It's definatly Fall in Michigan

We have had our first frost and the weather has been chilly the last couple of days. I had to find my sweaters and I'm packing up the shorts and tank tops in recognition of the fact that it will not be warm enough to wear them again for a while. So in honor of that change I made some delicious soup :) Squash soup is one of those things that I never remember having until I was in high school, but hooboy is it one of my favorite things about seeing the winter squash showing up at the Farmer's Markets. This was kind of an experiment and to my great delight it turned out so delicious!!

You'll Need
8 cups stock (chicken or veggie work best)
2 medium butternut squash, seeded and peeled, in 1" chunks
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon harissa*
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon fresh sage
pinch of salt
sour cream to serve with

In a large (7 qt) slow cooker mix the squash, sweet potato, and onion. Add the harissa, sage, thyme, salt, and the stock. If the liquid is not enough to cover all of the squash, add water to top off. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Use a blender or food mill to puree the soup until smooth. Top with a dollop of sour cream to cut the heat slightly. Eat and enjoy!

*Harissa is a North African hot pepper condiment. I really like the one from Moulins De Majoub, but if you can't find one here's a simple one you can whip up for your fridge.

12 dried red chiles
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 tablespoons olive oil

Discard the stems and seeds from the chiles, then place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak 30 minutes until softened. In a heavy skillet heat the coriander and cumin seeds until they smell aromatic. Grind to a powder in a grinder. Drain the chiles and place in a blender with the garlic coriander mixture and salt. Blend together, trickling in the olive oil until the sauce has a mayonnaise-like consistency. To store, put in an airtight container and cover with olive oil and refrigerate.

Applesauce

It's defiantly fall weather outside and that turns my thought inevitably to comfort foods. And a good applesauce is defiantly up there in my list of comfort foods. Can't be too sweet, should be well spiced, and I just like it better chunky. So instead of trying to hunt for the perfect one, I made my own.

You'll need:
8 pounds apples (I used McIntosh) cored and diced, you can peel if desired
3 inches ginger root, peeled and grated very fine
tablespoon cinnamon
tablespoon nutmeg
2/3 cup honey
2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine everything in a very large stainless steel or enamel pot (don't use aluminum). This all fit (just barely) in my 8qt stock pot. Stir to make sure all of the apples are well coated, cover, and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until the thickness makes you happy. If you don't like a chunky applesauce you can use an immersion blender or food mill to smooth the texture to your liking. I got about 7 pints of sauce from this recipe. If you want to can this, process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.

Split Pea Soup

Most of my kitchen adventures start with something on sale. In this case it was yellow split peas that were on sale at the Co-op. Don't ask me what my brain was intending to do with 2 pounds of split peas at the time, but I bought them and in digging around for something to do for dinner the other day, I found the bone from a ham that I did last week. Bingo! Pea soup in the crock pot, so it could cook all day while I was at work so when we all got home around 6 we could sit down to dinner. This is a recipe that is pretty open to interpretation and can be made vegetarian/vegan pretty easily.

You'll need:
18 ounces split peas
1 ham bone (optional)
1 cup frozen or fresh veggies (I usually opt for corn and carrots to sweeten the soup up)
2 quarts chicken or veggie stock (you can dilute this with water if needed)

Add all ingredients to a 3 1/2 or 4 quart crock pot. Set to Low. Go to work, play in the yard, or whatever else you have more pressing in your life for around 6 hours. If you are going to be gone longer, don't worry... this isn't really a dish that you can "overcook". Fish out the ham bone and dispose of (or give to the dog). If you want, you can run through a blender or food mill to give it a smooth texture, but I don't really find this necessary.

Now I'm off to ponder a goat curry obsession that I have recently come across...

Garden Tomato Sauce

The farm stand around the corner from my house was having a sale. 1/2 a peck of tomatoes for $4.95. How could I pass it up? So I carted home my peck of tomatoes (at that price, I totally bought 2) and then contemplated what the heck to do with a peck of tomatoes! And then I set about thinking what I ate a lot of that involved tomatoes, and came up with a solution that had everything going for it. During the winter here in Michigan I tend to eat a lot of pasta because it's quick and filling and generally warm. And I like my pasta with tomato sauce because it's a little bite of sunshine when sun is in short supply. So I set about making my tomatoes into sauce to go into my freezer until I am desperate for a mental trip back to August.

What You'll Need -

9 tomatoes chunked (leave the seeds and skins intact)
3 medium onions, diced
10 cloves of garlic, minced (ok, I really like garlic, but you can cut back to taste)
2 small poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
any other garden veggies that you need to use up (zucchini, green peppers, etc...) diced
3 sprigs of basil, stripped and chopped
1 cup of good red wine
1/4 cup sherry or red wine vinegar
1 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
olive oil

Turn the burner on medium heat and in a large stock pot heat the olive oil (enough to coat the bottom) until it shimmers in the pan. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, any peppers or other veggies (Not the tomatoes), the basil and cook until soft.


Add the vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pot getting up all of the good bits at the bottom. Let everything simmer lightly in the vinegar so that it soaks it all up. The vinegar is going to brighten up the sauce and play up the sweetness of the tomatoes. At this point I like to add the sugar, salt, and pepper and stir so all of the veggies are evenly coated. Add the tomatoes, wine and tomato juice stirring to combine.


Put the lid on the stock pot, turn the burner down to low so that the sauce is barely simmering and walk away. If you are feeling particularly responsible you can clean up the kitchen (you are done with the intensive prep work now) but I grabbed the trashy romance novel that I was in the middle of and plopped down on the couch where I could see the stove and chilled out for a while. In about half an hour (if it's longer it's not really going to suffer at this point, you'll just need to add more liquid) take the pot off the heat. We've now reached the point where my husband and I disagree. I really like chunky sauces, he likes them smoother. This batch got smoothed out with an immersion blender because I wasn't home to bicker with him, but this is not a necessary step. If you are going to enjoy immediately, you're done! If you are going to keep it for a bit let it cool on your counter for about an hour. After that hour, put the sauce in the refrigerator and leave it overnight to cool completely. Seal in appropriate containers (we have a vacuum sealer so we made up 2 cup bags) and freeze. Use in 4 to 6 months for best flavor. This makes approximately 8 cups of tomato sauce.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other 20 tomatoes I have left!