Sasha's Kitchen: Butternut Squash-Apple Soup & My Thanksgiving Menu

Ah butternut squash, how I love you. And acorn squash, spaghetti squash and just about every other kind of squash. This is the season for every kind of squash creation that you can imagine. One of my favorite ways to eat a half acorn squash directly, with brown sugar and butter. But, I also love it in soup. I made plenty of pumpkin soups recently, so it was totally time for some squash soup. I love apples combined with other fruits and vegetables in soup, as long as you use the right kind of apples to make sure its not overly sweet.

Sasha's Butternut Squash-Apple Soup
2 1/2 lbs of butternut squash
2 Cortland Apples
Olive oil
1 quart of low sodium chicken stock
1/3 cup heavy cream
cinnamon to taste
cayenne pepper to taste (not enough to add heat, but enough to make sure the dish is not bland)
pepper to taste
pinch of nutmeg
dollop of creme fraiche (for serving)

First heat the oven to 400. Broil the squash for about an hour and a half until it is cooked. Then scrape out the squash (or use pre-cut butternut squash) and mash with a fork (or puree in a blender). Meanwhile, saute the apples (peeled and chopped) in the olive oil and add to the squash puree. Blend with the chicken stock in a blender. Place in a pot and over medium heat add in the heavy cream (just a small amount and you can add less if you prefer, or even leave it out if you want to avoid the extra fat from the cream). Season with cayenne, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg to taste.  Serve with a small dollop of creme fraiche.

This tasted great, was surprisingly simple, and made for a perfect classic fall dish!

Did I mention that I am making Thanksgiving Dinner this year for our family? Here's what I plan to have on my menu, and I will share the results with you after Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin-Cashew Soup
Turkey with an Orange-Maple Glaze
My cranberry, apple, pecan, turkey sausage stuffing
Green beans with pecans and shallots
Personal acorn squash with brown sugar
My Sweet potato chipotle pancakes with lingonberries (I plan to repost this from last year with better photos)
Chocolate pudding bars (from my new baking cookbook, Baked)
An amazing recipe I found online for gingerbread ice cream made with Belgian trappist beer
My Pumpkin Creme Brulee (because you don't get to use a mini blow torch for pumpkin pie)
My pumpkin gingerbread panna cotta
Wagner Vineyards Riesling
Non-Alcoholic Frozen Harry Potter Butterbeer (adapted by me from the original recipe)

Sasha's Kitchen: Butternut Squash-Apple Soup & My Thanksgiving Menu

Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Another Squash Soup

Perhaps it's the season, or the fact that it hasn't been above 40 degrees in six weeks here in Sun Valley, or that squash from Idaho's Bounty is incredibly inexpensive, but I've made another squash soup.

I started with a small butternut squash (one that was almost acorn-squash-shaped rather than oblong), cut it in half, removed the seeds, and placed the halves in a baking dish. I added about a tablespoon of butter in pieces, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and heavy sprinklings of cinnamon and red pepper powder (still trying to use up the joint spice cabinet). I baked that at 350 for, oh, two hoursish? Until it smelled really good and was soft to a fork, anyway. When that was done baking, I removed the dish and let it cool.

While the squash was cooling, I sauteed about half a white onion, two or three shallots, and half a head of garlic (all chopped fairly fine) in about a tablespoon of olive oil and half a cup of white wine. Once the onions were half sauteed, I added more cinnamon and some smoked paprika (probably about a tablespoon or two of each). Once the whole mess was lightly browned, I put it in the Cuisinart. I added the flesh of the squash, and about three cups of the pureed potatoes that were such a failure in that last post (they had been in the freezer).

As the contents pureed, I added a bit of heavy cream. Probably less than a total of a cup, but I'm not sure, I just poured until it looked right. Out of the Cuisinart and into a medium-sized pan, I added a bit of vegetable broth to thin out the consistency. Again, probably a total of a cup or so, but I'm not sure. Also, a teaspoon or two of black truffle oil. As you can tell, I tend to cook by the seat of my pants, (today, the new jeans I won from Lee off Facebook!) which makes me a poor baker.

There was some toasting and buttering of San Francisco sourdough slices going on as I served up the soup. Thinking about visual and textural contrast, I diced up some cilantro left over from our elk fajitas last weekend. That went onto both bowls, and some grated reggiano onto my bowl (but not the fiance's). He said the cilantro could have been sliced finer, as it created too much of a textural inconsistency, but I liked it. Eh, to each his own.

For another soup recipe, check out Kelly's Carrot Soup, by clicking here.

Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Another Squash Soup