Squash Curry, By the Elbow
When your husband comes home from the grocery store with a rather "rude" butternut squash, what do you do?
Make Squash Curry, at least with half of that squash.
This is a recipe that Jim sort of made up in his head, so I had to have him walk me through what to do, seeing as his right hand is trapped in a cast for the next few weeks. But it was really simple and darned tasty.
I cut most of the neck off that squash, peeled it, and cut it into 1/2" rounds, which I then cut into quarters. Cut an onion pole to pole and then cut into thin half rings. Grate about a tablespoon of fresh ginger (mind the sharp little teeth on the grater, ouch) and mince up a clove of garlic. Shake up your can of coconut milk, and get your trusty can of red curry paste out of the fridge. What's that? You haven't any red curry paste? Get thee to an ethnic grocer!
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| Just the yellow butternut squash came home... |
Make Squash Curry, at least with half of that squash.
This is a recipe that Jim sort of made up in his head, so I had to have him walk me through what to do, seeing as his right hand is trapped in a cast for the next few weeks. But it was really simple and darned tasty.
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| Main Ingredients... |
We did garnishes with toasted cashews, chopped cilantro, and chopped basil (pick your green herb, it's all good). We also discovered that a squeeze of lime juice over the final dish was E-ssential. Don't forget salt and pepper too -- starch sucks up salt.
The rest of the squash will become a Butternut Squash Soup. Will do my level best to post that soup's story too. Yum.
Saute the squash till you get some color on a couple sides, maybe 3-4 minutes on a side, leaving them alone and NOT poking them around while they're caramelizing. (Can you tell that's difficult for me?)
Pull the squash out of the pan and then throw down your onions and some salt. Get some color on those babies too.
When the onions are about done, throw in your garlic and ginger and cook till fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stop everything from scorching by pouring in the coconut milk and about a tablespoon of curry paste. Jim says he's looking for that nice reddish color. Depending on the ratio of squash to coconut milk you have, you might put in a few tablespoons of water, quarter-cup-ish, whatever it needs. Bring it all to a simmer, then turn the heat down and partially cover the pan. Cook until the squash is tender and nearly falling apart, maybe 20 minutes, give or take.
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| Okay, so it's a little monochromatic. Shoot me. |
Serve the curry with the green herb garnish and some toasted chopped nuts. Squeeze some fresh lime juice over the curry, or you'll be sorry. It needs the acid to offset the richness of the coconut milk. It also adds something to the flavors of the herbs -- it's like cilantro Needs Lime.
I made our favorite, easiest, Tall and Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits -- a recipe from Cook's Illustrated -- to go along with this dish. These biscuits are great the day you make them and even for a couple days afterward, if you zap them in the microwave.
And by the way, I'm still a bit of an onion-phobe -- love their flavor but don't always love their texture, but the onions WITH a bite of the biscuit? Heaven.
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| "Haciendo barcos" = Making boats, or barges, I suppose. Schlorping up the last remnants of sauce on your plate with some sort of bread. |
The rest of the squash will become a Butternut Squash Soup. Will do my level best to post that soup's story too. Yum.
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