Lekker: Avgolemono

Avgo-what? AV-GO-LEMONO. I know, I still can't really say it right. Apparently you don't really pronounce the "g" as a "g", it's more like a "y" sound that exists in Greek. Since I do not actually know Greek, I'm sort of at a loss--but I'm pronouncing it "av-yo-lem-ONO" in my head.

I assume you've gathered by this point that this dish involves lemon and that would be correct. It's a traditional Greek soup consisting of chicken and rice (or orzo) in an egg-lemon broth. Yeah, yeah, I'm at it again with soups. LOOK! I'm trying to slim back down after the sheer overindulgence of the holidays, and soups and salads are the best way to do that. Deal with it. Plus, it's snowy and cold up here and I slipped on a patch of ice on Friday, falling and cracking my tailbone--so I needed some comfort.

Plus, I had some rotisserie chicken left over from my Thai Chicken Noodle Soup the other night, and ballin' on a budget means nothing goes to waste around here.

I had this again next-day with a small Greek salad and some crusty bread. Quiet, warm comfort at its finest.

Avgolemono
makes about 4 servings

What You Need
4 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced finely
1 leek, white and light green parts only, washed well and sliced down the middle, then sliced into thin half-moons
1/2 cup uncooked orzo or Arborio rice (I used orzo because it's what I had on hand, and I like it better than rice--in case you don't know, orzo is actually pasta in a small elongated shape similar to rice. It made an appearance in my Italian Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, but I think the next time I make this dish I'll try rice.)
1/3 cup white wine (Totally optional and I highly doubt it's traditionally Greek, but if you know me at all of course I had a glass of white wine in hand while I was cooking--Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, if you must know--so in it goes.)
5 cups of chicken broth (or stock, whatever) plus 1 cup water
2 cups shredded precooked chicken
3 eggs
4 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed if you have it (Cut it down to 3 tablespoons if you don't like things really lemony--but if you don't like lemon why the heck are you making this anyway???)
Salt 'n peppah, to taste

What You Do
1. Okidoke let's get this show on the road! In a large stock pot over medium heat, melt the first two tablespoons butter or oil. Throw in your leek and onion and cook for about 5 minutes until things start to get all golden and translucent and shit. This is about the time I throw the wine in too and cook it down until all the wine has evaporated and been absorbed.

Now, you kinda gotta multi-task here because you have to cook the orzo at the same time, too. In a separate pot, melt the other two tablespoons of butter/oil over medium heat and throw in the orzo. WHAT?! Isn't it going to burn? No, calm your jets guys. Cooking raw orzo over medium heat in butter or oil toasts it, giving it a beautiful golden colour and nutty, toasted flavour. (Works for rice too.) This is an extra step and of course you don't have to do it, you can just toss the orzo and water in a pot and boil away--but I do it because it's easy and delicious. But yeah, once you're all nicely toasted (and the orzo is too, I suppose) pour in enough water to cover well and let boil for about 9 minutes to al dente perfection.

Some say you can just throw the raw orzo into the soup and let it cook in the broth. I don't like doing this, because pasta releases starch into the water it cooks in and I don't like that starch mucking up my silky perfect broth.

2. Shit, where were we? Oh, right. OK so the orzo is cooking away in the small pot and your onions and leeks have cooked away with the wine in the big pot. Now throw in the chicken broth and water and the shredded cooked chicken and let that simmer away gently. When the orzo is done, drain it and add to the big pot.

3. Now's the time to make the egg-lemon part. This is the only vaguely tricky part, but if you can do two things at once (whisk with one hand and pour with the other) you'll be fine. We'll be tempering the eggs--which means warming them up/cooking them gently before adding it to the hot broth so that they don't just scramble like Egg Drop Soup. That's ugly and gross. Do you want stringy threads of scrambled eggs in your soup? No, so pay attention!

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the three eggs together until frothy. One tablespoon at a time, whisk in the lemon juice until well incorporated. It should look frothy and creamy at this stage and a light yellow colour. Now with one hand, keep whisking steadily. With the other, slowly add in one ladleful of hot broth from the big pot. Do this two to three more times. Ta-dah! You've successfully tempered eggs. Now turn OFF the stove, and slowly pour THAT mixture into the big pot, whisking away. You're done.

