The Cook & The Coach Blog

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Sausage with Maple Crema

11/8/2017

Simple. Delicious. Sweet. Spicy. Hearty.

If you've made soup before you've probably tried version of this soup. I see it on menus all the time especially this time of year. I've made it a handful of times and this version is by far my favorite. Call me a sucker for some good sausage. Or maybe just the simplicity and letting the fresh veggies and quality stock.

This recipe only has a few ingredients but it is built on a solid chicken stock. We have our recipe over here on how you can make your own. I think some of the keys to a good stock is getting a good pressure cooker, because who has time to cook stock for 48 hours. Also chicken feet! Yup I said it, chicken feet. The collagen from all the connective tissue in chicken feet add a richness that nearly impossible to get any other way. Just try and thank me later. You can find chicken feet at most groceries. I've seen them at every Asian market that I've ever been to also.

To make this soup even better and because we like pretty pictures, we added a maple crema. Sound fancy but it basically is just a dairy product mixed with something else that is liquid. Calling it that is just my inner chef coming out. Or maybe it is from watching too many episodes of Top Chef! Either way it is delicious and makes this dish well rounded. Sweet from the apple and maple, slightly smokey from the sausage, and a hint of spice from the cayenne. So good!

We would love to hear from you if and when you try this and what you think.

Ingredients

Soup Ingredients

1/2 pound pork sausage
1 small onion, diced
Medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 apples, seeded and chopped
6 cups of chicken broth or enough to cover soup ingredients
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Maple Crema Ingredients

3 tbsp greek yogurt
1 tbsp almond milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

In a large dutch oven add your sausage and cook over medium heat. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through and a lot of the fat has rendered out.
Remove the sausage from pot, add the onion and cook until transucent, roughly 6-8 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients other than the cayenne pepper to the pot and bring to boil. Once it is boiling reduce heat to medium and simmer for 25 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, mix the Maple Crema ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend to remove all chunks from the soup. Make sure you remove the top plastic piece of your blender when you are blending hot items to ensure you don't have an explosion of soup. Our Vitamix is naturally vented.
If you are eating right away go ahead and pour directly into bowls. If not go ahead and return to the pot and simmer as long as needed, stirring occasionally.
Add 1/4 cup of sausage to each bowl then drizzle with Maple Crema and if you like a little spice add a dash of cayenne pepper.

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Paleo "Pumpkin" Chocolate Chip Bars

10/8/2014

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Does anyone else use the app Timehop? Yep...I do and it's so much fun. I love to see what I was posting about 1 year ago, 2 years ago or even 6 years ago on Facebook or Instagram.

I think I saw this recipe from Elana's Pantry on Pinterest last year so I made them and LOVED them...and then forgot about them. Thank goodness for Timehop...it reminded me about making these last year so I was able to go and try them again.

Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

1/3 cup Coconut Flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
4 large eggs
1 cup fresh roasted pumpkin or squash (I used kabocha squash)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cupcoconut oil
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

In a food processor, combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Pulse in eggs, squash or pumpkin, honey and oil until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Transfer batter to an 8x8 inch baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Cool and serve!

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Kabocha Squash Pancakes

3/5/2014

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#weirdvegwednesday this week we decided to both honor our weird vegetable choice and the fact that yesterday was National Pancake Day. Why wouldn’t we use a vegetable to make pancakes??? So if you don’t like squash don’t go near this one but if you love it, you have to try it. Kabocha squash has a very similar flavor to butternut squash but with fewer calories and similar health benefits. YES PLEASE!!! I needed to go to a smaller local grocery store in order to find one, your big chain stores probably aren’t going to carry this variety, even Whole Foods. The sauce will take 15-20 minutes to make so plan accordingly when you are timing out your pancakes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup kabocha squash, roasted and mashed
1 cup diced kabocha squash for sauce
2 large eggs
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup almond flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 strips bacon, chopped
1 cup water

Directions

Cut the squash into half and remove the seeds. Roast half the squash in a baking dish with a small amount of water in the oven at 400 degrees for roughly 35 minutes. Dice the remaining squash and set aside.
Add your chopped bacon to a skillet and render out all the fat until bacon is crispy. Once cooked remove the bacon and as much bacon grease as you want depending on your love of bacon. If you leave it all in there you probably won’t need the 1 tbsp of coconut oil. I removed all the grease but didn’t wipe the pan clean so still had some bacon remnants on the bottom of the pan.
Add your diced squash to the same pan that you cooked the bacon. Satuee for 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of water to the pan, make sure you scrape all the bacon bits off the bottom of the pan. Let this simmer for 10 minutes or until the squash is tender. Once the squash is tender remove half of the squash and half of the remaining liquid, add to a blender or food processor, add the 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and blend until smooth. Return this puree back to the squash in the pan. Add your bacon back in at this point and your sauce is done.
Mix together the roasted, mashed squash, eggs, 2 tbsp maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, salt, vanilla, and baking soda. Try to get most the lumps out.
On a large griddle, add a little coconut oil, then spoon out the pancake batter. It should make 4-5 pancakes depending on how big you make them. You will need to cook for roughly 6 minutes per side if cooking over a medium high heat.
Top your pancakes with the sauce and enjoy!!!

