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Friday, October 30, 2009

Butternut Squash Soup

Hey All, I'm posting some pics that I thought were lost forever in the sea of broken cameras. Holy cow, is this little Nikon Cool Pix tough! It survived an assault by an almost toddler. Just took a few hours of R&R to recover.
 I began making this soup at 0930 (a.m.).  I was also looking after my 10 month old grandson, Miles. ( Just trying to give you a little background).
0915: Peeled 2 butternut squash with the "Miracle peeler". (See "Bargains").Worked really well.
0925: Scooped out seeds with a melon baller.
0930: Chopped up squash into (about) 2" chunks.
0940: Placed squash on to 2 sheet trays, sprayed with No-Stick.
0945: Spread 1 stick melted butter over squash.
 0946: Season squash with salt, pepper and brown sugar. (You must season liberally, as squash needs salt, pepper, and sugar to develop flavors.


0950: Place squash in 425 degree oven for 40 minutes. Take picture.
0955: Chop 2 onions and 2 leeks.  Place halved leeks in clean water. Get rid of the dirt and sand. Rinse again. Take picture.


Leeks are very sandy. Chop off dark green stalks.
Slice in half.



 
Put the leeks in a clean sink full of cold water. Shussh them about a bit. Get all the sand out.

1010: Slice leeks. Take picture.



1020: Carry baby. Remove squash from oven. Take picture.


1030: Put olive oil in enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Take picture.


1032: Baby not happy. Heat off Dutch oven. Remote control in baby's mouth.

11:00: Heat to medium under Dutch oven. Put 2 chopped onions and 2 chopped leeks, and 2 cinnamon sticks in Dutch oven with 2 Tbls olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stir. Take picture.

Add 2 chopped carrots. Slice vertically down the center.



Slice vertically again.


Slice horizontally.


Add them to the pot with the leeks and onions. Stir every few minutes.

11:05: Baby hungry. Ate chicken, broccoli, roasted butternut squash. Drank 1/3 bottle breast milk.
11:15: Baby sleeping in Pea Pod.
11:20: Take whole nutmeg nuts. Grate one half of one nut on a microplane over squash. Take picture. (A very bad picture).

11:21: Sprinkle  1 Tbls Chili powder, 2 Tbls Cumin, 1 shake liquid smoke, juice of one half an orange, over squash. Add roasted squash to soup pot.
Add 1 cup white wine. Simmer. After about 10 minutes, add 1 quart chicken stock.
12:00: Baby up. Diaper change.
Play time: Baby emptied all drawers and cabinets of contents within baby's reach. Successfully grabbed camera while Nan (me) stirring soup. Camera thrown to floor. Camera now has a black screen. Will not take a picture. Will not access either the "menu" or "mode" modalities. Camera appears to be dead. He looks innocent, doesn't he? There are no more pics of this soup.


1400: Nan needs a nap. Nan &baby recline on couch. Nan attempts to put baby in peapod. No success. Baby wants to recline on Nan's chest. And so it is.
1600: Kelsey arrives. Miles ecstatic. Wants nothing to do with Nan. Nan now free to finish soup.
1615: Tasted soup. Not good. Added 2 Tbls butter, 1 Tbls salt, 1 cup heavy cream, and 1 additional quart chicken broth.
1700: Soup tastes good. Buzzed it up with the immersion blender. (Could also use a blender or food processor to get a creamy, silky texture). Whip 1 cup heavy cream with 1 Tbls cinnamon. Put in fridge. Serve a dollop on top of soup.
1715: Toast 1 cup walnuts in a skillet with chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, brown sugar. Adjust to taste. Serve soup, followed by cinnamon cream, topped with spiced walnuts.
1800: Ladle soup into jars for family to take home. Advised to serve with Whipped cream and spiced walnuts.
1801: Hugs and kisses from all 3 kids. That's a good day!

5 comments:

  1. coming from a non experience cook (or one that has few kitchen gadgets), can this be done without a dutch oven? is there another type of pot that can be used?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sure! Just use a big pot. Here's a tip, though. Sam's has a 6.5 qt enameled cast iron dutch oven for $38.00. That's what I use for so many things.

    ReplyDelete
  3. awesome. all your cooking looks so yummy. i will certainly be taking some inspiration from you and trying these out. thanks for posting. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you! I'm testing a new turkey method tomorrow. Stay tuned.

    ReplyDelete
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About Me

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
I'm a home cook that can put some good tasting food on the table, most of the time. My family knows dinner is ready when the fire alarm goes off.