Menu of the Week

Sockeye Salmon with Farrotto and Butternut Squash

We eat Salmon once a week in our home, usually on a Monday night. So regularly on Monday that it's become a joke around the house and with co-workers who know our routine. It started because grocery shopping is usually done on the weekend, and I prefer to eat purchased fish sooner rather than later in the week.

My preferred way of preparing Salmon is for Jim to grill it. I put a heavy sprinkling of Baron's Hot Habanero and Green Chili seasoning on top and then leave the rest to my hubby. Jim has developed the perfect timing for grilling the fish so that it has perfect cross hatch grill marks and crispy skin.

I'm perfectly happy with our salmon rut routine, but was open to trying the Plated version of Sockeye Salmon with Farrotto and Butternut Squash. It was delicious and filling!

Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream

I've made butternut squash soup before, and it was really good. But this, this recipe is superb, and it is the addition of apples and apple cider that lend a pleasant sweetness to this beautiful soup - cider cream and the fried sage leaf is what puts this recipe over the (freaking) top! O to the M to the G!

The list of ingredients is longer than most of my other recipes, but let me say this recipe is easy and REALLY impressive, so make it for your next dinner party! (and have the recipe handy, you will be asked for it)

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
2 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)
1/2 cup chopped peeled carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves
5 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 cups apple cider
2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
Chopped fresh chives

Here is my butternut squash, peeled and cut into one inch squares.

Before I add any veggies, I melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat and throw in several whole sage leaves.

This does a couple things...I'm "frying' the sage leaves, browning the butter slightly, giving it a nutty taste and also flavoring the butter slightly with sage.

Meanwhile, I sliced the leeks and cleaned them VERY well in my salad spinner. Leeks tend to hold lots of sand and grit.

When sage is crispy, remove and drain on paper towel. Reserve these wonderful sage chips for garnish!

Add squash, leeks, carrot and celery; saute until slightly softened, about 15 minutes.

I had a shallot, so I gave it a good dice and added to the pot. You should know by now I rarely follow a recipe exactly...

Next, peel and slice the apples and add to the veggies along with dried thyme and dried sage.

Add stock and 1 cup cider and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.

Cover and simmer until apples are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly.

Meanwhile, I make the Cider Cream by boiling the remaining 1/2 cup cider in a heavy small saucepan until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Then let it cool down.

Whisk in sour cream. (Soup and cider cream can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)

After 30 minutes, the veggies are very tender!

I used my immersion blender to puree the soup.

Mix in whipping cream last.

To serve, I ladled the soup into bowls, swirled the cool cider cream on top, sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds and topped with a fried sage leaf.

GOURMET cooking my friends! It wasn't a hard recipe, just took a little time to prep. This kept in my fridge for a long time, and it was really yummy. When we were sick of soup though, I boiled some pumpkin tortellini and spooned this hot soup over the top as "sauce." I love reinventing leftovers!

Winter Squash Soup

The famous film maker Francis Ford Coppola makes some very delish wines. His Rubicon Estates in California produces some of his very best stuff and this 04 Cask Cab is no different. This wine is a classic, grand style American cabernet and loaded with cherry and raisin scents.

Easy to drink wine for a weeknight meal. YUM-O!

When November was behind me and it was time to redecorate my kitchen table from Fall to Winter I reused my kitchen table centerpiece to create a familiar dinner starter. These golden vegetables made a really lovely winter squash soup and I found the perfect recipe for it in Bon Appetit from December 1996. Geez, in 96 I was a junior in high school working at Papa Johns Pizza and dancing on my high school drill team. I’m pretty sure at the time I would not have been able to pick out a butternut squash in a vegetable line up.

I don’t remember what these cost me back in October/November but just today I was in my local grocery store and they had butternut squash on sale for $99 a lb, not bad. I just love soup, and like to eat it year around but there is just something about the one cold month we experience in Texas that makes me want to slurp up soup all 30 of those chilly days. It warms you from the inside out!

So here we go, a super easy and nutritious soup which made a great first course for several of my home cooked dinners and was a filling lunch for me when paired with a grilled chicken sandwich.

This recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit, December 1996. The ingredients are:
1/2 stick butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

38 ounces chicken broth

1 butternut squash

1 acorn squash

1 carnival squash

1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoons dry sage

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar

I start by roasting my squash. First slice in half and clean out the seeds and guts – discard. If you wanted to toast the squash seeds you could do it like you would pumpkin seeds, I haven't tried it but read that this could be done.

Next, place the squash on a baking sheet face down with a quarter of an inch of water. Bake in 350 oven for 45 minutes.

Once flesh is soft, scoop out into a bowl – discard skins.

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat.

Add onion and sauté for five minutes.

Add garlic and sauté for another five minutes.

When the onion is translucent and the garlic is smelling so good your mouth is watering, take a sip of your wine and lets add the rest of the ingredients.

First add chicken broth.

Add all the cooked and softened squash.

Ground thyme.

Dry sage.

Ground cumin.

Ground ginger.

Ground cinnamon.

Bring this to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and let it simmer about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes the squash is very tender.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Now that I received a KitchenAid immersion blender from Jim (for Christmas, woo hoo!) I wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of transferring the hot soup.

However you can do it, purree the soup until smooth.

Return to the same pot on your stovetop.

Stir in cream and sugar; bring to simmer. Give it a taste test and season with salt, pepper and if you need it...more cinnamon and ginger.

When you get the flavor just right, ladle into bowls and serve warm.

This can be made ahead and chilled in the fridge for a week. It kept really well for me and tasted great reheated.