Post Thanksgiving Meal

Ok, so this is crazy belated, but felt it was fitting following up Athos' Thanksgiving article. The day after our Thanksgiving meal, I wanted something light so I decided to make a soup and salad...and yes Bania, this is a meal (obscure Seinfeld reference). Here's what I decided to make.

Menu
1) Butternut squash soup
2) Persimmon, goat cheese, and caramelized onion salad
3) Tortilla alla Jose Andres

Butternut Squash Soup
Decided to make some butternut squash soup, since it's filling and fits the season. The ginger and cinnamon bring a nice holiday feel to the soup. It's a nice combo of sweet, savory, rich, and spicy. Don't finish the seeds since they're crazy addicting to eat. Goes great with some nice garlic bread.

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 box organic chicken broth
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 sweet onion diced (Maui or Vidalia)
ground ginger
ground cinnamon
organic honey
salt and pepper
Worcestershire sauce
extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Greek yogurt per bowl
yellow pepper hot sauce

1) Peel and cube the butternut squash. Remove seeds and the stringy stuff from squash with a spoon.
2) Set a large heavy pot over medium heat with olive oil. Sautee the seeds and stringy stuff for about 5-10 minutes.
3) Pour a quarter of the chicken broth into the put. Set over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, simmer for 20 minutes.
4) Strain the stringy stuff and seeds into another container/bowl. Make sure to extract all the stringy stuff into the container...the strainer should just have seeds left.
5) Dry the seeds with a paper towel and put in a tray. Add salt, pepper, and a little Worcestershire sauce. Bake the seeds 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes until seeds get crunchy like popcorn. Check though and make sure it doesn't burn.
6) In the original pot, sautee onion over medium heat until soft. Make sure it doesn't get really brown. Add garlic and sautee for 30 seconds.
7) Add all the butternut squash. Add the infused broth and some more broth so it barely covers the squash. Add 1 tablespoon ginger and 1 tablespoon cinnamon, salt and pepper, and 2 tablespoons honey.
8) Bring the squash to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste 10 minutes in and add more spices/honey to your liking. Take off the heat and rock the stick blender to puree until smooth.
9) Ladle some soup in the bowl. Add the yogurt on top - you can do a swirl presentation if you like and add the hot sauce. Sprinkle some seeds on top. Buono appetito!


Persimmon, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Salad
I like salads and I really enjoy adding fruits to them. Persimmon is an Asian fruit that tastes like candy - actually people say a cross between a date and plum. The savory cheese and onion combo offset the sweet persimmons and the vinegary sauce plus the crunchy walnuts. Also, goes great with the garlic bread.

Ingredients
8 persimmons, cut into 1/8ths
1 1/2 sweet onion thinly sliced (same from salad above)
goat cheese
Walnuts
salt and pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
large box of organic mixed salad greens

1) Set pan over medium hight heat and add olive oil. Caramelize onions for about 20 minutes, make sure not to burn them. Set onions aside when finished.
2) Combine equal parts olive oil and vinegar. And toss the salad with the dressing. As usual, the dressing should not drench the greens. Add, walnuts, goat cheese, and persimmons. Salt and pepper.
3) When plating make sure to add a bit of everything (walnuts, cheese, persimmons, onions) on the base of greens.


Tortilla alla Jose Andres
So, I got Jose Andre's phenomenal looking Tapas book, but have not made anything yet. Figured it was a great time to make a side dish. This dish is all about taking the potato chip and transforming it back to it's roots (terrible pun included). This didn't come out as great as I thought it would probably because I didn't follow the recipe at all - came out very dry. I updated the ingredients to have more eggs, add onions and yogurt, and also cook at a higher heat. Flavor is great though with the egg, potato, sweet onion, and rich yogurt.

Ingredients
Large bag of good chips (I used 5.4 oz Dirty Brand chips)
Caramelized onions (you can use some from the above salad)
Greek yogurt
10 eggs
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil

1) Add chips and 8 eggs to a bowl. Stir the eggs and chips together until chips are completely incorporated. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add 2 more eggs afterwards and stir up some more. Salt and pepper.
2) Set large non stick pan over medium high heat with lots of olive oil. When pan is hot, add egg mixture and stir together for 3-5 minutes until it starts coagulating.
3) Start removing the egg from the edges. Eggs in the middle should still be runny. When the eggs are set at the bottom, take a plate and invert the egg onto the plate. Put the egg back and cook on the other side for about another 3 minutes.
4) Put eggs on a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice into wedges. Place wedge on a plate and top with yogurt and caramelized onions.