Fall comfort with Sausage and Spaghetti Squash Soup

My favorite thing about Fall is the warmth that it brings. Whether its the color of the leaves, the bundling up on a cold day, the feeling that the holidays are right around the corner, and of course all the yummy recipes.

This year for a dinner party with the theme "Fall Harvest", my boyfriend and I (although he did most of the cooking) decided to make a squash soup. I have never really had squash before and this was out first time attempting a dish from it!

I'm proud to say it tuned out delicious.

Recipe taken from: http://m.ivillage.com/sausage-and-spaghetti-squash-soup/3-r-288590

1 small spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds) 12 ounces mild Italian sausage, casing removed

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup dry white wine

1 medium white onion, cut into small dice 10 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 cloves garlic, minced 6 ounces baby spinach, washed

Salt and ground black pepper 1 Tablespoon thyme

 

Directions

1

Using a sharp chef’s knife or cleaver, remove stem from squash. Peel tough outer skin and cut squash in half. Remove seeds and cut into large 2-inch-long pieces.

2

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper; cook about a minute more and then add sausage. Break sausage into small pieces and cook until browned, about 6 minutes.

3

Add squash, season again with salt and pepper, and cook until squash becomes soft around the edges, about 6 minutes. Add wine and scrape up any browned bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add broth and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft, about 45 minutes.

4

Using the back of a spoon, press squash against the side of the pot to break it up into pasta-like strands. Remove thyme stems; season with more salt and pepper to taste. Stir in spinach leaves and serve.

I was surprised that "Spaghetti Squash" really looked and had the texture of real spaghetti.  The soup turned out absolutely delicious!  All credit goes to my boyfriend though, I was only there to help prep and cut up the ingredients and of course nibble on the ingredients in between.

We had some leftovers 1-2 days later and I have to say the broth got even tastier!  I would definitely like to try or have my boyfriend make this again soon, but he said the squash was a pain to peel so I'm not sure when I'll have this again.

What are your favorite fall recipes?  Please share!

Furaibo Food Diary

Broiled Oysters

Scallops with enoki muhsrooms

Octupus sashimi in wasabi sauce

Kakuni pork

Hanpen Cheese

Furaibo (Japanese, Tapas)

2068 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Oxtail Soup for the soul

During those cold and dark nights nothing warms you up like a nice bowl of hot soup!  I have always heard yummy things about Oxtail but just recently got a chance to try it about a year ago at an Indonesian Restaurant.  They had garlic fried oxtail with soup and once I tried it was all over from there on!  I was so hooked!

Last night I attempted to make Oxtail soup for the first time since I was home and had a lot of time on my hands.  The recipe comes from a mix match of online recipes that my bf looked up and kind of just made up his own from the different varieties.  

I was very pleased with the end results, the oxtail was super buttery and was practically falling off the bone with the slightest touch.  The broth was heavenly, but then again nothing can ever compare to an home made broth.  Especially one that's been stewing for 6 hours!

Recipe from the BF: 

Serves: 2-3 people at most

1.5 lbs oxtail

3-4 carrots (ones we got are pretty small) cut into chunks

half an onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery

3-4 leeks (slice both the white and green part and keep the two seperate)

1.5 tsp white pepper

1/2 nutmeg (there is a half in there already, you dont need to grind, just leave it whole)

5 cloves

salt

*potatoes (boiled seperate if you feel so inclined)

Extra Step - Not 100% necessary but if you want whole oxtail chunks like they do at Simpang you have to brown the sides in a skillet before boiling it. 

1. Combine water, oxtail, cloves, nutmeg, pepper and bring to boil skimming foam off the top as it comes to a boil

2. Simmer, covered, for about 2.5 hours (I usually set the stove dial to just a bit below 3 but it varies, just make sure its not a full rolling boil or else the water will evaporate too quickly)

3. Add carrots, onion, celery, white part of leek. Simmer for another 1.5-2 hours.

4. Fish out celery stalks and nutmeg chunk if you can get at it.

5. Add half of green onion towards very end

6. garnish with fresh green onion and serve

I pretty much followed the recipe he sent me step by step.  I didn't brown the oxtails before putting in the pot though, but I can see how that would work in keeping the meat all together better.

I didn't add any potatoes to my soup but my bf said it tasted good with it but was very filling.  The broth itself is pretty fatty so if you are watching your weight a trick to get rid of the fat is to refrigerate the soup over night.  The fat will all rise to the top making it easy for you to skim it all off!

I left my heart in the caramel macchiato biscotti

I never really cared too much about biscottis, they were tasty but I could definitely live without them, until.... 

I discovered these caramel macchiato biscotti's from Starbucks!  They are insanely delicious and I have been hooked on them.

What makes these so delicious is they have chewy caramel in the center (that you can't see from the picture) that just gives you that nice flavor explosion when you bite into it!  It actually reminds me a lot of the taste of creme brulee and the yummy burnt sugar at the top.

I usually like to dunk them into my ice coffee but today I didn't have access to any so I thought I would experiment and try it out with my matcha green tea latte!

To my surprise, it was amazing!  Love, love, love, love

I have had one every morning for about 4 days in a row and I need more!  I wish there was a place I can just buy a whole box of these.

Product Info:

Caramel Macchiato Biscotti : Starbucks (0.95 cents each)

Maxim Matcha Green Tea Latte: Can be purchased at Mitsuwa or most asian grocery stores