DO NOT let it boil once you've added the egg/lemon mixture. It'll break and you'll get Egg Drop Soup. Be gentle when you reheat this the next day, too. Microwave on half power and stir often.

Enjoy, beauties, and dream of the warm and sunny Greek isles amidst all this chilly nonsense.

Lekker: Pumpkin Soup

You know what success tastes like? THIS SOUP. No, really. I am so thrilled to have finally mastered a recipe for pumpkin soup I could SING! 1, because I refuse to be defeated with crappy recipes when I have my mind set on something and 2, because I am so. sick. of pumpkin by now. Trust me, I've gone through about 3-4 different recipes in my pursuit of perfection and since I was raised with a "third world country" mentality I can't justify throwing food away--so I've been eating a lot of pumpkin soup. And there's nothing more frustrating that eating something that isn't quite right! Too garlicky. Way too spicy. Too rich and unhealthy. Sigh.

And then, over the weekend, finally...perfection. I tossed all the recipes in the rubbish bin and decided to wing it, and whaddaya know...finally, something I can rave about. Huzzah! Not only is the colour of this soup beautiful and vibrant, but it lets the pumpkin shine as the main ingredient while still maintaining a complex flavour profile. It's also super easy and quick to whip up--and even better the next day.

Pumpkin Soup
makes about 3 servings

What You Need
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium shallot, diced
2 small leeks, white and light green parts only, washed well and thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced in half lengthways and diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh sage, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups pumpkin puree (Make your life easy and use the tinned stuff; just make sure it's pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling)
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons heavy cream
freshly ground pepper, to taste

You'll need an immersion blender for this one, or, work in batches pureeing in a standard blender.

What You Do
1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter until the foam subsides and it turns a lovely light golden-brown colour. Keep  close eye on it, as it can go from beautifully nutty and brown to blackened and burnt within seconds. Add your shallot, leeks and celery and saute for 5-7 minutes or until soft and golden brown. Add the garlic and sage and cook for 1-2 minutes more until fragrant.

2. Pour in your wine and let it simmer and reduce until there is no liquid left. Add the broth and the pumpkin puree and stir well to combine. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Taste, and adjust salt and pepper as necessary. I find I usually need about 4 turns from a pepper grinder, and actually I don't use any salt since I think the broth is plenty salty enough. Stir in the 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, and serve!

If you wanna be all fancy-pants, serve it with a couple of whole sage leaves fried quickly in butter. A multigrain, highly seeded bread would be delicious toasted alongside this.

Lekker: Potato-Leek Soup

Oh god. I feel so guilty for posting yet ANOTHER soup recipe. (And there's a second one in the chute...) I'm sure I've lost ALL of my male readers (those that aren't sick and making my Italian Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, anyway) with the dearth of salads and soups that've been on here lately. What can I say for myself? Most of the time I'm solo, and I like soups! I can make a big batch and have lunch or dinner for a few days, and because I'm not expected to feed a man I don't have to feel obligated to make "real food." And, it's "soup season" because it's fall and blah blah blah.

I promise, I have plans for "real food" in the coming weeks--Sticky Chutney Chicken, Tex-Mex Chili, Bucatini Bolognese and some to-die-for buffalo chicken sandwiches that are *perfect* for football Sundays. This wasn't even planned for today; it only happened because my housemate TB and I spent the morning harvesting the final crop from the garden before tearing it up for the winter, and it yielded a shit ton of leeks and potatoes.

Not to mention...sweet potatoes. BOATLOADS AND BOATLOADS OF SWEET POTATOES.

But for now, one of my absolute favourites--Potato Leek Soup. Of all the versions I've tried and tinkered with, this one is my favourite because it's largely dairy free except for the butter, but just as rich and creamy as you'd wish. I love serving this with a hearty slice of garlic bread, just like my mother used to, and a crisp green salad. TB raved about this recent batch and subsequently cleaned me out of my dinner for the rest of the week. Oh well. :)

Potato Leek Soup
makes 4 servings

What You Need
2 T butter
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, washed well and sliced thinly
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces (I find Yukon Golds to be the smoothest and richest potatoes for mashing or pureeing)
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or you can use vegetable broth to make this completely vegetarian)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
~1/2 cup of water, to thin

You'll need an immersion blender for this soup, or, work in batches to puree in a regular blender.

