le sauce

vegetable tagine with preserved lemons

Tagine is a stew as easy as any other to make, but I hardly ever attempted it at home, preferring to eat it at a restaurant, strongly preferring to eat it on travels where Morrocan cuisine is established. The reason, the version I made at home was never as good. The reason for that? No preserved lemons until last week. I never bought them because I knew it would be so simple to make them once I got around to it. You can either buy or preserve your own. I recommend the latter so that you can serve them, cook with them or simply snack on them at will. And you will. We've gone through 2 whole lemons since opening this jar on the weekend and only one half of one went into this tagine.

squash everything

Another little piece the I wrote for iVillage's food channel that I thought I'd share with you, with added links to some of my favourite winter squash recipes.

If I get enthusiastic (obsessive?) about tomatoes and kale in the summer, I get equally excited for the cold-weather squashes that fall and winter bring. I like zucchini and marrows, sure, but winter squash is dense and sweet and even more versatile—you can cook it using almost any method you’d like (as long as you cook it—the one thing zucch’s have over these is that they can be eaten raw) and them take in many delicious directions. 

A squash soup can be as simple as mashing the steamed flesh and adding liquid to it, or as complex as caramelizing your flavour base and the squash, stewing everything for hours and adding herbs, spices and cream, since the flavour of, say, pumpkin, can still shine through all of those layers. You can roasted or steam cubed squash and toss them with pasta, mash them to fill pies or stew them in curries. It seems I have a favourite way with each one—I hope these ideas inspire you to try as many varieties as you can in the coming months.

Whenever I see spaghetti squash in the market, I think…pesto! The squash is aptly named, since after cooking, you can rake a fork down the length of a halved spaghetti squash and it will separate into noodle-like strands. I halve it, rub the exposed flesh with oil, salt and pepper before baking it until fork-tender. After raking the cooked flesh, remove it from the shell and serve it with sauce as you would pasta. I highly recommend tossing it with pesto and as much chili oil as you can handle—you will thank me!

You can roast butternut squash the same way, or after halving it, chop it into large pieces and for even and quick cooking. I would tell you to add the pieces to your pasta but mine no longer make it that far. I tend to devour them, straight from the baking sheet. If yours survive longer, do add them to pasta, couscous or to anything else you’re eating.

I’ve grown up eating pumpkin in West-Indian style soups and in my mother’s stewed-till-soft curry. Pumpkin loves spice, which you know if love pumpkin-spiced cakes and hot drinks. I add woody herbs (like thyme), warm spices (like cinnamon) and lots of fresh chilies to soups and curries and let peeled and chopped pumpkin simmer until very tender. A delicious winter staple of mine.

You may not have cooked with kabocha squash yet but you’ve probably had some battered and fried the last time your ordered vegetable tempura. It’s that sweet, dark orange, half-moon slice with a distinct flavour and I love swapping it into any of the recipes I mentioned above. 

The skin of all of these squashes are very different. You can peel butternut squash with a vegetable peeler, but you need a very sharp knife to cut into and/or peel others like tough-skinned kabocha. Baking or steaming squash in the skin is one way to make the job easier, and in the case of my mom’s pumpkin curry, she leaves the peel of young, thinner-skinned pumpkin right on and after cooking for hours, what’s left is edible! When I roast delicata squash, the skin is my favourite part. Weird? Oh well.

a l'orange

One rainy night in October, one bright idea for dinner.

Roasted butternut squash, pureed and slightly thinned into soup.

Orange, aged cheddar, grated coarsely and sandwiched between double-side-buttered bread. And more of that cheddar pressed onto the outside as it fries to form a crust.

'Tis the season for orange, after all. Less than a week until the spookiest night of the year...

have a zucchini blossom for me

In case I didn't make it clear, the only raccoons I'm not bitter toward are the ones illustrated in kids books and cartoons. They bear a likeness, yet don't remind me of the real-life hooligans that ate every vegetable and herb I once tried to grow and deterred me from ever trying again. They're the reason I have to buy instead of make my stuffed zucchini blossoms--but if you're so lucky as to have them growing all over your garden right now, I hope you're putting them to good use. Have one and think of me.

early summer paella

P is for pretty paella pan. And if we're being honest, when I bought my crimson paella pan with the swirly handles...well I didn't even know it was a paella pan. Yep. I just thought it looked nice and I had a vision of it sitting crimson and pristine in my dining room, and was paying for my objet d'art when the vintage store cashier asked when I would be making my paella. Riiiiiiiiiight. (Why do I confess these things to you?)

