Frozen

No not the movie. Sorry to disappoint you, but I think I am the only one who hasn't seen it. I mean Vermont is frozen. The ground is frozen, the sky is frozen, even the very air seems to be maybe ten degrees from absolute zero. The only reason I would not say all atomic motion has ceased is because of the wind. Oh god the wind. We have wind chills of between -30 and -50 right now, which makes it a really great day to stay inside and do nothing but drink cocoa and eat SOUP. So here is a recipe for soup that is very warming. It has a mild heat to it and packs a lot of flavor with few calories and plenty of nutritional value.

I call it "International Soup a la Skittlez."

(Hi Skittlez!)

Skittlez is a really cool person who spent hours slaving away over a pot of soup for his friends, and it was delicious. It came from a fancy looking cookbook, but it was so good I figured I had to go home and try to replicate it immediately. It has basically every flavor of every cuisine you can imagine. You will taste curries of India followed by simmered Bok Choy reminiscent of Asian soups, followed by lemony cilantro of Mexican cuisine, and then it is brought back home via flavors of New England with apples and cider. I don't know if my rendition is anything like the cook book's, but I definitely didn't spend hours on it. Maybe just one. Another great thing about this recipe is it is highly adjustable. You can adjust all of the flavors to your liking very easily.

So here we go.

Ingredients:

One pound butternut squash, peeled and cubed (if you can't find exactly a one pound squash, no sweat. You can easily use more.)

2 large or 3 small carrots, peeled and sliced

One head of Bok Choy

Several cloves of garlic, minced (probably 3-4 unless you are me, in which case between 8-8,000)
4-6 cups vegetable broth
1 lemon, sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped (if you hate cilantro, use parsley, or better yet lemongrass if you can find it)
1 TBS ground ginger (or to taste)
1 TBS red curry powder or paste (you can add more to taste later)
Pinch cayenne (more if you like it hot)
2 large apples, peeled and chopped
1 package sausage of choice, sliced (I used apple chicken)

12 oz bottle hard cider (regular cider diluted a bit would also work)
1 TBS corn starch
1 bunch green onions, sliced

Directions:
Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Give it a spritz of cooking spray. (Or a slab of butter. Shh. I won't tell anyone.) Dump your squash and carrots in the pot and saute until the squash slightly caramelizes and gets a little soft on the outside (5-10 min depending on how big your squash cubes are). Add your bok choy and saute more until wilted.

Add enough broth to cover all those veggies, and toss in cilantro, lemon, ginger, curry powder/paste, and cayenne. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for as long as it takes to do the next part.

Throw your apples in frying pan. Saute until they get slightly tender, less than 5 minutes. Add sausage slices and cook through. Pour in half of your cider. Whisk the rest of the cider with corn starch to make a slurry, and add that as well. Heat until bubbly and the cider reduces by more than half.

In the mean time, taste your soup without paying attention to anything, burn your mouth, and promptly drop your spoon. Swear loudly. Adjust seasonings.

When the apples and sausages are done, divvy them into bowls and put the rest of the soup over the top. Sprinkle the green onions over the top. Wait for it to cool to non-burning temperature before eating.