So I know that it might seem that I toil in the kitchen for hours, and sometimes I do, though “toiling” isn’t exactly the word that I would use as I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, as it is my refuge, but I am all about convenience food as well. And batch cooking. So here is something that I often make in batches: Hand pies. These are Potato, Cabbage + Bacon Hand Pies. They are fantastic right out of the oven, but also freeze phenomenally well and with just 30 seconds in the microwave and 5 minutes in the oven to crisp up again, one (or sometimes two, shhhhh, don’t tell anyone) they make a great lunch or snack for dinner in front of the game if I am really too lazy to cook. If you search on hand pies, you’ll find more recipes too.
Appetizers/Starters
This soup is amazing. It’s a little different than my “usual” fish chowders, but yet also really similar. When I am developing recipes, I usually compare three or four and then start experimenting. The things that were identical between the three recipes that I looked at were Atlantic white fish (cod, halibut, etc), shrimp/prawns, leeks and … saffron. Really, saffron? Turns out, it is a great addition to the soup. And the color is amazing. This is definitely a recipe going on repeat!
Roasted Hokkaido Pumpkin Bisque with Curry Toasted Chick Peas
Hokkaido pumpkins seem to be more popular in Germany than they are here in my neck of the woods of Greater Boston. For a while, they were very trendy and one of my aunts in Germany really loved them. They also go by the names Kuri Squash and Baby Red Hubbard Squash. Either which way, they have a nutty, peppery flavor which I enhance with curry and a pinch of nutmeg. If you can’t find a Hokkaido Pumpkin, you can also use butternut squash to make this soup.
My dad used to make next-level soups. They were amazing. Number one by far was his New England Seafood Chowder, but second was his Mushroom Soup. Of course, first, he would forage the mushrooms, then spend hours painstakingly cleaning them, and then came the soup making. For a few weeks some summers, he would make and sell this Mushroom Soup (either Chanterelle or Porcini or both) at a farmer’s market and people would come watch him make it. He would sell out in under an hour.
This Mushroom Medley Soup pays homage to that soup. This is likely one of the best savory things that I have made all year (ok, ok, it’s only January 3rd…. let’s count last year as well). This is the most flavorful, hearty, homey and delicious thing to come out of my kitchen in a whole. And given the arctic temperatures outside, today was the perfect day to make it.