I still didn't run home and cook in it. It stayed dormant in my condo for two years, looking lovely, and then I moved it into my house where it sat hidden away for almost three years after the day I unpacked it. It wasn't that I didn't like paella, it was just one of those things that I gave up when I gave up eating animals. I'd had meaty paellas and, more often, delicious seafood-stuffed paellas that one Spanish friend's mother made for every party they had. I didn't really care to make a vegetarian paella because I didn't think it could complete with my memory. But then, as often happens, those memories stirred a craving and I had to, had to attempt a vegetarian paella. And it had better be good. And that depended on two things.

One was the beautiful, flavourful, in-season early summer produce I would stud the paella with, because after all, paella is always pretty. Unlike a risotto, you don't stir it. You attempt to create a coveted crispy rice crust at the bottom called a soccorat--and I say attempt because if you don't simmer the paella gently, the liquid will evaporate too quickly and the bottom will burn. Watch carefully for steam that turns to smoke and that will your warning that your soccorat is crossing the line. But the added benefit to not stirring is that you can artfully arrange your ingredients which will stay in place perfectly as you move your paella pan from stove to the impressive centre of your meal. Seafood, like mussels, cook right in the paella but other ingredients are often par-cooked or browned in the oven first, like in my recipe here.

But looks aside, the key to making delicious any recipe that is half stock, is using quality stock. I've never found a store-bought vegetable broth that I liked enough to drink straight, so I usually make my own base for soups. Here, that's just a matter of pureeing some vegetables into a paste that basically dissolves in water as it bubbles away and steams every kernel of rice. And about the rice: paella is about saffron, paprika and Spanish rice. Bomba or Calasparra rice is argued to be superior to, say, Arborio rice, and the texture is different. But I've used Arborio too with good results. Bomba rice is a splurge, but one I was willing to make since it's not like I bought it all the time, right? It remains to be seen, whether I keep buying it now that I've finally found a vegetarian paella recipe that lives up to my expectations for this very special, scented, savoury, and very look-at-meal meal.

must make: pomegranate lentil soup and a different kind of pumpkin pie

My must-make list! Do you have one too? These are the recipes that sound so good I've bookmarked them, and must make them as soon as I can.

But... 

Nigel Slater's pumpkin pie will have to wait a while, what with the cleanse I'm on and the puff pastry that this recipe calls for. But his pumpkin pie, a savoury kind, will probably be the first thing I make when I'm back to being bad again my diet includes a little more butter again.

However, mine will incorporate a little blue cheese.

Did you see the pear, blue cheese and walnut salad recipe below Nigel's pumpkin recipe? When I first skimmed the article, I thought his pie included blue cheese and nuts and I thought that was a brilliant idea. I'm running with it. I think it will add some nice texture and bite to the pie.

I'll also have to postpone making this skillet pancake, to respect the cleanse and also because I don't think I have a cast-iron skillet well-seasoned enough or large enough for this. I'll make my first attempt at this in my wok and hope for the best.

But back to what I can and must make soon. Like this hungarian mushroom soup. I ate so much mushroom soup when I was in Budapest and it was always delicious, everywhere I had it. I haven't been able to replicate it perfectly, so I'm excited to try this recipe.

A variation on this bibimbap is in my future for sure, as is this pomegranate lentil soup. Pomegranate. Lentil. Soup. Cannot wait to try. 

If you have any must-makes, you must share. Merci!

the season of the pumpkin...

...and other great gourds.

it seems like even though squashes and pumpkins are available year round, i only make them in the autumn and winter. well, except for zucchinis which i only eat in early summer--the "marrows" are light and summery in my mind. the heavier orangey-yellow-flesh guys i reserve for this season, which kicks off when i stick my hands deep into a soon-to-be jac-o-lantern and and scoop out its insides. i roasted the seeds above a few days ago. the pale ones have just a sprinkle of oil and salt on them, and the darker ones i doused in oil, lime, tamari, and a dash of cayenne pepper and honey. i like experimenting with the seasonings but the plain ol' seeds are still my favourite.

speaking of experimenting, i thought a round up of good gourd recipes might be appropriate right now. you're probably diving into these sweet pulps soon too, right?

• my mom's pumpkin curry tops my list. it's still my absolute favourite way to eat pumpkin. i heard she and my father debating how to find a good piece of pumpkin only a few hours ago. my mom is convinced that "jamaican pumpkin" makes all the difference in this recipe, for instance. i will probably have to test that theory at some point soon. for now, i rely on them to source out the good stuff when i want to make this--she has me believing her that strongly!
• steph, my friend who happens to have been born in jamaica, might agree with my mom, but she reverts to kabocha squash for her jamaican squash soup in this recipe. flavoured with thyme and a hint of habanero, it's something i craved often last winter after learning her recipe. a batch makes a ton so i highly recommend making some and inviting friends over, or at least freezing it for later. i just eat the leftovers every day for a week. happily.
• i'm sticking a sweet potato into the list! sliced, breaded and fried in this sandwich, the texture reminds me more of butternut squash then a starchy tuber. i actually want to try something similar with butternut squash that's been cooked to al dente. it's kind of an unexpected and fun way to enjoy this vegetable or to make a meat-less sandwich extremely hardy.
• lastly, and this is hardly a recipe, scraped spaghetti squash, tossed in pesto and drizzled with chili oil is a must try--the three are perfect together. pesto keeps for quite a while in your freezer, and by the time the squash is roasted, a quarter cup of it would have thawed and you'd have dinner with hardly raising a finger. except to lick the pesto container. i always lift that finger.

