Cooking with a Head Full of Neo-C

Current scenario: beginning of the first stretch of days off since the New Year began.

Conditions: Blizzard warnings for the South, -30 º C wind chill factor outside. I woke up friggin’ sick; the fates, it seems, are conspiring against me again to make any time off I get uncomfortable and miserable. Too damn cold outside to ski; I’m too damn sore and lacking in energy for it even if it wasn’t. There is nowhere else to go because I definitely should not be driving while in the state I'm currently in.

Solutions: Use Neo Citron, and consume easy to digest food with lots of vitamins and aromatics to hammer down this dirty old bastard of a cold.

How I know that the old Neo-C is already screwing with my mind:

·         My autocorrect/spell/grammar checker is working overtime as I write this

·        My memory and perception of time is so warped that I need to use visuals, write lists, and program alarms to guide me from task to task

·         The strange looks I’m getting from the dog as she watches me trying to operate around here

·         Holy crap! I’m actually experimenting with vegetarian* cooking . . . AAARRGH!!!

 

Lemons to Lemonade Event: I figured that I might as well capitalize on these list making/time keeping moments to compile and share an actual recipe I created out of my cold-medication addled head.

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Step 1: Make Stock

This time I use a meaty turkey carcass/bones from Christmas, acquired from my well-wishing mother, that was saved in my freezer. Place in large-ish (6 litre capacity) pot with these other ingredients:

·         2 – peeled, coarsely chopped, large onions

·         2 – peeled, coarsely chopped carrots

·         2 – chopped stalks celery

·         3  cloves - peeled crushed garlic

·         1 cup - chopped fresh parsley

·         1 pinch - each of marjoram, thyme

·         2 teaspoons - peppercorns

·         2 - bay leaves

Fill up the pot with water until it's about a centimeter from the edge. Bring to a boil, and then lower heat to let simmer, and then cover.

Prep time: Used 7 extra minutes to peel and chop vegetables (I did this as I was making breakfast). Three hours of time for simmering the stock. During that time, I cracked open and prepared another cup of Neo Citron, and used the medication high to ponder the various other vicissitudes of life that randomly enter the mind. Add salt to taste. Strain, reserve what is needed, separate the rest of the liquid into smaller containers and freeze it. Or, if time-pressed or lazy, just get a 1 litre carton of inferior quality chicken (or vegetable*) stock from the store. Proceed to step two.

Step 2: Make Soup

Ingredients:

·         ½ - small butternut squash, gutted (seeds removed)

·         2 – medium sized stalks of celery, chopped

·         1 – large carrot, peeled and chopped

·         30 grams – fresh ginger root, peeled, chopped, crushed

·         3 Tbsp – ghee** (or butter)

·         2 cups – prepared stock* (not in picture)

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         Chopped parsley or green onions for garnish and taste (optional)

Procedure:

Place the butternut squash, cut side up, in a heat-proof baking dish, put two tablespoons of ghee and the crushed ginger in the hollowed cavity. Put the carrots and celery, and remaining tablespoon of ghee in another baking dish. Sprinkle ground black pepper on top of the squash and other veggies.

Preheat oven at 350 ºF (176 ºC), cover baking vessels with aluminum foil. Bake the carrot/celery mixture until soft (about 40 minutes). Bake squash for an extra 25-30 minutes.

Scoop out the ginger and squash flesh away from the rind, and add them, with the baked carrots and celery into a smaller pot. Add the stock in with the vegetables and heat on the range until it begins to boil.

Use an immersion blender to purée the mixture into a smooth and even consistency. Add salt to taste.

Pour in a bowl and serve topped with chopped parsley, or minced green onion (which is used here).

Yield: Two large bowls (500 mL, each)

Nutrition/Calories: I really just don’t give a shit today.

Verdict: It’s OK. I'm saving other bowl for when my tongue isn’t coated with whatever crud that seems to be a side-effect of this medication. Also considering using grated frozen lemon to top the soup to experiment with flavour (thanks for the turkey bits and the tip Mom).

*- I know a stock made with turkey bones isn't technically vegetarian, but in my little world, if I see no actual bits of meat in the final outcome of preparation, it qualifies as vegetarian to me. The sanctimonious fools who call themselves true vegetarians, or who wish to affiliate themselves with, as Anthony Bourdain calls them, the Hez b’ullah splinter group known as the vegans, could probably use vegetable stock instead, but I’d doubt if it would taste as good. If we weren’t supposed to eat animals, then the Lord Almighty shouldn’t have made them taste so much like meat.

**- What the <bleep> is ghee? Ghee is a type of clarified butter, used chiefly in Indian cuisine. Unlike regular butter, it can be used to cook stuff at higher temperatures because it doesn’t burn as easily. You can find it in an East Indian specialty grocery shop, but it’s also easy to make it home. Put a couple of pounds (1 kg) of butter (salted or unsalted, it’s up to you) in a slow-cooker set on high for about two hours. Skim off the floating solids with a paper towel, and then slowly and carefully pour off the clear liquified butter into a heat-proof storage container, off of the remaining heavier dairy solids/residues sticking to the bottom of the crock pot. This stuff will last a long time in the fridge, whereas aging regular butter will eventually turn rancid because of the extra dairy solids.