Thai'd Up and Squashed Down Soup Recipe

Totally missed the pictures on this one- but there'll be film coming soon!

I made this recently for the kitchen portion of the film my friend Rob is doing for a Transition Ottawa film contest.  It worked out really well, with just enough spice and loads of flavour.  Roasting the squash saves active cooking time, as well as chopping- plus it brings out a lovely deep flavour.

If you don’t feed vegetarians, you can use a Thai red chili paste in this.  It contains minute quantities of shrimp and fish, so I skip it (even though it’s oh so good).

Serves 6-8

1 tablespoon (+) olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch of ginger root, minced

1 stalk lemon grass, minced

Juice of two limes

1 medium butternut squash, halved, seeded, roasted and peeled

1 can coconut milk

1 tbsp. sambal oelek (to taste- it’s spicy)

1.5 tbsp. tamarind paste

1 tbsp. honey

6 c. warm veggie stock (or a liter plus water if you are using a box)

Toasted coconut and sprigs of Thai basil or cilantro to garnish

Heat the oil on medium in your soup pot. 

Add the onions and a good pinch of salt, and sauté until they are golden and starting to caramelize.

Add the lemon grass and ginger and sauté two minutes more. 

Add the garlic and ½ the lime juice and cook for two minutes, scraping up the tasty bits at the bottom. 

Add your tamarind and sambal oelek and stir thoroughly.

Add your squash puree, the coconut milk, the stock and the honey.

Use your hand blender and blend to a lovely smooth consistency.

Heat through.

Check your seasoning and add the remaining lime juice, perhaps more honey or sambal oelek.  Adding the lime juice at the end brings a bright flavour to the soup.

 

Keep on truckin'

The truck is at the painter's, empty and (nearly) clean. I drove it across the Ottawa River by myself today (there's only the one seat) which was kind of fun (okay, it was totally amazingly fun to be driving something with a 20" diameter steering wheel) and took it on down to the soda blasters.  Thanks to Pierre for giving me a ride to the truck and to my amazing sister and brother-in-law for letting me keep it there for nearly a week while we got the fryers out (and sold- yay!) and the second stage of cleaning done. The third stage is tomorrow, when I drive it from the painters to a drive in bay and pressure wash the heck out of it.  Lard. Is. Only. Good. In. Small. Quantities. (I'm still unwilling to entirely forego lard, but I won't be eating at any chip trucks for quite some time).

The logo is ready to get printed for the side of the truck and I have four kids willing to work for me. This says something, right?  I don't have any adult employee potentials (somehow the small truck/dishwashing gig ain't super appealing to the realistic folk) but the little ones are pretty excited about being the child labour that keeps our high end food affordable.  So far, the jobs that they have created for themselves include a clown and a soup taster, and all have indicated that they would be pleased to "help" in exchange for food, and would be more than pleased to work rather than go to school. Ha!  No wonder we need to have laws.  Only one has asked for wages, and those would be five dollars a day.  Pesky, pesky laws. But really, it heartens me to know that I could (and do) have all these children working (oh, sorry, "helping") me in my non-Dickensian mini kitchen.

Community garden harvest

This afternoon, I'm putting the finishing touches on a Thai Butternut Soup recipe that's been rollicking around in my the taste buds of my imagination since trying a rather watery one at Bridgehead, and getting a lovely butternut from the community garden.  I'll post the recipe.

My gardening pal R. is coming to film me for a video he's working on for Transition Ottawa-very cool- and I need to get a good stock pot on the go and some stock into the freezer.  Still gotta get the solar panel stuff worked out... And some meals to deliver for a family- maybe soon my food can be made for children, by children (as my sister always says about the cheap t-shirts at the box stores).  Pesky laws.