Recipes: January 2008 Archives

Quick preface: We bow low before the soup kitchen altar of our friend Astara, soup wizard-ess and ancient soul, who throws together far superior carrot creations than we by the mere flick of her pinky finger — her curry carrot soup and her herbed carrot puree are both criminally delicious. If we could join a white-robed,Nike-wearing cult to follow her soup into future worlds, we would. Instead, we attempted merging those two soups for a rosemary roasted carrot curry soup. It was great, an absolute success, but some how we doubt it will gain us any suicidal hippie followers any time soon.

Curry Carrot Soup

(Serves 6)

1 1/2 lbs. white carrots (with stems!)
1/2 white onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup fresh rosemary
4 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbs. curry powder of choice
kosher salt and fresh black pepper to taste
2 Tbs. fresh ginger
2-4 whole heirloom carrots for garnish

1. Pre-heat your oven on 350 degrees and get a large, shallow roasting pan. Cut your carrots into 2-inch pieces (save 4 stems for garnish) and your onion into rough half moons. Toss with oil in the pan. Add whole garlic cloves, rosemary and leftover carrot stems on top. Roast in the oven until crackly and slightly browning, about 30 minutes. Stir once halfway through.

2. While carrots are roasting bring 4 cups of stock to a gentle boil and keep on a simmer until you’re ready to use it. Take your four whole carrots you’ll use for garnish and stick them in stock for 1-2 minutes to slow blanche. Remove and rinse under cool water.

3. Once carrots are done, remove and let sit for a few minutes. Save the oil for drizzling later. Now add carrots, onion and garlic to stock and pulse with either a hand-held blender (get one!) or in a food processor by pulsing in two or three installments, as much as your blender will hold without scorching you. The consistency should be thoroughly smooth puree, with no chunks. Keep on a low heat.

4. Season with curry powder, salt and pepper. Rosemary should still be noticeable, which shouldn’t battle too strongly with the curry. Taste as you go.

5. In a small saute pan, toast the chopped ginger on high heat with little to no oil. Remove once brown and crunchy.

5. Serve in a shallow plate. To garnish, cut whole carrots in half lengthwise and again widthwise, place carrots of different color consecutively for contrast. Add stem tip for touch of green. Drizzle leftover olive oil and another kiss of curry powder on top. Lastly, a flick of toasted ginger.

Beverage: Avery’s Maharaja Double IPA
Soundtrack: Pavement’s “Carrot Rope”

Though we’re more than happy to sling out menu ideas to restaurateur friends when asked, we also have a secret game we play whereby every dish we cook up gets graded for whether it could one day occupy the menu of a Hot Knives restaurant. This is one of those dishes: a winter harvest hash that dresses up potatoes like a hot salad.

Obviously, hash browns are the undisputed make-or-break side of any brekky or brunch. But a good hash can be the main attraction, especially if it’s not brown at all, but rather colored with other veggies and speckled with garnishes that elevate it from cheap filler to decorative entrée. Here, we worked with what’s in season, strong green leafies, blanched to retain color, and slow cooked with awesome pee wee banana fingerlings. Plus, it's a seasonal special that could change weekly or monthly" in spring, try pea shoots and asparagus, etc. With some artful squirts of catsup, this breakfast even looks more like an expensive dinner plate.

Winter Harvest Hash

4 cups water
4 Tbs. kosher salt
1 cup kale
1 cup rainbow Swiss chard
4 medium fingerling potatoes
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. vegan margarine
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 medium-sized carrots, chopped
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh black pepper

1. Bring 4 cups of heavily salted water to boil in a medium-sized pot. Meanwhile prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and have ready a pair of tongs or salad spoons. Roughly chop the kale and chard, saving the colorful stems for later. Dunk the greens in the boiling water for no longer than 10 seconds and swiftly plop in ice bath to cool immediately. This’ll make your greens… green. Set them aside as well.

2. Get the water back to a hearty boil and drop in the potatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes and remove from water.

3. In a cast iron skillet with a lid, or similar large pan, heat oil and margarine on high heat. Add onions and garlic, followed by celery and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile slice your hot potatoes into scalloped spheres and add to the pan. Stir thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.

4. Cook for another five minutes and then add greens to the top. Dice the colorful chard stems and add half of them as well, saving the last for garnish. Cover and cook for 10-20 minutes.

5. Once the greens are wilty and potatoes and thoroughly cooked, stir thoroughly, cook off any excess liquid from greens and plate.

Garnish

ketchup (generous amount)
hot sauce
veganaise
diced purple onion
diced chard stems

6. To garnish: squirt decorative ketchup and hot sauce on plate, add dollop of veganaise and dice the chard stems for a sprinkling on the plate. Then put hash in the middle of the plate and serve.

Beverage: Lagunita’s Sirius Cream Ale
Soundtrack: Beta Band’s “Push It Out”