6 oz bacon, diced
1 yellow onion, peel/dice
1 red bell pepper, dice
2 stalks celery, dice
1/4 bunch fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 bunch fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, chopped
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 kabocha, peel/seed/dice
2 qt chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 bunch scallions, sliced thin
1/4 bunch parsley, chopped
1 chopped smoked almonds
Directions
Render the diced bacon until crispy; drain and
reserve. Using a little of the bacon fat, slowly
sweat the celery, onion and peppers with 1/4 teaspoon
salt. When soft, add the garlic and chopped herbs and
cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the flour
and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in a third of the
stock, bring to a boil stirring constantly, add the
remaining stock and the diced squash and bay leaves.
Let simmer slowly, until the squash is tender; it will
thicken and color the soup as it softens. The squash
should be soft but still hold its shape. Season with
salt and pepper. Off the heat, add the scallions, the
bacon and parsley, garnish with toasted or smoked
chopped almonds or walnuts for a nice crunch.
From John Beardsley, chef de cuisine, Buckeye Roadhouse
Source: San Francisco Examiner, October 25, 1996
Servings: 8 servings
Kabocha Squash Chowder Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Soup; Squash; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Recipes as a concept can be found way back into distant history, at least as far into history as early Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. Interesting though that maybe, mostly, these old recipes were just primitive hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
In fact, the oldest recipe found, according to food historians are a few clay tablets in the Sumerian language which show the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel wonderful and blissful. Later on, in Roman times around 25BC a man called Apicius assembled a number of documents detailing recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his works, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were divided into appetizers, entrees and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius informs us how the Roman cooks made use of many aromatic flavors, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens such as bay, fennel and dill. Later on, there are a couple of recipe books published in the 1300s - a cookery book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these two books are nothing to do with the spicy food that is served today, but instead descriptions of the types of meals prepared by the cooks of the rich and wealthy people of the time. Later on in the 1400s, the Crusaders brought back a variety of foods and spices from the East, such as coriander, parsley, and basil. These new foods and tastes created a surge in cookery books, the majority of which are kept safe in academic collections. For the next few years, the powerful families of Wesstern Europe competed to serve the most extravagent banquests, and as a result cooks and their recipes could command a high salary. However, it was during the 1800s the formal cooking and cookery books reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated years of their lives to collating, trying out, and recording recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. By the advent of the twentieth century, recipe publications were highly popular as a result of increased literacy, more spare time and having more money to spend. The introduction of the TV brought us TV cooks and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everyone to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Kabocha Squash Chowder recipe.
