Creamy Butternut Squash Fish Soup

I wanted to make a simple clean tasting fish soup. The motivation was my desire to have a fish soup and J's refusal to contemplate eating such. Basically the idea here is to make a vaguely oriental soup based on butternut squash and then add the fishy element afterwards.

Ingredients:

1. One cubed butternut squash;
2. 1 large chopped shallot;
3. 250 ml tin of coco nut milk;
4. 3 stems of lemongrass;
5. 1/2 tbls of fennel seeds
6. 5 kefir lime leaves;
7. 500 ml vegetable or fish stock (or just water);

For added fishiness:

1. Thai fish sauce to taste;
2. 250 gr prawn;
3. 250 gr monkfish cut into large bite sized chunks.

Soften shallot in a little bit of vegetable oil in a soup pot at medium heat. Add spices and let them roast for about a minute. Add butternut squash and stock and let simmer until the squash is completely soft about 15 min. Remove the lemongrass and whizz the soup up in a food processor or using one of these very clever magic wand things.

Bring soup back up to simmer and slowly add the coco nut milk. Do not add the full tin as that may make the soup too rich (not all butternut squashes are the same size after all) add until you like the consistency and taste of the soup. Let the soup simmer until the milk is fully settled into the soup. At this point what you have is beautiful vegetable soup which I would have happily had as such after adding salt.

The point however was a fish soup. At this point start adding fish sauce one tablespoon at a time. It is important to give the soup a couple of minutes of simmering before adding more fish sauce as it is very potent and salty and you really won't know if you have added enough until it has had time to settle. Continue until the soup is slightly fishy but not salty to the taste.

Add fish, bring back to simmer until fish is ready. Serve with a few leaves of coriander and a line of best EVOO.

(a variation on this theme would be to replace the lime leaves with coriander root)

Bumpkin & Ginger Soup

I am not really sure if this is my own invention or if I originally read it somewhere but if I did I’ve long forgotten the source. In any case there are plenty of recipes out there that are similar. Whatever the origin this is a great soup and a very colourful starter for a dinner party.

Ingredients:

1. 1 kg pumpkin cut into pieces no longer than 5 cm per side;
2. 1 tbls (30 gr?) fresh, chopped ginger;
3. 2 medium apples, cored, pealed and cubed (use a good baking apple like golden delicious or cox);
4. 1 medium onion chopped;
5. 1 medium leak cleaned and chopped into 1 cm disks;
6. 1 medium celery stalk chopped into 1 cm disks;
7. 2 large cloves garlic, chopped;
8. 2 tbls butter;
9. Hot water to cover (you can use good quality chicken stock but this recipe does not need it);
10. Salt and Pepper to taste;
11. Garnish: a teaspoon per person of Gorgonzola and Crème Fraiche, two teaspoons grated gruyere and finely chopped chives if you happen to have some lying around.

Under a hot grill roast the pumpkin until caramelized where exposed. Put the butter (plus a little bit of olive oil just to raise the burn temp) in a big heavy bottomed soup pot and when hot add the apples. Turn the apples slowly in the butter until they start to caramelize then add the onion, leak, celery and garlic and sweet until the onion is transparent.

Add the pumpkin, ginger and salt and pepper cover with water. Bring to boil and then let the soup simmer for about 20 min. Puree the soup until smooth in a blender or with one of these magic sticks everyone has lying about. If you want to be fancy you can run the soup through a fine sieve which will get rid of any lumps and unsightly bits.

Serve in a soup bowl with all three garnishes. I happen to like these three garnishes and I happen to like mixing them. You could however use almost any cheese that you like, skip the cream or use yogurt. A twist of black pepper does no harm.

Buttercup Squash (Kabocha) Soup

(Made: 19 November 2006)

I created this recipe after coming across a black pumpkin in Marylebone Sunday Farmers Market and becoming intrigued after the farmer told me it was like pumpkin but better. He claimed it had all the attractive aspects of the pumpkin but none of the unattractive overly sweet aspects.

I now know it is called Buttercup Squash and is part of the Turban squash family and a variety of winter squash. Has a sweet and creamy orange flesh. This squash is much sweeter than other winter varieties and is know as Kabocha in Japan.

Ingredients:

1. One medium Buttercup Squash around one kilo. Cut off the skin with a sharp knife and cut into approximately eight equal chunks;
2. One leak stalk, cut into pieces approximately 3 cm long;
3. A bunch of garden onions;
4. A couple of whole garlic cloves;
5. Teaspoon of mustard seeds;
6. 500 milliliters chicken stock (or vegetable) from a cube is you must but naturally the soup will be better if you make your own;
7. Fistful of both Parsley and Oregano;
8. Parmesan cheese and crème fraise;
9. Olive Oil and tablespoon butter.

In a roasting pan season the squash, leak, onions and garlic with salt, pepper and olive oil and roast at around 200 degrees Centigrade for about 20 minutes. Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pot and drop in the mustard seed when hot. Season the oil and butter with the mustard seeds for about three minutes before adding all the vegetables, stock and herbs.

Simmer for about ten minutes before pulping the soup in a mixer or with a magic stick. Server with a dollop of crème fraise floating on top of grated or sliced parmesan cheese.