What You Do
1. In a medium saucepot over medium heat, melt the butter until the foam subsides and it turns a light brown colour. PLEASE be watchful, as it can go from beautifully brown to blackened and burnt within seconds. Browning the butter, though, gives it a nice colour and slightly nutty flavour. Toss in your sliced leeks and chopped onion and saute for about 7 minutes or until soft and golden brown. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for 1-2 minutes more until fragrant.

2. Pour in your chicken broth and add your potatoes. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are completely tender. Remove from heat.

3. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. At this stage I found that I needed to add 1/2 cup of warm water to thin it out to a consistency that I preferred, but use your judgement.

TB wanted the flavours of a baked potato, so he topped his soup with some shredded cheddar cheese and bacon crumbles. It was, in a word, divine. I'm a simple girl though and this soup is so flavourful I love it as-is. It's warm, rich, and sticks to your ribs for those disgustingly chilly winter nights that are sure to come this season...

Bon appetit!

Lekker: Roasted Tomato Garam Masala Soup

Oh no...two soup recipes in a week? Shit, must be fall yo!

I whipped this baby up this weekend in between episodes of Mad Men (rewatching; goodness Betty Draper drives me just bananas--grow a backbone, lady!) as an alternative to traditional tomato soup. Don't get me wrong, tomato soup and grilled cheese is one of my favourite meals ever and sooo comforting on a rainy day. Not that it was raining here, but anyway--I'm interested in creative spins on that traditional American combo and this is totally in the running: a roasted tomato soup with lots of garlic and onion, and a big Thai kick from the garam masala spices and coconut milk. What to serve it with? When I do this next time, I'm grilling up a naan and paneer cheese sandwich. NOM!

Don't be intimidated by the unfamiliar ingredients; they are all easy to find if you know where to look.

Roasted Tomato Garam Masala Soup
makes about 6 servings

What You Need
14-16 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthways
2 large yellow onions, sliced in thick chunks (I don't care how you wanna do this; quarters, chunks, rings, whatever--just make them similar in size to the tomatoes)
2 whole heads of garlic (you can take it down a notch to one head if you're really anti-garlic or something, but know that roasting them really mellows their flavour and brings out just a lovely carmelised sweetness)

olive oil or whatever oil you prefer for roasting
1 can coconut milk (reserve a couple of teaspoons for a pretty garnish)
~2 cups chicken broth, or vegetable broth if you want to make this entirely vegetarian
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes or 1 teaspoon of sriracha sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons dried cilantro, or a comparable amount of chopped fresh cilantro
about 8 stalks of fresh parsley, leaves chopped roughly (toss the stems in your compost pile)
salt and pepper, to taste

What You Do
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. The first thing you have to do is get the garlic in the oven because those take the longest to roast (about 45 minutes). If you've never roasted garlic before, it's really easy. Just rub off the excess papery skin, leaving the whole bulb intact. Slice off the top 1/3 of the bulb so that the individual cloves are exposed. Pour olive oil over top until the cloves are well coated, and wrap up in aluminum foil and throw in the oven. If that wasn't clear enough, here's a tutorial, except I don't bother with the baking tin; I just wrap them up into little foil bundles and have done with it.

2. While that's going, line a baking sheet with foil. In a large bowl, toss the halved tomatoes and onion chunks with enough oil to lightly coat and season with salt and pepper.  Spread out evenly on the baking sheet and add those to the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, stir, and roast for about 15-20 minutes more, or until the onions have gone golden brown (maybe a little blackened in some places, that's okay) and the tomatoes have broken down and are brown in spots. QUITE CONVENIENTLY, an episode of Mad Men runs about 48 minutes, so...I'm not *saying* my timing is perfect, but it kind of is. 

3. Everything roasted? Sweetness! In a large stockpot, throw in the tomatoes, onions, roasted garlic, coconut milk (treat that can like a Shake Weight before you open it otherwise it'll be all separated and weird; nothing wrong with the Shake Weight, nothing at all), 1 cup of broth, tomato paste, garam masala and chili flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes. Now, you'll need to either use an immersion blender to blend this all up, or work in careful batches in a blender until smooth.

