Curried Butternut Squash Soup

So, I've been a little busy lately. Haven't posted as much as I'd like to! The other night I did make incredible chicken tacos with a fresh avocado salsa. Unfortunately, I was drinking wine all day and talking to a friend on Skype. The meal was delicious, but it's a miracle that I didn't slice my hand off or burn the house down. Shawty crunk.

Anyway, tonight I set out on a soup journey. A few years ago, someone made a similar dish and I swore that I'd try to do it myself one day.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup. The name alone is intimidating. I had no idea what I was getting in to when I made this one. I'm tired beyond belief, so I could have taken MORE pictures... but, let's take a look anyway, shall we?

First order of business: Taking the trash out. I *might* have a love for booze.

This would be a delicious pile of onions, a sweet potato, a giant squash (which I will call SASQUASH) ANNNNDDD a shake weight. Don't judge me.

Trail of tears.

Garlic, bruh. You need it. Mince it. 2 cloves.

Have you ever tried cutting one of these things?!?! They're RIDICULOUS. We should be making bulletproof vests out of butternut squash skin. Jesus.

FINALLY got it skinned, seeded and chopped into small one inch cubes. Conclusion: I NEED A PEELER. IMMEDIATELY. Using a knife to do this was horrendous. This picture is a visual display of my attitude toward the process.

Now, it's a sweet potato's turn to go. I didn't take a picture of it, but I ended up throwing these in a foil boat with three tablespoons of butter, dark brown sugar, honey and cinnamon. Baked it for about 25 minutes at 425 while everything cooked.

That would be six cups of chicken stock (I used four cups of a coconut curry stock and two cups of regular sodium free chicken stock).

The squash cubes.

The onions and garlic (which was sauteed [but not browned] in this pan until it was soft).

Curry powder --- about 1.5 tablespoons of spicy curry (I recommend madras curry powder).

Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the squash is soft. Then, you throw about two tablespoons of fresh honey in the mix.

Now it's all softly and cooked... time to blend it. You can use an immersion blender (which I don't have) or a food processor (as seen here). I took this ladle and pulsed the soup until it was almost puree. I also added the sweet potato cubes from the oven into the food processor.

Add nutmeg and cinnamon... and cayenne pepper!

I threw a little cream in there to tone the spice down a bit. I wanted the sweet element to shine.

Serve with a good crusty bread and an optional spoon. I minced fresh ginger and chopped fresh cilantro to throw on top, too.

It was truly delicious. I can't wait to eat it tomorrow lol.

aaaand a more flattering picture of myself. I needed a redemption shot after the hangover face from the Veggie Tuscan Bake entry the other day. Oi vey.

Give this a shot! It's worth the effort. Seriously.

Breakfast of Champions

So, I made that huge dish of veggies... now, I have to eat it all before it goes bad. That's what sucks about being single and loving to cook, I guess. This means I'll have to get crafty for the next couple of days.

Let's see what we can do for breakfast, shall we?

Why, yes. That IS two cans of Big Flats Walgreens Brand beer. Do yourself a favor and never buy it... it's awful.

Dear cast iron skillet, I love you. Let this humble offering of bacon be proof. Love, Rachel

O HAI, you! Let me get some of that.

Threw it on the cutting board. Let the chopping commence.

A wise man once said, "Pork fat rules."

Take said chopped veggies. Toss them in a warm frying pan.

I beat this egg like it owed me money.

Decided that I'd make myself a corn pancake, too! Have you ever tried these?!? They are DELECTABLE.

Aaaaannnnddd they're not that bad for you. Anything with like 5 ingredients that tastes this good = doing something right.

Hot pork fat covered skillet, meet corn pancake. Corn pancake, meet hot pork fat covered skillet. Play nicely.

Awww yeah!

Pour that egg all over the veggies and do as my friend Bob Marley once said, "stir it up".

Mmmm. It smells delicious.

Serving suggestion. Lulz.

BONUS!!! That veggie dish I made had some mozzarella in it... Check this cheese bridge, bro! :)

That's right. Mama's got the camera.