for tonight, enjoy your hollowed out, very scary pumpkins, everyone! happy halloween!

steph's jamaican squash soup

 

it's no longer february, which is when i should have posted this recipe. that was the month i dedicated to posting recipes from the cooks i love, and the month that james (one of those beloved cooks) agreed to shoot photos of those recipes for my blog. steph, my friend since high school, is definitely an excited cook, i love her like crazy and i love this soup almost as much, so allow me to sneak this last entry in. you'll be glad i did. this soup is full of flavour, spice and the perfect thing for right now where the nights are still cold and the days are rainy. 

do you remember me explaining that my mom refers to "real pumpkin" as "jamaican pumpkin"? well, this recipe would have been titled "jamaican pumpkin soup" if steph and i had "real pumpkin" on hand when we were making it. you get the intended, and tastiest, result when you use pumpkin, but kabocha squash is a fine substitue and that's what steph usually uses. i think delicata squash would work well too, and it's also easier to come by than pumpkin.

 

(photographed by james piper) 

butternut squash and sweet potatoes (yams) round out the flavour of steph's version of the soup, and fresh thyme and scotch bonnet peppers are what make it distinct and so delicious. and about those scotch bonnet peppers, they are not the same as habeneros, though they are a close cousin. the flavour that the scotch bonnets impart, even though used whole in this soup, cannot be matched. but again, they can be hard to come by and even mislabeled in stores (some use scotch bonnet and habanero interchangably), so you may end up using habaneros instead. i have and the result is still great. 

whichever you end up using, respect the power of these chilies! use caution when handling them and when stirring the soup once it's been added. you want to use a fresh, firm pepper and stir carefully so that the pepper doesn't burst--they are too hot to be added to the soup cut or even if any part of the skin is pierced. i mistakenly used a frozen scotch bonnet in this soup once and the pepper disintegrated into it. that would normally render the soup inedible. i chose to suffer through the heat because i have an unhealthy love of chilies, but you probably wouldn't want to let this happen to your soup. now, if you, like steph and i, would enjoy this soup extra spicy, you can dunk a raw, cut scotch bonnet into the soup when you're eating it (seen in the first picture of this post). start slowly. this is a heat that creeps!

 

(photographed by james piper) 

the only labourous part of this soup is the peeling of the kabocha, since the skin is very tough and the only way to remove it raw is with a cleaver or very sharp knife. you could cut and roast or boil the kabocha and scoop out the flesh, which would be the easiest way. but both steph and i opt for the quicker way, which is to chip away at the skin raw. as you can see above, she cuts the squah into pieces first and then peels the skin. i find it easier to chisel it off of the squash when it's whole.

but once your ingredients are prepped, the rest is a matter of throwing everything into a pot and letting heat and time work their magic. you can serve this soup over rice if you'd like, but it's so hearty and satisfying that i find a big bowl of it makes a meal on its own. i really hope you try it--if you like squash soup, i bet this spicy version will become your favourite.

 

(photographed by james piper)

 

steph's jamaican squash soup

two notes: when peeling the brittle skin of raw kabocha, do so carefully, using a very sharp knife or cleaver, and peel away from you. and when selecting your scotch bonnet or habanero, make sure it's fresh and that the skin and stem are not weak in any way. use caution when stirring the soup once the chili has been added, so that it doesn't burst in the soup. 

1 kabocha squash, peeled, seeds removed, cut into large pieces
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces 
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1L vegetable stock
7 whole sprigs thyme, tied with kitchen twine
1 fresh scotch bonnet pepper (or a habanero pepper)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbs vegetable oil

heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. add the leeks, carrots and celery and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. add the broth and 2 cups of water to the pot. add the kabocha, bring to a boil, covered, and then lower heat to a simmer. simmer for 15  minutes, covered. add the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, thyme, scotch bonnet pepper, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. stir, cover and simmer for 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. add corn, 1/2 tsp salt, stir and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. the soup will become thicker the more you stir and the more the kabocha breaks down. you can thin out the soup (both now and when reheating) with some water. serve with a cut scotch bonnet pepper for dipping--if you dare! 

makes 6 servings. 