4. Now that it's all blended you can add the cilantro and the parsley, and add the remaining cup of broth adjusting to the thickness that you like for your soups. I'm not gonna hunt you down if you like it a little thicker...baha. Heat for about another 10 minutes at a gentle simmer and serve with a pretty drizzle of coconut milk and a couple of leaves of fresh parsley. Look at you all fancy. If you like it spicier, add in a gorgeous drizzle of extra sriracha. (I find that the coconut milk adds such a rich, gorgeous creaminess that I want to contrast it with a decent kick.) Done! Next time, I think I'm going to pass the soup through a strainer quickly before serving to remove some of the fibrous leftovers from the tomatoes.

A couple of notes:

* Garam Masala is a spice mixture common in Indian and Southeast Asia. I had a difficult time finding it in the grocery store, but in TARGET, of all places, I found it in their Archer Farms line of spices. I imagine you could find it at an Asian or Indian foods market as well, and of course there's always the great wide Internet if you're really determined. 

* Coconut milk is much more common nowadays so you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. I found the tin in the Asian foods section of my local supermarket, but it's also available in cartons. Just make sure you get an unflavoured kind and if you use a carton, you'll need about 1 1/2 cups' worth. 

* I mentioned I would serve it with a grilled naan and paneer sandwich. Naan is flat bread from the Middle East, so I guess I'm doing a bit of a fusion thing there, but it's easy to find--usually by the imported cheeses, by the deli, or by the bread in your store. Paneer is an Indian cheese that I simply can't find, though my search is not over. In the interim, I would use a fresh white cheese of any kind--queso fresco comes to mind. Hell, you could even do a grilled naan and FETA sandwich here that would be AWESOME! Just pick any mild, white, solid cheese and you're good to go.

* If you don't like Indian food, and don't like curry, or Thai or Indian flavours, and hate trying new things, and expanding your culinary palate--don't eat this. You'll be pissed that "I gave you this crappy recipe" and I'll be pissed that you're a dumbass.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for a martini with Don Draper. Hello, Don...

Lekker: Italian Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Ya know, I really didn't expect to come home from a blissful vacation on the beaches of Florida this past weekend to all sorts of upheaval at work, a government shutdown, and..bronchitis. What is UP with everything?! GTFO, moon cycles or universe or polar tides or whatever the hell else is causing all of this nonsense.

Protip: Wine helps. I recommend Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc. TRUST ME, I am a pro at this by now. And if you're furloughed, you know that means some good ol' Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill baby!

So, given that I have absolutely zero regard for my personal health (apparently) what was a cold last week has turned into a wonderfully throaty cough/bronchitis. Hey, I gave it a try with vitamin C and echinacea and fluids and zinc and this that and the other thing, and it didn't work, so...wine. Also, soup! Yes, fall is sort of here (it's still 87 degrees but the leaves are turning orange so I don't know WHAT is going on. Goes back to that crazy moon/universe/tide thing, I think, although if you believe my housemate it's BECAUSE OBAMA!) so it's soup season. Combined with being sick? Here's today's Lekker Recipe: Italian Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup.

I was actually inspired to create this by my best friend Lion, who is also, entirely coincidentally, sick with the same thing. I turn into a full-on mother hen when people I care about are sick, so I wondered about what I would make for him. What would make him feel better, and comforted and satisfied, but still be healthful enough to fight the illness, and perhaps even pay homage to his heritage?

Italian Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, a recipe dreamed up entirely by me--and believe me, it's been a loooong time since I've been so inspired. 

P.S. As good as my motives may have been, I'm actually totally horrible because he didn't get any of this stuff. The post office did not take kindly to my request to ship a quart of soup 1000 miles. Jerks.  Sorry, Lion Man. Next time.

Italian Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
makes a metric shit ton--I obviously I thought I was going to be sick for a long time. I ate a bowl for dinner, froze half, and still have two more servings left for lunch tomorrow. It freezes great, so you may as well make the whole batch, but you can halve it too.

