Category: Soups and Stews

Who doesn’t love posole in the wintertime?  Technically posole is Spanish for hominy. Practically speaking it is the common name for a Mexican soup made with pork or chicken, broth and spices including chile. It is comfort food with a kick!

But what if you are vegetarian or vegan? Chile water and hominy doesn’t quite cut it. I came a cross a recipe using butternut squash and hominy in a spicy broth (either chicken broth or vegetable broth) that I wanted to try and, if was good, recommend it to my chile-loving vegetarian daughter. I have to say that even a carnivore like me really enjoyed it and I had two big bowls of the experimental batch.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH POSOLE

4 servings – 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

¼ cup canola oil

About 1 qt. butternut squash cubes (1.75 lbs)

1/2 cup diced onion

¾ cup kosher salt

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp each finely chopped garlic and chili seasoning powder

l-1/2tsp ground cumin

½ tsp. dried oregano

1 qt. reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 can(25.0z) hominy, drained and rinsed

½ cup finely shredded green cabbage

1 lime, cut into wedges

1 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced

1 or 3 radishes, thinly sliced

warm corn tortillas.

METHOD

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add squash, onion and ¾ tsp. salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to soften, 7 t0 8 minutes. Add tomato paste, garlic, chili seasoning, cumin and oregano and cook 1 minute, stirring often.

Add broth and hominy and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered, until squash is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

2. Spoon into bowls and serve with cabbage, lime, avocado, radishes and a basket of warm tortillas.

This is a simple recipe if you do you prep by grouping things that go together ahead of times – seasonings all together, things that can need to be cooked all together and garnishes all together. Don’t let the seemingly long list of ingredients intimidate you.

CONFESSIONS

I am vegetarian friendly, but not a vegetarian.  I used low-sodum chicken broth because I keep it in my pantry. I put butter on the warm tortillas because i like them that way.

White soup, white bowl – the picture of bland?  NOT SO!  This bold flavored soup has a base of leeks, fennel and parsnip sweated in a little butter until tender. The savory vegetables were simmered in a  pear juice reduction followed by the addition of chopped cauliflower and diced pear chicken broth.  When the cauliflower and pear were cooked soft, the mixture was pureed in a blender.  The puree was returned to the pan and a little cream and lemon juice were stirred in as it reheated.  This amazing flavor combo is a keeper in the recipe file.  If I had had a little fresh French tarragon, I’d have used it for garnish and  a little color accent for the soup.

THE RECIPE:  Cauliflower, Pear and Fennel Soup

4 – 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 oz. (4 TBSP) unsalted butter

3 medium leeks, white and light-green parts only, rinsed well and sliced 1/8″ thick (about 3 cups)

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and chopped (about 1- 1/2 cups)

1 medium parsnip, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup pear juice

7 cups lower-salt chicken broth or water

1 small head cauliflower (about 1-1/2 lbs) chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (about 5 cups)

1 large ripe pear, peeled, cored and chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 TBSP chopped fresh tarragon; more for garnish

1/2 cup heavy cream; more for garnish if desired

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

TECHNIQUE:

Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat.  Add the leeks, fennel, parsnip and 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft – 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the pear juice and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to a syrupy consistency.  Add the broth and bring to a boil.  Add the cauliflower, pear and another 1 tsp of salty and 1’2 tsp of pepper.  Reduce heat to medium low, partially cover and cook until the cauliflower is very soft, about 40 – 45 minutes.  Stir in the tarragon.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth and transfer to a large bowl.  To puree hot foods in a blender, remove the knob from the appliance lid.  Add the hot foods, put the lid on the blender and and cover the hole with a folded kitchen towel.  This will allow the hot food’s steam to vent out of the blender safely without blowing the lid off and coating you and the kitchen with hot puree.  Return the soup to the original pot and stern in the cream and reheat.  Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve topped with a thin swirl of cream and a sprinkle of tarragon.

AND, THE REST OF DINNER…

Having that soup as a first course called for something extra special for dinner.  Yesterday was another lucky day at the used meat bin.  More veal chops!  I lightly breaded the chops and sautéed them.  While they rested, I made a pan sauce flavored with juice from the rest of the lemon used in the soup.  On the side I served a “Carnival” acorn squash, sliced and drizzled with a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup.  While green acorn squash have a tender and edible skin, learned that the Carnival squash skin was not tender when cooked.  It was pretty on the plate, but the flesh had to be spooned out of the slices.  Next time, I’ll serve it in halves or quarters to make scooping a little easier.  That squash is so colorful that it would be criminal not show off the multicolored skin on the plate.