Saturday, April 24, 2010

Roasted Pear & Butternut Squash Soup with Crumbled Stilton

Leading up to our conference we had a test meal at the Shaw Conference Centre. My favourite thing on the menu that day was pear soup served with a blue cheese wonton. The soup was wonderfully sweet and was set off perfectly by the blue cheese in the wonton. Since then I've been searching for a recipe that would produce something similar. I found this recipe in Eating Well magazine and I like it better than the original soup I tried. The addition of the butternut squash and the blue cheese crumbles really pumped up the flavour.


Roasted Pear & Butternut Squash Soup with Crumbled Stilton

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 ripe pears, peeled, quartered and cored
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2" pieces
2 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 large leek, pale green and white parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced and washed thoroughly
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup crumbled Stilton, or other blue veined cheese
1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onions or chives

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.


2. Combine pears, squash, tomatoes, leek, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a large bowl; toss to coast. Spread evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 40 to 55 minutes. Let cool slightly.

3. Place vegetable mixture and stock in a pot large enough to accommodate them. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. (You can also puree the mixture in a blender in two batches.) Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.

4. Cook the soup over medium-low heat, stirring, until hot, about 10 minutes. Divide among 6 bowls and garnish with cheese and green onions or chives.

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days or can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Prairie Goulash - Some Comfort Food

A couple of weeks ago, before the weather turned good and then bad and before my life got crazy preparing for our conference, I had a real craving for comfort food. I pulled out my big ol' binder of recipes that I've been collecting since junior high and found this one. I originally found it in an Alberta Pork Producers recipe book that I was given in my Food Science 10 class. I won't mention how long ago that was. But, good recipes stand the test of time and this one remains a family favourite.



Prairie Goulash

2 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 tbsp paprika
2 cups beef broth
1 cup dry red wine
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 bay leaf
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream

Dredge pork in flour. In heavy saucepan, heat oil. Add pork gradually and brown well. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are tender. Stir in paprika. Add remaining ingredients except sour cream. Cover and simmer until pork is tender, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaf. Add salt and pepper. Just before serving, stir in sour cream or serve seperately.

Makes 4 - 6 servings

I usually serve this on either egg noodles or fresh spatzle. It goes wonderfully with a side of red cabbage.