Holiday Dinner: Pumpkin soup, baked salmon and coffee shop coconut bars
Pumpkin butternut squash soup topped with whipped cream, pumpkin seed oil and lightly candied pecans. Yum!
We stopped by Carl and Susan O— a few evenings ago to catch up on holiday preparations just before taking off to Ottawa, Canada. Susan, as usual prepared a wonderful meal for the occasion (to tell you the truth every meal where Susan is the chef is an occasion in it’s own right).
To start, I tasted a wonderful pumpkin and butternut soup that was topped of with a dollop of real whipped cream, pumpkin seed oil and lightly candied roasted pecans. The combination of the topping ingredients not only added visual interest but also the pumpkin seed oil enhanced intensity of flavors.
For the main course, a salmon encrusted in a mixture include Panko flakes over kale and coconut infused rice was served. The crust on the salmon was perfect and the salmon had a wonderful smokey sweet flavor from the marinade.
To finish it off, a truly decadent dessert of a coconut bar from a secret recipe given to Susan from a local coffee shop was placed on top of a chopped Haagen Daz chocolate vanilla ice cream bar. It was a impromptu creation borne from a stroke of genius. As you can imagine, it was delicious.
This meal was paired with a pinot and with dessert a dry port.
Loni Kao StarkCo-Founder StarkSilverCreek, Creative Director and Wine Collector
Loni is a self-professed foodie, adventure travel seeker and aspiring artist. It’s been said her laugh can be heard from San Jose all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. The former Ms. Global Petite runner-up is host of several SSC shows including WineTube TV, StarkSilverCreek Presents, Loreto Live, and the new series The Artist Diaries. Between busy travel schedules to Washington, Napa and global destinations such as Australia, the Baja and Europe, she expends the rest of her energy collecting wines, practicing “escape artist”-style cooking, and building what she hopes, one day, will be a real estate empire. She catches her breath by writing about her adventures.
Twitter: @lonikaostark More: articles bio
Stay up-to-date on All Things West CoastJoin: StarkSilverCreek Facebook Fan page
Follow: twitter.com/SSCWestCoast
Go mobile: SSC iPhone app
Send press/requests/events to: press@starksilvercreek.com
Hi Loni
Can you share Susan’s recipe for the salmon and fab looking pumpkin soup!
Hi Barb – The salmon and pumpkin soup was delicious! I’ll be returning to the San Francisco Bay Area soon and I’ll get the recipe from Susan to share with you.
Hope you are enjoying your holidays!
Quick update. I did get the recipe for the pumpkin soup from Suzy O and will post it in the upcoming week. I forgot to get the salmon recipe from her…too much cheese fondue and wine last night I am sure. I’ll get it from her next time we meet up.
Thanks, looking forward to both recipes. Can you ask Suzy where she found Pumpkin seed oil?
Happy Cooking! and Happy New Year!
Looking forward to meeting you and Clint in Loreto this year. We can share recipes and stories about living in Ottawa while sitting by the beautiful Founders Poolside.