I have a love affair with my kitchen. When cooking, I feel in my element, an athlete of sorts who knows exactly how her body should move and respond to certain environmental elements. In fact if I begin my cooking day with my glasses on, instead of first washing my face and getting my contacts in, I frequently find that I hit myself directly in the face of the swinging upper cabinet doors – that’s how familiar my surroundings are. That extra few millimeter my glasses take up on my face apparently make an enormous difference in my personal space. And by the way, when you hit yourself in the face when no one else is around it still hurts, and it is always funny.
My housemates, a husband and a kindergartner, are both picky eaters. I wish it weren’t the case, but it is. Though my husband is wildly experimental if we are eating out (eating pig’s “trotters” and goat meat at Topolobampo and tripe soup at Polonez for apt examples), at home there are things I know I can’t get away with. My son is 5, and though he ate all kinds of homemade baby foods, he now exercises his right as my heir to stubborn independence, trying things only on his terms and when the mood strikes. Occasionally something new will be added to the short list of acceptable foods that please both of my picky boys simultaneously, and when that happens, I tend to remember it as an event.
This used to bother me much more, and if I’m honest I try not to dwell on it too much. When I accompanied my son’s class to our local firehouse on a field trip this fall, I found myself less interested in fire safety, and daydreaming about volunteering to cook for a bunch of hungry firemen on the enormous gas range I spied in their kitchen. I can’t think of a better fantasy than cooking on a regular basis for a hoard of hungry people who are not picky at all!
Sadly and currently on the seasonal list of foods my family rejects unapologetically are all types of fall squash. For the first couple years of our marriage, I just never cooked with them. But I missed them. My approach to cooking things has vastly changed, in part because of writing about food, and in part because I don’t want to hold dear to me things like squash at arm’s length. I want to cozy up and embrace them, and when looking at this glass half-full, I realize that I can do whatever I want with them in the process and no one will complain that they are too spicy or creamy or “squashy”.
When I had residual oven heat from another project this morning, I popped in 2 acorn squash that were a gift from my Parents on their last visit. I am a habitual cookbook reader, and have been enjoying Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day lately. In the back of my mind stuck a pea soup she had made with curry powder and coconut milk, so with another take-it-or-leave-it flavor from my husband, coconut, a sunny colored acorn squash and coconut soup emerged. A sunny fall day seemed like a perfect excuse for treating myself to this small batch of soup, and the leftovers will be happily enjoyed for the rest of the week. Sometimes I love not having to share.
Acorn Squash and Coconut Milk Soup
yield about 1 ½ quarts
1 c. coconut milk (see recipe below)
2 acorn squash, halved, seeded and roasted until tender, flesh scooped from rind
2 T. olive, grapeseed or coconut oil
1 small onion, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
1 medium carrot, diced
1-2 T. Thai red curry spice
salt and pepper to taste
½-1 c. water (or additional coconut milk if you are using a can of store bought milk)
some kind of jalapenos for garnish, I used candied jalapenos
Saute the onions, garlic and carrot in oil (with a little salt and pepper after they get going) over medium heat until they are softened. Add the acorn squash and coconut milk (and additional water if it looks too dry), stir well, lower the heat, and cover. Cook covered until squash and carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the curry powder to taste, I like lots, and simmer another minute or two to blend. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor, and puree until very smooth. Thin with additional water (or more coconut milk) if needed and adjust flavors with salt and pepper, extra red curry spice if you like. Wake things up with a squeeze of lime if you have it (I didn’t today, but had plenty of jalapenos), and serve hot or at room temperature, garnished with some extra spicy things if you like.
Do you know how easy it is to make your own coconut milk? While good quality canned milks are now fairly easy to find, it’s also much easier to find dehydrated coconut. I can even find it in the bulk bins at my co-op now. It’s cut a little thicker than what I was used to finding, and makes an amazingly great milk. I usually make a quart at a time, since I like coconut milk on occasion. The proportional recipe is very easy, and you can save the pressed coconut to throw into smoothies or bake into muffins or granola. No packaging and no waste, it’s worth the small extra effort to make.
To make it, bring 1 cup of water to a boil, and pour it into a large measuring cup or bowl. Add ½ c. dried, unsweetened coconut and let it stand for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender or food processor, and blend for a few minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing on the coconut solids until they are nearly dry. (Save the coconut solids for inclusion in another kitchen project.) Use the milk within 4 days, and store it in the refrigerator if you don’t enjoy it immediately. Alton Brown makes a dairy version of this milk by using equal parts water and 2% milk, which likely makes a richer version. Find that recipe here.
