At a friends house several years ago I had a soup that just knocked my socks off. It was orange in color and the flavor was interestingly savory with a kick of heat. We all had fun trying to figure out what the base of the soup was. When my host revealed to us that it was made from watermelon I was blown away. I couldn’t imagine that watermelon could make such an interesting savory soup. I am having some friends over for a 4th of July cookout tonight and I thought I would make this soup or at least a variation on the theme. Searching the web I found just the recipe that my friend used over on the Epicurious web site. You can see it here. I did make a few changes to that recipe but what turned out was a wonderfully delicious and refreshing soup.
Spicy Watermelon Soup
Broccoli Soup
Ok, I know it doesn’t look like much but it did taste pretty darn good. I started with a hot pan and sautéed an onion and some garlic. Once the onions started to soften but not brown I added a ton of broccoli and covered it with water. All the while I was seasoning with salt and pepper. The broccoli was simmered until tender and then puréed with a little milk using my hand blender until smooth. I added a pat of butter to the soup for some extra creamyness and flavor. Nothing special but a pretty good way to get your veggies.
Curried Cauliflower and Potato Soup
It’s like aloo gobi in a bowl. This curried cauliflower and potato soup turned out creamy and delicious.
Of course it starts with the spices. Toasting in the pan are cumin, corriander and cardamom.
These were ground up pretty finely into a spice mix.
Also flavoring the soup is some tumeric powder, mustard seeds, hing and (not shown) Madras curry powder.
Onions, garlic, ginger and a couple of medium potatoes (not shown) were cut up to be cooked with the cauliflower.
Here’s the big bad boy.
I first started with a hot pan and a couple teaspoons of oil. I added some mustard seeds and cooked them until they popped. First into the pan were the onions. Of course salt and pepper was added to season the dish at every step of the way.
The onions were followed by the garlic and ginger and after being sautéed for a couple of minutes the spices were added.
Next the cauliflower and potatoes.
Water was added to cover the vegetables.
Everything was simmered together until the vegetables were very tender.
A blender stick made quick work of puréeing the mixture.
LIght and Healthy Japanese Food
Ok, so the Japanese food bug is not completely out of my system. Last night I was in the mood again for some light and healthy food. I had plans to make a miso/soy marinated chicken breast and serve that with a Japanese inspired soup.
To start I filled a pot with some water, kombu (or konbu) which is a dried seaweed, and some Korean dried fish pieces. These are not strong flavors and were used just to make a light broth that reminded one of the sea. I soaked these together at room temperature for about an hour then heated it to boiling. Once the broth boiled for about 5 minutes I removed the kombu and fish. The fish I discarded. The seaweed I used for a salad.
Meanwhile I marinated some boneless skinless chicken breasts in a mixture of grated ginger, soy, mirin, a splash of sake, sesame oil and red miso paste.
Here is the broth after removing the fish an seaweed. To flavor the broth just a little more a couple tbsp of soy sauce were added along with a splash of mirin, a splash of sake and some salt.
The kombu was cooled and shredded finely.
This was mixed with finely shredded carrots. To flavor the salad, rice vinegar, soy, sesame oil and mirin were added.
The plate ready for chicken. The green is a napa salad seasoned with rice vinegar and mirin.
The chicken was just cooked under the broiler in the oven until nicely grilled and cooked through.
For the soup I added carrots, green peppers, green onions and somen noodles to the delicately flavored broth.
Now that hits the spot!
Refrigerator Beef Stew on a cold day
It is a cold snowy day here in Fargo. I arrived home from Japan on Saturday but I wish I was still there. Never the less, I was faced with firing up the snowblower today and getting out in the cold. So a warm hearty dinner was just the ticket. I call this a Refrigerator Beef Stew because it was made from a hodge podge of leftover ingredients I found while cleaning out the fridge today. I had about a half pound of sirlion that I didn’t use last night when I made my own shabu shabu. There were also some leftover cut up vegetables consisting of cabbage, green onions and bean sprouts. I added some celery and chopped garlic. I found a couple tablespoons of red thai curry paste, some red miso paste and a cup of garbanzo beans. The meat was browned and everything else was added. I threw in a couple handfuls of sticky Japanese rice and then cooked it all until it was thick and bubbly, about 25 minutes. It was slightly tangy, delightfully spicy and thickened nicely by the rice. Perfect for a cold evening.