The Sultan's Soup

I call this the Sultan’s Soup because it is incredibly luscious, fit for a sultan so to speak. It’s my favorite kitchen sink soup, i.e. made with ingredients I have on hand with no recipe in mind.  

While this recipe makes a big stock pot of soup, I don’t recommend cutting this recipe in half. This soup tastes better the second or third day, and freezes well.

Omit linguica if you don’t have it handy or you’re vegetarian.  Omnivores can certainly sub another lean spicy sausage. Elsewise, you may want to add sriracha to counterbalance the natural sweetness of the kabocha.

Don’t have kabocha? I’m sorry. Yes, you can use any winter squash, but it won’t be the same, imho.

P.S. sorry for yet another cruddy pic. not a food stylist or photog. but I am a damn good cook.

Sultan's Soup
Ingredients

1 kabocha squash, thinly sliced and cut into 2-3” bits

Optional: 2 slices smoked applewood bacon, cooked and chopped.

1 red onion,  minced

2 T. olive oil

5 cups broth (chicken or veggie)

1-2 fresh (not pickled) jalapenos, minced

1 cup potato (I used garlic-braised fingerling potatoes leftover from the previous night’s dinner)

Fresh chopped herbs: Italian flat leaf parsley, cilantro (1/3 c. each)
Optional: 1/2 t. za'atar *

1/2 c uncooked red quinoa

1 can coconut milk

½ cup heavy cream

1 c. sliced linguica

Optional: dash of sriracha

Garnish with sliced scallions and cilantro

Directions

1. Slice the veggies. 
2. Saute the red onion in olive oil until it glistens.
3. Cook the smoked bacon separately and drain.
4. Add the veggies, linguica, quinoa, and broth to a stock pot and let the soup simmer until the squash and taters are tender.
5. At this stage, use a pastry blender to break up the squash. You could use a hand blender, but I prefer to preserve the texture of the quinoa and veggies as much as possible.
6. Add bacon, fresh herbs, coconut milk and cream. Let simmer on your lowest heat for 5-10 more minutes and then taste the broth. If it’s too sweet (totally depends on the kabocha), spice it up with a dash or more of sriracha.
7. Before serving, top with more chopped cilantro and scallions.
8. Mangia!

 It’s divine, right?  

* Za'atar is a middle eastern spice blend made with thyme, sesame seeds and sumac. I order online.

Ugly Soup for a sick “boy”

It looks a bit like chunky grey slop, but it tastes like a spoonful of heaven. This soup is mild and hearty, to soothe a body that hasn't eaten for over a day. Simple, fast comfort food.

Sauté a chopped red onion, a few cloves of garlic, ½ t Spanish paprika and 4 crumbled dry sage leaves in olive oil. Add 3 chopped russet potatoes and ¼ of a small kabocha, also chopped. Simmer in 4 cups of stock.

If you’re inclined, add 1 c. (cooked and chopped) lean meat to the simmering veggies – we had roast pork leftovers. Chicken would do nicely as well. Even fish, though I’d add that as last step.

When the taters are tender, stir in 1 cup milk, a pat of butter and a hearty grind of black pepper. The soup is unattractive, but yummy good. A bit bland for my tastes, but perfect for someone getting over the flu. If your tummy can handle it, add a fresh, minced jalapeno to the initial sauté, or spritz your bowl with sriracha.

We're having leftovers for brunch today.

Curried Kabocha Soup

This is perhaps the easiest soup to make EVAH. I oven-roasted a kabocha squash the other night. Although the skin is edible, I peeled most of it off for today’s soup. All told, prep was 10 minutes. And because I use a vegetarian “chicken broth” from New Leaf, the soup is vegan. Jim likes it anyway.

You may be tempted to substitute butternut or another winter squash for the kabocha, but the soup will not taste the same. IMHO, there is no substitute for kabocha. Try it and you'll see why.

Curried Kabocha Soup
Ingredients
1 medium kabocha squash
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 can coconut milk
1 fat teaspoon of powdered curry spices
4 cups broth

Directions

1. Roast the squash until tender. Let cool. Peel and remove seeds.
2. Saute the onion, pepper and spices in olive oil.
3. Add the broth and squash and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Puree with immersion blender.
5. Add coconut milk.
6. Serve.

We had leftover country potatoes from breakfast -- also seasoned with curry and red onions -- so I tossed those in.

Jim’s words: “oh man, this is incredible.” That's an understatement.