What a glorious fall weekend in Savannah - crisp and cool during the day, chilly at night. Love it. After I saw the weather forecast I had grand plans of taking advantage of nap times this weekend to make chicken stock and pumpkin bread. Instead, I spent it scrubbing floors due to a sick dog and rewashing and refolding three, yes, three, baskets of clothes that were already clean until they were christened by a vengeful cat (apparently, shutting him in the laundry room with the aforementioned dog did not please His Highness). Awesome. Can't think of anything I'd rather do on a sunny, 65 degree day.
Despite all that fun, I did manage to make a huge pot of butternut squash soup. And all I have to say is: Yay for me. We spent late afternoon/early evening today out on the soccer fields and playground, and didn't come home until it was downright chilly outside (ok, around here that means it was high 50's, but we were all seriously shivering). Walking into the house to the smell of soup on the stove that just had to be reheated for a minute and served with quick grilled cheese sandwiches...such a treat.
I love, love, love this recipe. It's quintessential fall to me, with the squash and apples, and for those of you who are planning ahead for the holidays, it's perfect for Thanksgiving. I've already popped half the batch into the freezer to serve at lunchtime on Thanksgiving day, since we always do the Big Meal in the evening. (Atlanta Mom likes to make a batch to have with turkey sandwich leftovers the next day.) But be forewarned: it's time consuming to make and my kids, who are generally great eaters, don't like it - probably because it's a bit on the spicy side. That said, it really is worth trying.
Ina Garten's Butternut Squash Soup:
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)
2 tablespoons mild curry powder
5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)
1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples) (Note: I can never find big McIntosh apples, so I find I need about 7 of the little ones)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups water
2 cups good apple cider or juice
Directions
Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.
Peel the squash (note: for some reason, butternut squash leaves some kind of weird residue on my hands that I can't easily wash off. I have taken to wearing latex gloves when I peel the squash. I know - that sounds like the kind of instruction that would promptly make me abandon the recipe altogether, but don't let it scare you off! If you don't have a little box of latex gloves around the house, you should. You'll be surprised at just how handy they are. Why, I went through about 10 of them just this weekend because the dog...never mind), cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.
Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the soup through a food mill fitted with a large blade, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. (I don't know Ina has against an immersion blender, because all her recipes call for this method when there's a soup to smoothed out. Just use your immersion blender here and you don't have to get your food processor dirty. If you don't have an immersion blender, put it on your Christmas list! Best kitchen tool ever. Seriously.)
Pour the soup back into the pot (or, if you have very cleverly used your immersion blender, just leave it there where it belongs).
Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.
Happy eating!
