Squash and Carrot Soup

Soups are some of my favourite food to eat, especially during the winter cause I like to sit on my couch with a blanket and the television on.  I have been making this soup for 2 years now? I actually got my hand-blender from my sister as a birthday present.  This Christmas was the first time I shared this recipe with my family and they really enjoyed it.  My mom grew kabocha squash during the summer and I didn’t notice them until my dad stir-fried it for dinner one night.  I love squash soup and I thought it would be great to serve for Christmas dinner! 

I actually made this soup the day before to minimize the amount of cooking on Christmas day.  It tastes exactly the same, if not better the next day, and all I need to do is warm up the soup.  This Christmas the family celebrated it at my sister’s new house.   It’s always just my sister and I who prepare Christmas dinner while everyone else plays some sort of video game in the entertainment room.     

This is a super easy recipe that I came up myself, and if I don’t have squash handy, I just make carrot soup and it’s just as tasty!

Yield 12

Equipments:

Large pot

Hand blender or stand blender

Ingredients:

1 kabocha squash- peeled, seeded, and cubed

3 Carrots- peeled and chopped

1L Chicken stock

2 cups of water

1 Teaspoon Thyme

1 large Onions- chopped

2 tablespoon butter

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

This is all the ingredients

you need to make this soup!

Directions:

1.       Melt butter in large pot, 

2.       Add onions and thyme and sauté on medium heat till soft

3.       Add carrots, squash, water and chicken stock

4.       Put lid on pot and bring to boil

5.       Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30- 40 mins or when all vegetables are tender

6.       With a hand blender, blend soup. ( or blend soup with a stand blender)

7.       Salt and pepper to taste

I admit, I had a bowl of soup on the night I made it, couldn’t wait!

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

It certainly is chilly out!  It snows here and there -- the weather is constantly averaging -6 degrees. Brrr... In order to be kept warm, time to stew something! One of my favourites is the Chinese Beef Brisket Rice Noodle Soup!  Many of you know of the infamous Wonton Noodle Soup, but personally, I love Beef Brisket with fresh Ho Fun Noodles. If your Chinese, or ever had Beef Brisket Rice Noodle Soup, you will love this version!  This recipe was verbally given to me by someone who I see every few years and had not demonstrated the cooking techniques behind this lovely creation.  

Hmmm, the taste...... it a cross between a western beef stew, and Chinese Beef Brisket Noodle Soup.  There is tomato paste, onions carrots and beef just like western stew, but it also has star anise, cinnamon, cubed beef briskets and a touch of curry powder that adds an Asian flare?!!?... I don’t know if this is making any sense! hahahaha   Oh, and the soup is a much thinner broth and not as thick as the western style. 

None the less, it’s extremely good.  If I choose to make it as a main course (lunch or dinner), steaming some vermicelli noodles, bok choy, and ladle the broth and brisket as a hardy meal.  Not to mention, garnishing with cilantro and green onion for extra added flavour.  I usually have it in the afternoon as a soup for an afternoon snack :).

This pot of beef brisket stew ideally can serve up to 6 people. I only live with one other person so I would freeze it in Tupperware and pull it out whenever I’m feeling lazy to cook!  This way I can easily reheat the soup on the stove and able to enjoy it throughout the week! Also, this stew takes at least 2 hours to stew, so it’s a quite a long wait!

Good chunky pieces

Equipments:

Large pot

Ingredients:

1 lb Beef Brisket – cut into chunks (trim off the fat, but make sure to leave a good amount because it’ll help make the beef more tender and juicy)

2 large onions- chopped

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1 rock sugar (size of 2 marbles) – can purchase at any Asian supermarket. 

2 carrots- chopped not too small, size of brisket

3-4 ginger- thinly sliced

1 tablespoon curry powder

3 tablespoon tomato paste

900 ml beef stock
2 cups water

This gives good flavour!

2 tablespoon oil

Garnish:
Coriander
Green onions

Directions:

1.       Add oil to the hot pot, high heat

2.       Add brisket to pot cook, brown the meat, (crispy edges) for approximately 5 mins.  (This adds flavour)

3.       Change to medium heat and add onions

4.       Cook onions for another 5 mins while stirring and scraping off the brown bits in the bottom of the pot

5.       Add tomato paste and curry powder, stir so everything is coated in tomato paste

Add that stock and water!

6.       Turn heat back on high, and add beef stock, water, ginger, cinnamon,  Star anise, bay leaf and rock sugar

7.        Put lid on pot, and cook on LOW heat

8.        Boil for 1 hour on LOW heat, then add carrots (the brisket takes a 

       longer time to cook before it get tenders, that's why I add the carrot in

       an hour later so it doesn’t melt into the stew. 

10.     Cook soup for a total of 2-3 hours

11.     Salt and pepper 

12.  Garnish with coriander and green onions 

Optional:

Vermicelli Rice Noodles.  You can buy these at any Chinese supermarket.  I bought mine at Loblaws Superstore

Tip: Freeze the leftovers if you want to have this soup on a later date.

Note: I added vegetables at the end. I used what I had in the fridge at the time, which were green bell peppers, and mushrooms.

Yum!