Recipe

Submitted by: Sara Gomach, orginal recipe and image at jamieoliver.com

Here’s a recipe that both tastes like spring and warms the soul on a cold Wisconsin day.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 lbs asparagus, woody ends removed
• olive oil
• 2 medium white onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
• 2 leeks, trimmed and chopped
• 8.5 C organic chicken or vegetable stock
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 10 small free-range eggs
• 8 slices ciabatta bread
• 1 knob butter
• extra virgin olive oil

Method

Chop the tips off your asparagus and put these to one side for later. Roughly chop the asparagus stalks. Get a large, deep pan on the heat and add a good lug of olive oil. Gently fry the onions, celery and leeks for around 10 minutes, until soft and sweet, without colouring. Add the chopped asparagus stalks and stock and simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on. Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand-held blender or in a liquidizer. Season the soup bit by bit (this is important) with salt and pepper until just right. Put the soup back on the heat, stir in the asparagus tips, bring back to the boil and simmer for a few more minutes until the tips have softened.

Just before I’m ready to serve the soup, I get a wide casserole-type pan on the heat with 8 to 10cm of boiling water. Using really fresh eggs, I very quickly crack all 10 into the water. Don’t worry about poaching so many at the same time. They don’t have to look perfect. A couple of minutes and they’ll be done, as you want them to be a bit runny. Toast your ciabatta slices. Using a slotted spoon, remove all the poached eggs to a plate and add a knob of butter to them. To serve, divide the soup between eight warmed bowls and place a piece of toast into each. Put a poached egg on top, cut into it to make it runny, season and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Did you love what you tasted at last week’s One Pot Cook-Off event? Treat yourself to this comforting recipe over the winter, and bring back warm memories of a wonderful 2012 season at the Northside Farmer’s Market!

Squash Curry

By: Fiona Stoner

Ingredients:

1 Med to Large Butternut Squash, cut into inch cubes
1 Can Coconut Milk (I use the full fat, but light versions are also available)
2 Cups Veggie Broth or Chicken Stock
3 tsp (or to taste) red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen)
1 bunch kale (lacinato is usually easier to incorporate than curly) cut into
pieces
Basil
Turmeric
Curry Powder
Tamari (I don’t use soy sauce because it is not gluten free)
Cayenne

Method:
Pour the coconut milk and the broth into your pot or wok; smear the red curry
paste onto your mixing spoon and incorporate it into the milk as the pot heats
up. Add curry powder, turmeric, a dash of cayenne, and tamari to taste. Add the
cubed squash once the liquid starts to buble; cook for 10-15 minutes or until
the squash just starts to soften. Add the kale and the basil and keep the heat
on. Mix in the kale so it gets all that spicy sweet coconut milk mixture all
over it. Serve when the kale is just wilted and the squash is no longer crunchy.
You can also add sweet potatoes to this or adjust for each part of the season
(Summer squash in the warmer months). Serve with rice or on its own. This recipe
can be a hearty vegan and gluten free dish depending on the broth and seasoning
used.

Tip: quadruple the recipe and get a much bigger pot if you plan to compete in a
one-pot cook off! 🙂