Okay, so maybe I should start making the titles of these entries... what the DISH is that I've made? Nah, screw that. This is my blog. I do what I want. I like funny titles way better.

On that note, I had a food adventure yesterday that I wanted to share. While I laid in the sun by the pool, I decided that I really wanted to make a veggie dish for dinner. I'd seen this recipe the other day in a cookbook I have for a Tuscan Veggie Bake. Winning! So, I scurried to Publix (where shopping is a pleasure) and picked up the goods. I only had a little bit of time before I had to run out the door to meditation... you will see the hurried mess below:

Procure peppers as seen here. Wash them.

MAH KITCHEN: WHERE PEPPERS GO TO DIEEEE!! Cut them. De-rib them (that means cut out the little white parts from the inside). Remove the seeds.

Learned a valuable lesson here: clean your oven before you start a food blog. Fuck. That's kinda gross. LOL! Anyway, bake the peppers for about 10-15 minutes at 425.

Slice zucchinis like it's your job. Chop garlic like it's also your job.

Get frustrated that the baking process isn't giving you the blistering results you need and turn on the broiler at 500 instead. Place the peppers on the rack about 6 inches from the broiler for about 3-5 minutes. Remove blistering peppers from the oven.

Word of advice: If you ever find a recipe that asks you to peel the skins from a freshly roasted pepper, do yourself a favor and turn the page. Longest part of this whole process was peeling the skin from these LAVA BOMB peppers. Jesus.

While the camera wasn't looking, I mixed 6 tbsp of EVOO with freshly chopped basil (from my lovely friend Lyzz's garden) and that chopped garlic. I also chopped up some black olives from a can. The recipe I found didn't say to put eggplant in the dish, but I really wanted to try it... so, I added a slice from a medium sized eggplant. After you arrange it all, it basically looks like this:

Mind you, I was in a crazy huge hurry trying to make this before I had to rush out for meditation. Usually, I clean as I go... but, I wanted to share the chaos I created! LOL.

The recipe asks that you slice some fresh mozzarella and throw it on top. I sprinkled some goat cheese in here, too... because... well, why not? Salt, pepper. The end. Except I drizzled a little more EVOO on top.

Then, you throw it in the oven at 420 for about 25 minutes. Then, you broil it at 500 for about 3-4 minutes to get a nice bubbly, golden brown on that mozz. This is what it looks like after it's all said and done:

VOILA!

Recommended serving suggestion: In a sports bra in the kitchen while you have a hang over from too much Kirin the night before. I do it for the LAWLS, people.

I was gonna take some pictures, but then...

Well, yesterday was a fun day. My good friend Sarah came over for some chilling by the pool. Inevitably, we ended up in the kitchen.

I made us a salad and a Kashi frozen Mediterranean pizza. I can't leave well enough alone, so I also chopped up one of my home grown tomatoes, some red onion and fresh garlic to throw on top. The tomatoes from my plant are SO vibrant and delightfully red. It looked beautiful... but, I wanted something else.

So, I grabbed the fresh mozzarella from the fridge and sliced a couple pieces. I ripped them up into smaller strips and spread them over the pie. Threw the pizza in the oven for about 11 minutes (though the package only calls for 8 minutes) and then broiled it for another 2 so that the cheese would get melted and browned. Success. That pizza LOOKED as delicious as it tasted.

Again, I failed on the photo taking. Please forgive me! LOL I was a little crunk, okay?

Don't talk about it, be about it.

There are those who can and there are those who can't... and those who can but don't want to... and those who want to but won't. The point's becoming diluted. I digress.

My name is Rachel and I'm starting my food blog. For a while, I've toyed with the idea of making one. Here it is.

Yesterday, I came to a couple of valuable conclusions:

1. I should leave my camera in the kitchen

2. Food blogs without pictures suck

So, I promise I'll take pictures from now on. This kinda sucks because you missed out on panko fried zucchini with a mayo based lemon dipping sauce. You also missed out on an extremely attractive chicken parm dish. Sigh.

Guess I'll be forced to make them again one day! Shame, right? ;)