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Steak Roulade with Squash Quinoa Risotto

3/3/2014

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So, I hear a lot of time about how people don’t have the time to eat healthy and make the meals that I post. I know things change with kids involved and days get busy but honestly it just comes down to planning and your priorities. I would rather spend an hour in the kitchen making a nice meal that is good for me than an hour in front of the television. I’m probably a little strange because my days begin and end with food, that is all I can think about. I know that isn’t the case for everyone but it can be, you can change your habits, you can do things to make healthy cooking easier. I would love to help you if you are interested.

So in full disclosure, I need to come clean on this recipe. I am guilty of concocting this in my head while in the middle of church last night instead of focusing wholeheartedly on the message. I would like to think I have a healthy obsession with food, but I’ll try to get my priorities straightened out. The good news is that I didn’t spend that time brainstorming this recipe and to have it be a dud. The steak was delicious but the quinoa risotto was the best I’ve ever made, no lie. It had a sweet and creamy factor to it that made it seem like there was a ton of butter and cream in it.

Steak Roulade with Balsamic Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

2 lb flank steak
1 medium onion, cut into strips
2 cups spinach or any dark leafy green
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp butter, divided
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms, stems removed
1/2 cup balsamic
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tsp thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Blue cheese crumbles for topping
Fresh parsley to garnish

Directions

On a cutting board, pound out the flank steak using a meat tenderizer. Try to get it so it is even thickness, roughly 1/2″.
In a larger skillet, add sliced onions, 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook over medium heat until onions are caramelized and slightly brown. Add greens and cook for an additional minute or two until greens are slightly wilted. This will be your stuffing for the roulade.
Lay your steak out flat on your cutting board and spread the stuffing evenly across the steak. Leave about 2 inches on one end without any of the stuffing on it. Roll up the steak, working towards the end without the stuffing, don’t roll so tight that all the stuff gets squished out. Once it is rolled up, using cooking string, wrap around the outside and secure it so it doesn’t come unrolled while baking. Season the outside with salt and pepper.
In a 400 degree oven, cook for 30 minutes or until the inside of the roulade reaches 135 degrees. Remove from oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
While the steak is cooking you can make your mushroom sauce. To do this add the 2 tbsp of butter to a skillet along with the sliced mushrooms. Cook for 8 minutes over medium high heat. Add balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, thyme, and water, let is simmer over medium low heat until sauce has reduced to half it’s original volume. Basically until the steak is done.
Slice the Roulade into 1/2″ pieces and top with your mushroom sauce, blue cheese crumbles and a little chopped parsley. ENJOY!!!

Acorn Squash Quinoa Risotto

Ingredients

1 medium acorn squash
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1 tbsp real maple syrup
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Divide your squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place cut side down in a baking dish with an inch or so of water. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until tender the whole way through.
Add quinoa and water to saucepan and bring to a boil. Season water with a pinch of salt. You could also use your favorite broth but probably isn’t needed. Once it is boiling reduce heat to low and cook for 20-25 minutes until water is absorbed. Quinoa isn’t quite as finicky as rice so don’t worry about checking it at the 20 minute mark.
If this finishes before your squash just keep the lid on and turn off the heat. Once you squash is done cooking, scoop out the guts of the squash directly into your cooked quinoa. Also add your parmesan cheese, parsley, maple syrup and season with salt and pepper. Stir together thoroughly and serve!!!

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Butternut Squash Ravioli with Maple, Bacon, Coconut Cream Sauce

12/13/2013

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I wish I could say that everything in this recipe was scratch made but in a pinch we opted for pre-made ravioli. If you choose to make your own ravioli please comment on how that version turns out. The sauce we made however was rich and delicious and paired perfectly with the ravioli.

Hope you enjoy this wonderful fall dish!

Ingredients

15-20 Buttnernut Squash Ravioli (1 Package)
4 strips of bacon – chopped
2 medium sized shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, diced
1 Tbsp butter
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dried sage
5-6 fresh sage leaves for garnish
1/2 cup shredded parmigiano reggiano
Salt and Pepper to taste

directions

In a saucepan render the fat out of the chopped bacon, once cooked thoroughly remove bacon and most of the fat from the pan.
Add one tbsp of butter to same saucepan, once melted add the shallot, cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Open the can of coconut milk and try to drain off as much of the watery substance as possible leaving behind the creamy coconut milk. Add the cream to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.
Add dried sage, cayenne, maple syrup, half the bacon and salt and pepper to the sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes over a medium to low heat, stirring frequently.
If you are good at multitasking you could start boiling water when you start cooking your bacon. Once you get your sauce put together you can drop your ravioli into the boiling water and cook until tender, roughly 8-10 minutes depending on size and if you have pre-made or fresh pasta.
Once pasta is cooked toss with the sauce and remove from heat.
Serve 5-6 ravioli per serving and garnish with fresh sage and cheese.

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Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Sausage with Maple Crema

Ingredients

Paleo "Pumpkin" Chocolate Chip Bars

Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Kabocha Squash Pancakes

Ingredients

Directions

Steak Roulade with Squash Quinoa Risotto

Steak Roulade with Balsamic Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Acorn Squash Quinoa Risotto

Ingredients

Directions

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Maple, Bacon, Coconut Cream Sauce

Ingredients

directions