer soup to a blender or food processor and working in batches puree the soup until smooth. Put the soup back in the dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add the coconut milk and honey and more salt and pepper to taste.

You can top your bisque with cilantro and sour cream or leave it as is. It’s delicious!