Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

A friend of mine had forwarded me this recipe by Food Network's Ina Garten several years ago, and I finally got around to trying it. At first I made the soup exactly like the recipe states, but I found that there was too much cider, and that it had become too sweet and too sour, so to mellow those flavors i added a little more curry powder and a little chili powder, for the most part the recipe is exactly the same.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
3 large yellow onions, chopped
4 tablespoons mild curry powder
1/2 tsp chili powder

2 large butternut squash
4 sweet apples, such as McIntosh
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups water
2 cups good apple cider or juice

Peel the squash, cut in half, remove the seeds and cut into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

In a large stockpot warm the olive oil, add onions, chili powder, and curry powder; cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Puree the soup coarsely in a food processor or use an immersion blender.

Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

Chicken Curry Quiche

Chicken Curry Quiche

My mom is an extremely good cook.  She is capable,very often, of taking something old and boring out of the fridge, and giving it a completely different flavor, texture, and taste. It becomes a whole new dish, and it's usually a big hit with us. The sad part is, its not always easy to recreate, especially when she combines a couple of different leftovers to make it. I can only aspire to my mums ability to do this, and this dish is the kind of thing I think she would do. As per my mums request, I would like to add in this announcement... We do not serve leftovers to guests at our home. We only do this kind of thing for our immediate nuclear family!

I used the leftover chicken from the Chicken Curry that I made a couple of days previous (its the same recipe as Easy Pork Curry), after we ran out of the curry and only had chicken left. It turned out to be quite a good quiche and I was able to brag about it to my dad, who was the first person to nominate my mom for that prestigious title!

3-4 pieces leftover chicken, shredded
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
2-3 green chilies, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Chili powder to taste
pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 9" frz pie shell

Chicken Curry Quiche

Bake the pie shell empty according to the packaging. It should be cooked so that the base isn't soggy. In the mean time de-bone the chicken and cut it into small pieces or shred it. Include any of the curry masala that sticks to the chicken. Set aside. Finely chop the cilantro leaves, and the green chilies and keep them aside too, separately. Beat together the eggs and milk and keep ready.Once the pie shell is out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes.

To assemble, evenly layer the chicken on the bottom of the pie shell. Then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Next spread the green chilies out evenly, and then the chopped cilantro. Top the whole thing with the milk and egg mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the quiche is set. Serve hot with a salad and bread.

Easy Pork Curry

When you mention Indian food to anyone living outside the sub-continent, the first thing they think of is curry. Curry is a really broad term in India. Different parts of the country have different curries. You get curries made with coconut milk, and some made without, several areas even call a drier, spicy vegetable, like my Cauliflower recipe, a curry.  My favorite curries are Goan Curry, and Badam (Almond) Curry, both of which I have not made yet. Making a curry from scratch is actually quite a laborious process. One had to grind the spices together, roast them on a high flame, soak and squeeze out the coconut milk from a couple of dried coconuts etc… Tons to do, really.

But I live in the US, and that makes my curry-making-life easier. :) We get canned coconut milk at the Indian store, and the curry masala I use comes out of a tin, making this a quick and easy recipe.

Easy Pork Curry

1 pnd pork pieces (the size of stew pieces)

1 large onion, chopped

1 (heaped) tsp ginger paste

1 (heaped) tsp garlic paste

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp chili powder (add more if you like it hot)

5-6 tsps BOLST’S Mild Curry Powder

Salt

2 (13oz) cans coconut milk

Little oil

          Clean and marinate the pork in a little salt, and keep aside. In a pot, on medium heat, heat a little oil and fry the onions till they brown. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and allow it to cook a little. Next put in all the spices. After they cook for a minute (till the raw smell goes) add the pork, and let it brown on the outside a little. Once the pork starts to brown, stir in the coconut milk and let it simmer till the pork is cooked. Ta-da! Your meal is ready! Serve with rice, preferably basmati, and kachumber.

Note:

*You can use any meat or seafood you like, with this recipe. If you’re vegetarian then put in half cooked potato pieces, or a vegetable like cauliflower or broccoli, or even tofu.

*The more coconut milk you add the creamier it tastes. If you do not want to make it so creamy, then substitute half the coconut milk for water or stock. Make sure you use coconut MILK and not coconut water.