Crossing cultures: acorn squash stew with many vegetables, "thai curry style"

Now, ragazzi, you know that Annalena does not often sit to give you two recipes a day, yes?  She realy does not want to overwhelm you with ideas, and be accused of heads bursting all over this great world of ours.

Well, really she's just lazy.  But this Sunday, notwithstanding a loss of an hour (which Annalena wants back, in at least 15 minute intervals), she has time to give you one which is rather quirky, but is also very good.

First, let's review.  Remember when we went over the difference between South Asian and Indian curries?

You don't, do you?  Well, you can look them up, and as a quick review:  South Asian curries use coconut milk and curry pastes, while Indian curries use toasted spices.  The recipe we're going to make could thus fairly be called a Thai curry.


Except:  there is nothing in this, besides the coconut milk and some garlic, which would suggest "Thai" to an observer.  And that is how it goes these days.  One asks:  is this more Thai than another cuisine, or is it, well, in that realm of "world fusion," whatever that means?  Be it world fusion, or Thai, it is a good recipe.  Annalena took a recipe that she found on a card from her weekly Quinciple box and, seeing that as it stood there is no way it would work, she adapted it, and it does, in a very quirky, vegan kind of way.  So go forth, and get this one done.  It's a bit more work than the recipe we had earlier today, but not too much.

Let's collect our motley crew of vegetables.  You will need an acorn squash, a pound of turnips, a half of a fennel bulb, an onion, and about three cloves of garlic.

Sound Thai to you?  No, not to Annalena either.  Cut the squash in half, and clean out the seeds. Oil the cut surface lightly, and put it on a baking sheet, together with a pound of cubed turnips, also tossed in oil with a bit of salt.  Get them in a preheated 400 degree oven, and let them bake.  It will probably take on the order of 20 minutes or so for the turnips to bake to an "aldente" point (for these, that means a knife penetrates easily), and up to 45 for the squash.  The squash will need to cool before you deal with it, because a burn from winter squash is no joke.  Trust Annalena on this.  In any event, you will know this is done, when you can press the squash with a spoon and it collapses a bit.

While this is baking, chop up your onion and your fennel bulb.  No fronds or stems with the fennel, please.

And, separately, chop up three cloves of garlic.


Some more fun ingredients:  3 tablespoons of olive oil  (not a staple of Thai cooking, either), a tablespoon of curry powder of your choice, at least a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger, and a can of coconut milk (this is two cups or 15 ounces, depending on your brand, and you should use the low fat one).

You do see whereof Annalena speaks on this recipe.  So, let's assume your squash is cool enough to handle.  Cut it into chunks, which may be difficult because of the softness, but don't worry about smooshing it or consistency of the pieces.  The skin will come away very easily, although it is a dirty little secret that you CAN eat this.

Put the olive oil (that staple of Thai cooking) , into a big pot, and add the  onion and fennel, with a pinch of salt and pepper, then cook for about three minutes.  Add the garlic, the ginger,  the curry powder, and the coconut milk.  Stir everything together and bring it to a light simmer.  Add the turnips and the squash pieces and stir them around. Some of the squash will dissolve into the coconut milk, but not all of it will, and you will have a thick, surprisingly creamy stew that is... VEGAN!

To Annalena, this dish is not substantial enough to call a main dish.  Adding mushrooms might convince her that it is, but she thinks it needs some firm tofu tossed in at the end.  Tempeh would not absorb the flavors well enough, although you should feel free.

And there you go, ragazzi.  On daylight savings time, Annalena has provided you two dishes to save you some daylight, some calories, and some work.  Make them.   Vary them.  And tell her about it.  She wants to know.