College Vegetarian Cooking_ Feed Yourself and Your Friends - Megan Carle [31]
Serves 4
3 potatoes
2 carrots
1 small onion
8 ounces mushrooms
2 cups water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 cup frozen peas
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Peel the potatoes and cut into ½-inch cubes. Peel the carrots and cut into ¼-inch cubes. Peel the onion and cut into ½-inch pieces. Cut the ends off the mushroom stems, discard, and cut the mushrooms in half.
Place the water, bouillon cube, potatoes, carrots, onion, and mushrooms in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Add the peas to the pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, poultry seasoning, and milk and stir until smooth. Slowly add the milk mixture to the pan, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
Pour the mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish and top with the sheet of puff pastry. Press the pastry down firmly around the outside edge of the dish and cut 4 small slits in the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown. Serve immediately.
Cooking 101:
Puff pastry is made up of very thin layers of dough with butter between each layer. The steam caused by the moisture in the butter separates and “puffs” the layers as it bakes. I thought about making puff pastry from scratch once, but quickly changed my mind. The first recipe I looked at said it took 3 days and they got worse from there. Fortunately, the frozen version is readily available and works great.
Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is perfect for a chilly autumn night, when you just want to wrap yourself in a warm blanket and watch television. It is as easy as cutting up the vegetables and waiting for them to cook. And the best part is, because the vegetables get puréed in the end, it doesn’t matter how big or small or funny shaped they are. But do be careful not to put too much in the blender at a time, unless you’re trying to redecorate your kitchen. –M
Serves 4
1 stalk celery
1 small onion
1 carrot
2 potatoes
1 large butternut squash (2½ to 3 pounds)
4 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
Salt and pepper
Sour cream (optional)
Trim and discard the ends of the celery and cut into ½-inch slices. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, carrot, and potatoes. Cut the squash in half across the neck, then put the halves cut side down on the cutting board and cut each half in half. Scoop out the seeds and strings with a spoon. Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler or cut it off with your knife, and cut into ¾-inch chunks.
Place the celery, onion, carrot, potatoes, squash, water, and bouillon cubes in a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium-low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.
Ladle some of the vegetables and liquid into a blender (don’t fill the blender jar more than halfway) and cover first with the lid, then with a towel. Blending hot soup can cause the top to pop off, making a huge mess and maybe even burning you. Holding the top down tightly, purée the first batch until smooth. Pour the puréed soup into a large bowl and continue puréeing the remaining soup in batches. Pour the soup back into the saucepan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until warm. Season with salt and pepper.
Ladle into bowls and top with a spoonful of sour cream, if desired.
Cooking 101:
“Season with salt and pepper” can be frightening words to a novice cook. You immediately start to wonder how much is enough and what is too much. Exact amounts for salt and pepper aren’t generally listed because the amount of seasoning needed varies