 
 

pumpkin curry, with ground coconut and mustard paste

 

my favourite part of eating a plate of sri lankan food comes at the end. after the food and the rice are gone, you're left with an exceptional gravy--a combination of all of the sauces, blended together in perfect high-flavour harmony, better than any on their own. if i know you well enough, you'll see me shamelessly wiping the sauce off with my fingers and licking loudly, or if i'm lucky and the plate is saucy enough, tipping the plate to my mouth and drinking it straight--as i've done since i was a kid. sounds gross, but i would force you to do the same just once. then you'd be hooked and we could always eat together, no strange looks passed--especially not with plates pressed to our faces.

this recipe produces one of those sauces. 

 

this is my mother's recipe and in it, she uses "jamaican pumpkin"--her words. i have tried to get at what the difference is, but i get answers like, "you know, it's real pumpkin". while i'm sure my parents have made this recipe with pumpkin from chain grocery stores, asian grocers, etc., i also know that they usually buy their pumpkin from carribean grocery stores. if you can do the same, that would be ideal (apparently), but i assure you that a piece of pumpkin, delicata squash, kabocha squash, even butternut squash from your everyday grocer would yield good results. 

you are probably going to have to get yourself to a spice market, asian or south-asian grocery store for some of the ingredients in this recipe, if you don't already have curry leaves or rampe (screw pine or pandan leaves).*

(photographed by james piper) 

my mom's tip is to slice the pumpkin before peeling it, it's less awkward. i think i may do the same with butternut squash and other things that are labourous to peel. the skin of "real pumpkin" is soft so you can use a regular peeler, as you would with a butternut squash. however! i don't think this applies to super-tough-skinned kabocha squash. i find peeling kabocha squash is is easier to do with a cleaver, and easier to do before cutting the squash into pieces. 

that all sounds fussy--but that's where it ends. peel the pumpkin and the rest is dead easy. almost everything goes into a pot together, you grind some things with the push of a button and you're eating in half an hour. and if you're looking for the other recipes that create the magic plate sauce, they're coming up soon--part of "recipes from the cooks i love most" february!

 (photographed by james piper) 

 pumpkin curry, with ground coconut and mustard paste

for the curry:
2 lbs pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 large garlic cloves, sliced
1 green chili, thinly sliced
10 fresh curry leaves
2 2-inch pieces of rampe (pandan or screw pine leaves), fresh or frozen
1 2-inch stick of cinnamon, or 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk, or 5 tbs coconut milk powder dissolved in 1 cup of warm water
1 tsp dark, roasted (sri lankan) curry powder (optional)

for the paste: 
1/2 tsp raw white rice
10 whole black peppercorns
2 tbs grated fresh coconut (or dessicated coconut)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 green chili
5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard powder

make the curry: put all of the ingredients, except the coconut milk, into a large pot. add 1/2 the coconut milk, cover and cook over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes or until the pumpkin is fork tender at the outer edges.

meanwhile, make the paste: in a spice grinder, grind the rice and black peppercorns to a powder. then add the the rest of the ingredients and and grind to form a crumbly paste. transfer this mixture to the remaining coconut water and combine the paste well. 

add the coconut milk and paste mix to the pumpkin, lower heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for another 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency. taste and add salt if needed and if so, simmer for a minute or two more. remove from heat and sprinkle with roasted curry powder on top (if using). serve over rice.

makes 4-6 side servings, or 4 large servings.

*if any of the ingredients here or in any of the recipes on my blog seem mysterious in any way, please comment and i will try to help you source them or find substitutes if we can't!

 

i love you, delicata squash

somewhere between roasting and currying these pieces of delicata squash, i realized that not all squash was created equal. oh yes. it was when i was furiously licking the remains from the roasting tray. you can eat the thin skins of delicata squash, so i was scraping little bits of them off the tray where it stuck, and they were just as sweet and flavour-packed as caramelized onions. i mean the skin of this squash is tasty, people. and to think i only discovered this variety recently over a bowl of delicata squash soup. it's probably always been around me but it never stood out. i was excited to learn that the skin is quite edible, and it reminded me of my family's skin-on curried pumpkin. so i tried to replicate that curry last night, and added kale that was on hand. i expected it to work well, but i had no idea how delicious this squash would be. someone described the flavour as "sweet-corn tasting" which i thought was accurate, and that makes me want to make a roasted corn and delicata soup, or a succotash with it. or you know, roast it every single night, maybe 5 minutes too long, just to peel the browned skins off and drag them through the hot oil and salt left on the tray and chew them very slowly. that's probably what will happen to at least half the squash the next time i'm making this curry.