Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger Cream

I have my license to use and grow marijuana and I have come to love ingesting my weed in lots of different foods.  My goal is making a delicious potent treat that has an almost imperceptible taste of marijuana. I am a trained chef and baker, cooking with weed was like learning how to use new flour or spice, but a lot more fun!

My Method: Since everyone is going to have different strains and strengths of weed, I use medicine with a high THC level, but for certain patients I use a medicine with the highest CBD I can find. Having a consistent product is key to making quality medibles. It’s a total drag to find something you like, figure out how much to eat, and the third try you are knocked out of your gourd with a triple strength dose. That can be okay, you just need to know it’s coming, and want it.

Recently, I have been baking with bubble hash, 5-7 grams into 1 cup of butter or oil, and I bake all my brownies, blondies and bar cookies in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. The portion size is around 30 pieces, more or less depending on the needs of my clients. This proportion works with all my cooking—I know how many teaspoons or tablespoons determine a serving, and I go from there.

When I am making butter from weed, I generally use an ounce of cannabis trimmings if it is quality bud, and one half ounce is plenty if I am using top quality flower only.

Everyone has a different tolerance; you need to figure out yours. Depending on tolerance, different people can get completely different reactions to the same product. For some, a portion is enough for four separate highs, and others eat the whole thing and just mellow out. You need to go slow, and know what makes you feel good. Under stoned, in my book, is way better than over stoned. But that’s just me.

Cooking with, and eating marijuana-laced foods is one of my great pleasures. For years I just rolled a joint, or packed a pipe, and was too infrequently surprised by access to pot brownies, and they were always awful!  They had a slightly chocolate and very weedy taste, these brownies were purely a vehicle; you almost had to force them down.

No more. With the changing laws and positive health reports on the wide medical uses of marijuana, there is some serious cooking going on. And it’s not just sweets.

For a recent dinner party I served my card-carrying guests a medicated squash soup, followed by a chicken dish sautéed in cannabutter and other herbs, and ended the meal with a hazelnut pound cake with a dollop of Nutella whipped cream and toasted hazelnuts. The recipe, coming in my next blog post, will reveal the two places where the pot is located.

Back to savory treats and meals. In most cases, it makes sense to start your meal, or your day, with a savory food. There are lots of great foods that will get you high and have no sugar, no added candy, which means you can save room for dessert—when the weed kicks in.

Sauté the vegetables in this warming winter recipe in the medicated butter or oil for a relaxing winter night by the fire. For best distribution, make it a pureed soup.

Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger Cream

(Serves 4)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes

4 tablespoons cannabutter or oil
1/2 onion, peeled and sliced
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
4 tablespoons sour cream mixed with minced ginger and a pinch of salt (proportions to taste)
4 tablespoons canna-glazed walnuts and croutons, optional*

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the weed butter and sauté the onion for 5-6 minutes, or until onions become translucent. Add the squash, sweet potato and carrot and sauté for another 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove from heat.

2. When the soup has cooled a bit, puree in batches in an immersion or regular blender. Return the soup to the pan and heat through. Taste for seasonings and adjust.

3. Divide the soup between the four bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream.  If desired, sprinkle with the glazed nuts and croutons.

*If desired, melt 1 tablespoon of cannabutter or oil and sauté ½ cup of walnuts and ½ cup bread cubes until golden brown. Add to desired degree of highness. Your royal highness!