Butternut Squash Soup and Coxinha

There is a new fruteria near my apartment.  It has a few shops in central Torremolinos, but the one near my apartment is their wholesale outlet that also retails.  I can't complain.

Everywhere you look, you see butternut squash now.  It is in season and sweeter than when it is off season.  I bought one, choosing a heavy hard one, asking them to quarter it for me.  My grandmother instructed me to choose squash in this way.  It turned out to be pleasantly sweet.

The coxinha is another story.  I bought chicken carcasses that they sell for making broth, made a few liters of broth, and then picked off the meat from all the nooks and crannies, and made coxinha.  The original recipe is here, but I have made some modifications.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

Broth
3-4 Chicken Carcasses
1 Stick Celery
1 Onion
2 Small Carrots
2 Cloves Garlic

Other
Butternut Squash - cut into chunks
1 Potato (I used a red skinned potato)
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Small Onion
1 Stick Celery
Parsley
1 Tsp Coriander Seeds
1 Tsp Cumin
2 Red Chilies 
Fresh Cream

The Broth

Step 1:  Simmer all the ingredients for the broth for 1.5 hours.

Step 2:  Transfer the carcasses into a large bowl.

Step 3:  Strain the broth to remove everything else.

While the broth is simmering you can prepare everything else.

Preparing the Spices

Toast the cumin and set aside. Then do the same with the coriander seeds, then chili.  Then put these through a mill so that it is in powder format.

The Soup

Step 1:  Peel and cut the butternut squash into chunks. This does not require precision.

Step 2:  Peel the potato and quarter it.

Step 3:  Chop the parsley, onion, celery and garlic and set aside.

Step 3:  Sautee the parsley, onion, celery and garlic until fragrant in the olive oil.

Step 4:  Add the chunks of butternut squash and potato and toss it around until it is all coated in olive oil.

Step 5:  Add the toasted cumin, coriander and red chili that you have milled into a powder.

Step 6:  Add the broth to cover it as well as 2-3 laurel leaves, and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes or so until the potato is soft enough to puree.  Salt, pepper to taste.  Remove the laurel leaves before pureeing it.  Add cream and stir a bit.

Making the Coxinha

Unless you're crazy I would wait until the next day to make the coxinha.  This is where you'll be using the chicken you have removed from the carcasses.  I had just enough to make coxinha based on the Tabieats recipe.

My slightly modified recipe is as follows:

Coxinha (Modified from Tabieats)
Makes 12

Ingredients

A bowl full of chicken meat

1 Jalapeño (Seeded and Diced)

2 Garlic Cloves (Minced)

1/2 Red Onion (Minced)

2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Chicken Broth

120g Cream Cheese

A Bunch of Coriander Leaves

3/4 Cup Fine Bread Crumbs

2 Eggs

Salt

Pepper


Step 1:   Make the dough first.  Bring the chicken broth to a boil and then turn off heat.  Add the flour and stir until it all comes together.  Set this aside.

Step 2:  Sautee the garlic and onion in the frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and then add the chicken and sautee some more.   Add seeded and chopped jalapeño pepper.  Salt & pepper to taste.

Step 3:  Turn off heat and add cream cheese and cilantro. Mix.

Step 4:  Whisk the eggs in a bowl, and have bread crumbs ready on a plate.

Step 5:  Now take golf ball sized pieces of dough, flattening it and wrap the chicken mixture into them.  They should be cone shaped.

Step 6:  Dip the coxinha into the eggs and then coat them with bread crumbs.

Step 7:  Repeat the above until there is no more filling.

Step 8:  Deep fry the coxinha until they are golden brown and they're ready to go!

Now enjoy a spicy warm sweet bowl of butternut squash soup with your coxinha.  It was a lot of work but you're glad you labored and toiled in the kitchen for hours now!