What You Need
1 rotisserie chicken (just the 2 breasts really unless you want more) or ~2 chicken breasts, otherwise cooked and shredded (I made my life easy and picked up a pre-cooked delicious chicken from the store because I hate cooking whole chicken breasts; plus, I get to eat the wings and rip off the skin and devour that as soon as I get home as a pre-cooking snack and that is LITERALLY the best part) 
1 leek, white and light green parts only, washed thoroughly (they have a lot of grit in them, so slice it off at the part where it gets tough and dark green and wash the bottom half well)
1 14.5 ounce can artichoke hearts in water (if they come already quartered, just slice them up a bit further nicely; if they're whole, then quarter and slice)
3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
6-8 cups chicken broth or stock (I use the Knorr Homestyle Stock jelly-type things since I think they taste the best) 
3 large handfuls chopped Swiss chard (this stuff is great, I love it! It's like the silky older cousin to spinach; bitter when raw but utterly smooth and delicious in soups. I used the Kaleidoscope Chard from Trader Joe's here which is pre-washed and cut, but if you can find regular fresh raw chard that's great too. Just wash the leaves thoroughly, fold each leaf in half and slice out the tough inner stem, and slice the leaves into thin ribbons.)
2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach
1/2  bunch parsley, washed and chopped
1/2 cup dry orzo (Don't know orzo? You're missing out. It's a pasta shaped like an extra-large grain of rice with a GREAT mouthfeel used in Greek and Italian cooking. Mouthfeel means how it feels in your mouth. Giggity.)
olive oil, for frying
juice & zest of 1 lemon

I know it seems like a lot, but this is really super easy and hardly takes 30 minutes to put together. Ready? OK!

What You Do
1. In a small pot over medium-high heat, get some water boiling with salt so you can cook the orzo. I always cook pasta separate from the soup it's going into because I don't like the starch it releases during cooking to muddy up the broth of my soup. You want the orzo to be just slightly undercooked, because it's going to finish in the soup. I cook mine for 7 minutes flat, drain, and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and wash off excess starch.

2. While the water is boiling, shred up your chicken breasts with your fingers, or two forks if you want to pretend to be civilized (you're not fooling anyone), and slice up your leeks and artichokes as well. Leeks are like onions, but more complex in flavour and nutrition. Mince or crush the garlic, too.

3. In a large stockpot over medium heat, drizzle in some olive oil and throw the leeks and artichokes in to get them cooking with a bit of freshly ground black pepper. I saute them for about 5 minutes, just to get a bit of browning going on. Toss in the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook for 2 minutes more. Then add your stock and bring to a simmer.

4. Now's where it gets really easy! (Was it really that hard thus far? Nah, just a longer ingredient list.) Throw in your shredded chicken and let it simmer all together for 5 minutes. The spinach, chard and parsley take hardly any time at all, which is why you want to throw them in...now. Add the orzo now too, so it can finish cooking.  Now's the time to adjust the broth, adding a little more if you like your soups more watery like I do. Cook for about 5-6 more minutes.

5. Turn the heat off and add the zest* of one lemon and the juice of said lemon (through a strainer, if you want to avoid pulp and seeds in your soup). Taste and add salt if necessary. (A note: the chicken stock is probably pretty salty. However, I like salty things, and when I'm sick I tend to err on the side of more salt because it makes me drink more, which is important when you're sick. Capeche? It's why they give people in hospital that terribly salty chicken broth--to get them to absorb more fluids.) I always like to stir in a good glug or three of olive oil to finish a soup, too.

Done! Molto Italiano, no? Ah, io penso di essere stato un Mama italiano in un'altra vita!

Hope this banishes your sniffles, coughs and blues as much as it did mine. Ciao, bello. 

*I have a mircofine zester that I use for such purposes. If you don't have one, you can get away with the tiniest holes on a cheese grater as long as you don't get too much of the white pith mixed in there with the yellow skin, because that shit's bitter.

Lekker: Momma's Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Hello all, and TGIF! I suppose since it's a Friday I should have a fancy featured cocktail recipe of some sort but I've been sitting on this one for a few days and wanted to share it. I have ALSO been challenged to dream up a Mac-and-Cheese Martini, so that's bouncing around in my head for the future. If YOU have something you want me to attempt, e-mail me at SouthAfricanBokkie@gmail.com--I do love a challenge!

So, let me preface this recipe by saying that it is just slightly more complex than some of my other recipes. It doesn't require any special skills, but it'll take just over an hour to complete and requires two "specialized" tools (if you want to call them that) that aren't reeeeeeally that specialized: a citrus zester (though you might be able to get away with the really really fine holes on a cheese grater) and an immersion blender or a regular blender. If you don't have an immersion blender and you're a regular cook, I highly suggest you get one. KitchenAid I think makes one for like $30 and I've found it to be immensely useful over the years for all sorts of soups, sauces, pestos, etc. But, you can of course use a regular blender for this as well.

