Butternut Curry Coconut milk soup

Growing up in New Zealand in the 1950's and 1960's the only ethnic food you could "take out" was Chinese or Indian Food.  So curry was something I was very accustomed to.  Living in Thailand in the 1980's gave me the extra joy of using coconut milk with curry.  Pumpkin was something I had grown up with, as a vegetable used for roasting with Roast Lamb. I first was introduced to butternut squash in the USA......but now I see it all over the world.  Its sold in huge abundance very cheaply in South Africa, for example.  Now you don't even have to peel and cut it up yourself if you don't want to.  You can buy it already prepped in a bag in the supermarket.  How easy is that?
 This is a soup I've been making for years, and have several versions of it offered below.

BUTTERNUT CURRY COCONUT MILK SOUP
 Saute one chopped onion, in a little olive oil in a large pot until tender, about 5 mins,
 add 1 tsp curry powder and stir for 30 secs.
Add two bags of cut up butternut squash, and stir,
add 1 can of reduced fat coconut milk
 and 4 cups of chicken broth.
  First bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 30 mins.

 Another idea is to use pumpkin.  You can roast it ahead of time which deepens the flavor.  Or you can just boil it the same way you would the butternut squash.  Even canned pumpkin works well.

Use a potato masher or submersible blender to mash everything until smooth.  Serves 4

To change the flavor completely, omit the coconut milk and curry powder and add a mixture of herbs.  I like sage, thyme and rosemary.    This version is a lot lower in calories and very delicious.

My daughter Jenny, likes to make this with a bit of nutmeg and some orange peel left in while the squash or pumpkin is cooking and then removed at the end.  She uses about a cup of cream to finish it off.

Cole Slaw with apple, mint and parsely

Grace Manins my maternal grandmother.  She was always taking care of the poor and needy.  I have memories of her giving a bath to a very old lady ( a Miss Brown) when I was super young.  Still remember the impression all those wrinkles had on me.  Yikes!  She took meals to old or ill people, who were shut in, and helped, those in need.

Grandma had a herb garden just outside her kitchen door and found ways to include them in about every dish she made.  One of her trademarks was her salads.  Here’s an adaptation of her Cole Slaw, with a few of my additions.

GRANDMA'S COLE SLAW

Cole Slaw

Ingredients:

1/3 of a cabbage, sliced very thinly

1 grated carrot

2 celery stalks, sliced and diced

1 green onion chopped

1 apple, grated

Fresh parsley and mint, chopped

Dressing:

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp vinegar

1 Tbsp sugar

Method:

Mix all together.

(The actual dressing my Grandma used was made from 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, the juice of one lemon, 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard and thinned with some milk.)

Cheese Scones

 So its only appropriate that the first recipe I post here is that original recipe for cheese scones.  In New Zealand its pronounced ‘scons’ like they say it in Scotland.  I think the British called them’ scones’ and that was more upper class.

The secret to great scones is: not handling them much ...and baking them in a very hot oven. Serve immediately. These don’t store well unless you freeze them.. Discard them if they are more than an hour or two old. I’ve never understood why in North America we eat cold hard dry scones.  They are meant to be served hot with crisp outsides and warm soft insides.   

CHEESE SCONES

2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp butter or more

1 c grated cheddar cheese (sharp makes it better)

3/4 c milk

Heat oven to 475

cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it is integrated. Should be course in texture. Add the grated cheese and then the milk. Toss lightly until just moistened. Fold onto floured surface and just pat until about 1 inch thick. Cut into squares or triangles. Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 mins. Will he hard on the outside and golden brown. Very soft and tender on the inside. Serve with butter.

Variations of this basic recipe are:

*Gruyere cheese and one green onion chopped.

 For all the following omit the cheese and add :

*1 Tbsp maple syrup, and ½ cup chopped pecans

* ½ cup of chopped dates and ½ cup chopped walnuts

 *½ cup raisins, 1 Tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon

* ½ cup cranberries, 1 tsp orange zest

*May use one cup of whole wheat flour, and one cup of white flour instead

This is a photo of my family.....I think I was about 6 years old in this picture.

I have a "cheeky" grin.  That's a New Zealand expression, used to describe a mischievous type of attitude. I've never found another word to replace it in the North American vocabulary.