Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs…

The Good Stuff

 I love steel cut oatmeal. I find it much hardier and richer than the thin, mushy stuff. It gives you something to actually chew on, and keeps me going on chilly mornings. The problem with steel cut oatmeal is the 30-minute cook time it normally requires. I want to throw out a tip as the cold knocks on your door, for having a hot bowl of comfort in a few minutes.

Not unlike soaking beans overnight, the premise is to let the oatmeal sit and soften in water before cooking in the morning. I measure out the required amount of water (since this is left out overnight, I do NOT use milk) and bring it to a simmer in a small pot. I pour in the oatmeal and take it off the heat, stir and cover it (to keep certain felines from dining on midnight oatmeal snacks) and go on to bed. In the morning I put it back on the heat and in no more than 5 minutes, I have hot hearty steel cut oatmeal ready to eat. It’s worth the couple minutes at night to have it ready on even the most rushed of mornings!

–Kerstin

Comfort in a Bowl

 

Butternut Squash Soup

I don’t know about you, but there comes a time in the thick of the Holiday Season, when I find myself suffering from turkey and sweets overload. Still, the stress of the Most Wonderful Time of the Year can send me spinning to comfort food so fast, I’ll even break into a block of nasty fruit cake, which has the caloric density of a small dwarf star.

So here is a prescription for what ails us. A Butternut Squash soup that is the gustatory equivalent of curling up by the fire wearing fluffy socks. It is, however fairly light on all the bad stuff and has plenty of veggie goodness. I made this up, inspired after having some wonderful Butternut squash bisque one year at Kellys, a wonderful quirky little restaurant located in Dunedin, FL.

The amounts I just totally made up, I always wing the spices and sugar, sometimes making it more savory, sometimes more sweet, sometimes with more of a bite. So feel free to experiment to your hearts content with amount to satisfy your own comfort food taste buds! It’s quick and easy and if you use a decent pre-made stock (or keep your own frozen for quick fixes) it will be done way before you finish your Holiday cards. It also freezes well, so you can make a bunch in self-servings for quick soothing soup anytime.

Kerstin’s Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 Leek, chopped
• 3-5 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 TSP olive Oil
• 1 ½ Chicken stock (or Veggie, it you want to keep this Vegetarian)
• 1 TSP Cumin
• 2 TSP Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
• A pinch of Cayenne (feel free to kick it up with more if you wish!)
• 1 bay leaf
• About ½ TSP fresh ground nutmeg
• ¼ C sugar (or less/more to taste… I have also split half-half with Splenda, which works well)
• 1 med. Size Butternut Squash, peeled, scooped and chopped
• ½ cup Dry Sherry
• ½ cup Cream (I substitute Fat Free Half and Half to no ill effect, I’ve used the real stuff if it’s for a dinner party, but really have not seen much difference, the soup comes off rich and creamy either way)

In a large soup pot, sauté the garlic and leeks in olive oil until tender. Add the stock, spices and squash. Simmer until tender (20-30 minutes, depending on how small you cut up the squash). Take the soup off the heat to cool some, remove the bay leaf. Using and immersion blender, blend the soup to desired smoothness. Then stir in sherry, bring it back up to just below a simmer, and add in the cream or fat free half and half.

Serve with fresh chopped herbs, or toasted pecans if you like!

Note: If you do not have an immersion blender you can transfer this into your regular blender or food processor in stages, but frankly, you should go get an immersion blender, those little boogers rock! Either way, make sure the soup is cooled to avoid 3^rd degree splatter burns.

Makes Approximately 6 servings

–K