This particular recipe is very near and dear to my heart because it is the creation of my dear sweet Mamon. I suppose most memories take on a bit of a rose-hued patina after someone you love dies, but beyond my personal connection with this recipe it's just really GOOD and unique. Many people don't realize what a beautiful soup butternut can make, and most recipes call for a curry taste while this one is so bright and fresh it's almost like springtime. That's why I serve it year-round, really. Wanna give it a shot? Course you do, it's damn delicious.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
makes enough for 2 people, IMO
total time: this took me exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes to do, so basically one episode of Orange Is The New Black

What You Need
1 butternut squash, about 2 pounds (or 2 pounds' worth of pre-cut butternut if you can find it...but it's not as good as fresh!)
1 medium onion
Dash or two of white wine
~2 cups of chicken broth or stock
1 orange (normally I give options for lazy people substitutions but not here! This is a must!)
3 T sour cream
vegetable or canola oil
salt & pepper
fresh or dried parsley, to taste

Optional Garnishes: I like a little bit of textural contrast in my soups so I typically top it with a handful of croutons. If you want more creaminess or tang, use a dollop more of sour cream or try crème fraîche. Want a kick? Add a drizzle of sriracha, which looks pretty against the bright yellow too. Or if you really want to be utterly decadent (who doesn't?) you can fry up some bacon or panchetta and top it with THAT. Now that is delicious.

Anyway, 'nough of that. We have to actually MAKE it first before we go garnishing away.

What You Do
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. First thing you have to do is process your butternut into manageable 1-inch chunks and this is the most time consuming part. BE CAREFUL. Use a sharp chef's knife and go slow, cutting it into circles first and then slicing off the skin. (You may want to use a smaller paring knife for that part.) Scoop out the seeds and discard. Chop up into 1-inch pieces and toss with the oil and salt and pepper to get it nicely seasoned. Spread them out evenly on a baking sheet lined with foil and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.

 Look how pretty!

Something like this. My hand slipped on the oil decanter so this is a bit over-oiled; don't do that because I had to use tongs to put the pieces in the pot to avoid everything becoming an oily mess. Pain in the ass.

2. While that's going, heat a tablespoon of oil (or butter if you want for this stage) in a large pot over medium heat. Dice up the onion and fry it up until it gets all...golden and nice smelling. You can add the wine at this stage; any kind will do but I'm usually drinking Sauvignon Blanc and no, I don't measure, I just tip my wineglass over until I think it's enough. If I was pinned against the wall to give a measurement, I guess I'd say 1/4 of a cup? Little more? What do I know, I'm pinned up against a wall and thinking about other things.

Ahem. Moving on.

3. OK so your onion is sizzling nicely on the stove with the wine and if the buzzer has gone off for your butternut it's time to take it out, give it a quick toss and put it back in for another 10 minutes. You want them to roast up nicely without drying out, so just use your judgement. I'll admit that the original recipe called for simply boiling the butternut, but I find that roasting it gives it such a fantastic depth of flavour that I don't think I'll ever boil it again. At this point you can add the chicken stock to the pot and bring it up to a slow boil. Get to work zesting the entire orange (putting the zest aside to add in a second) and juicing it; you'll want to strain it to get rid of the pulp.

 Since you're zesting, find an orange with a really nice, bright orange healthy skin color. Bonus points if you use a South African navel orange!

4. BZZZT. Squash is done, right? Good. Add it to the pot along with the fresh orange juice and orange zest and go to town with that immersion blender. You want it to be really nicely blended with no chunks. If you're opting to use a blender here, you may have to work in smaller batches and just please for the love of God BE CAREFUL, it is a hot mixture and it will go into a glass container that will also immediately become hot. Now that it's all blended it's time to taste. Adjust salt and pepper to your liking and add parsley for color at this stage, too. Feel free to tweak the amount of chicken stock depending on how thick or thin you like your soups. Let it all simmer together for another 5-10 minutes while you toast up some French bread to serve alongside it, or make a salad or drink another glass of wine. If it's all yummy and bright and spring-y, you can take it off the heat now and stir in the sour cream. Serve right away. Bathe in praise and adoration from your dinner guests.

That's it! In my opinion it's totally worth the work and I always get rave reviews when I make this. Hope you do too.

Kisses,
G