Pregled posta

Marketing

i did this project in 2006 called omgsnax, where i tried one new recipe a week for the entire year. i had a website set up for it, took lots of photos, tried a bunch of new things i'd never tried, & although the best posts came when i fucked up recipes or they tasted like ass (sweet potato gnocchi, i'm looking at you), i actually added quite a few new dishes to my repertoire that i still make these days.

i miss the food blog b/c it was fun & i do love me a project every now & then, but what really struck me as i paged through the old posts & copied recipes into a book i can use in the kitchen (b/c until i get a laptop, i'm unfortunately paper-bound while cooking) is how little i knew about food then. i'd never used a shallot before, or roasted a bell pepper. i had no idea what i was doing with some dishes & it was so obvious & hilarious.

i'm getting back into cooking more these days b/c the kitchen is finally in good shape, we have a working sink, a butcher block, adequate counterspace, & now that all the annoying holiday stuff is far behind us, i'm actually home most nights to cook. during what would have been my winter break were i still in school, friends came over a lot to be fed (especially ian & caleb & staci & sometimes even sarah) & i really got back into the habit of making dinner every night. cooking is something i really love, especially when it goes right, & so pictured here is a galette i made based on a recipe from smitten kitchen. it has onions (which should have been caramelized but which i was too hungry to finish up properly), squash, yams, turnips, & fontina cheese in it, & it was damn good.


one time a few months ago, daniel told me that he misses omgsnax & thinks i should consider writing a cookbook. of course i don't usually make up my own recipes so i don't think that'd really fly, but it did sound like an awfully fun project to take on & one day i might consider it.

Since this was a throw-together recipe that I won't be posting about, I'm going to describe how I made it here =). This was very simple and was really yummy if I do say so myself.

Roasted Winter Squash Soup
Makes 2-3 quarts

2 to 3 medium-small winter squash
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 dried red chili, split
1/2 cup coconut milk
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cube vegetable bouillon
1-2 teaspoons fish sauce
water, as much as needed
salt to taste

1. Prepare squash (I used all 3 from the previous photo) by halving them, then roasting them cut side down in an inch of water at 400 degrees F.
2. Saute garlic and red chili in olive oil for 1 minute in a large pan or pot.
3. Add coconut milk, cream, vegetable bouillon, fish sauce, and the roasted squash broken in large chunks. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add 1-2 cups of water to the pan, remove from heat, and puree with an immersion blender. Add more water if needed to reach the consistency you want. Lastly, salt to taste and enjoy!