Mexicali Squash Soup with a Cilantro Cream Swirl
The Guajillo (wha-hee-oh) chile is the most common dried chile in Mexico after the Ancho. The flavor of the Guajillo is distinct, slightly fruity with a strong piney, berry under taste. Guajillo flavors dished easily so a little goes a long way. This chile is between a 2-4 on the heat scale of 1-10. Guajillo, combined with the Passilla and Ancho, form the holy trinity of chiles used to prepare the traditional mole sauces.
Suggested Use:
A mildly hot chile. Use in sauces, salsa, soups and your favorite chile. A little goes a long way.
Ingredients:
1 red onion
4 large cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 butternut squash (about 3 lbs, or 6 cups cubed)
2 yellow flesh potatoes (about 1/2 lb, or 1.5 cups cubed)
3-4 dried guajillo peppers
1/5 Tbsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fennel seed
6 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
For the Cilantro Cream Swirl:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 lime (1 tsp zest and juice of whole)
3/4 cup loosely packed cilantro
Salt to taste
Instructions:
Peel the onion and garlic cloves. Coarsely chop the onion but you can leave the garlic whole. Leaving the cloves whole will encourage it to cook slower and maintain a teensy bit of punchy garlic flair while also reducing the risk of browning too fast in the oil and becoming bitter.
Peel the squash and potatoes. Cut the squash vertically in half so that you can scoop out and discard the pulp and seed.
Chop the squash and potatoes into fairly large chunks that are roughly the same size.
Heat the olive oil up in a large pot set over medium low heat. Add the chopped onions and garlic cloves and start to sweat and soften them until the onion is translucent. This should take about 3-5 minutes over a lower heat.
Add the cubed squash and potato and turn it around in the pot until it’s somewhat coated with oil. Put a tight fitting lid on the pot and let it cook for about 10 minutes, lifting the lid to stir only every 3-4 minutes and replacing it when you’re done. When you put the lid on the pot the vegetables will start to steam rather than saute, which will soften them up much faster.
When the squash and potatoes are almost fork tender and some of the pieces are starting to get a bit soft and crumbly around the edges, add the spices and bay leaf. Nip the stem end off of your chilis and add them (seeds and all!) to the pot as well. Give it a stir and let this cook together for a few minutes until the spices are warmed through and starting to release their fragrance.
Add the stock to the pot and cover it with a lid.
Turn the heat down to low and let the mixture simmer away for 45 minutes. At this point the guajillo chilis will be fatly re-hydrated and the squash/potatoes will be so meltingly tender that they’ve started to dissolve into the pot. Sift through the broth to remove the bay leaf and then puree the mixture in small batches in your blender or using a hand held immersion blender.
Season the mixture fairly liberally with salt and pepper and then let the pureed mixture simmer for a minute or two while you ready the cilantro cream.
Dollop the sour cream into a small food processor (either a mini-food processor or a Magic Bullet will do the perfect job) and add in the cilantro, stems and all. Zest in about 1 tsp of green rind from your lime and then cut it in half to squeeze in the juice. Season the mixture lightly with salt before using your pulse/blend option until the cilantro is naught but flecks in a pale whitish-green cream.
Ladle the soup into your bowls and garnish with a swirl of the cilantro cream and an extra sprinkling of some fresh cilantro if you feel compelled.
Serves 4-6.
From choosy-beggars.com