Sunday Soup Day: Butternut Squash

It appears as though I'm no longer the only person who reads my blog pages. I've had comments (both complimentary and satirical) from a handful of people, so I thought I would give "my readers" an opportunity to have some say in what I'd make today on Sunday Soup Day.

I updated my status on Twitter and Facebook by mentioning my pumpkin cheesecake from yesterday and welcoming suggestions for soup today. My only prerequisite was that it had to be orange. I had three responses and they all suggested butternut squash. In addition, our cousin-in-law, Kim, sent me a tremendous recipe. I made a few adjustments and it turned out to be a pot of creamy goodness.

The first step was to bake the butternut squash. I thought I would get a head start on this because Sunday mornings I go to church (Five Oaks in the Hudson movie theatre--awesome) and knew that I would be short on time before the Packers game started. So, at 9:30pm last night, I put the squash in the oven. The directions indicated 50-60 minutes for the squash (face down) at 400-degrees, but I wasn't able to take it out until 11:20pm. Needless to say, the squash was cooked beyond recognition. It left a pungent smell throughout the entire house that interrupted my sleep cycle all night. I finally opened the windows at 5:00am this morning to get rid of the odor.

I went to the store early this morning and purchased two more squashes. I preheated the oven at 400 so I could bake them immediately. Remember, I was short of time because of church and the Packers. I baked them for 60 minutes and took them out before leaving for church. When I got home, I put the squashes in the oven again until they were warm.

In the meantime, I put Isaiah down for a nap (Liz was at work) and got to work on the soup. I chopped the onion, shallots and garlic before sauteeing them in butter. I added the sugar as Kim directed followed by the cream and chicken stock. I put in a little more stock than she suggested because I was cooking for 5-6 people.

After taking the skin off the squashes, I pureed them separate of the liquid in the pot. Once again, I added chicken stock in order to puree the squash. I did this two separate times because my food processor wasn't big enough for all of the squash. I put the puree in the cast-iron pot with the rest of the ingredients and stirred everything together until it was the creamiest texture possible. Then, I garnished it with dried green onions. Perfect.

When I dipped my spoon into the smoothest soup I had ever manufactured, I felt like a gourmet chef. Tasting it made me feel like I should have my own soup-making television show on the Food Network between Giada de Laurentiis and Rachel Ray. It was that good. I can't take all the credit, though. Kim's recipe did the trick. Afterall, her husband is a real gourment chef. I made a few adjustments of my own and everyone was surprised by how fabulous it was. By the way, the Packers won, too.

Ingredients:
2 butternut squashes (halved, cored, and sprinkle seasoned with salt and pepper)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
32 ounces organic free range chicken stock
1 stick salted butter
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 whole yellow onion (chopped)
2 shallots (chopped)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper

Directions:
1. Take halved squashes and bake on sheet pan face down for 45 minutes-1 hour (or until fork or knife tender)
2. Using a hot pad hold squash in hand and scoop out cooked center into large pot (no skin)
3. On medium-low head, using a spatula, mix in butter, onions, shallots and garlic. Mix until butter is melted and onions are translucent.
4. Mix in brown sugar, stir until fully incorporated.
5. Pour in chicken stock, stir until warm
6. Pour in cream, stir until simmering.
7. Cook on medium heat being careful not to scorch the cream for 7 minutes.
8. Pour mixture into blender, or food processor, and puree until smooth. Or if you have a hand blender (immersion blender) you can leave it in the pot and blend, just take it off the heat first. 9. Return to heat cook 5 minutes to thicken soup.
10. SERVE.

Mind blowing. For serious.

Music: Addison Road - Hope Now
Weather: 48-degrees, gloomy

Sunday Soup Day: Chicken, Sausage, Basil & Spinach

We have designated Sunday Soup Day. In the fall, we typically entertain a number of guests during Packers football games. I thoroughly enjoy making a large pot of homemade soup, so this becomes the ideal time to do just that. I'm sure we will still have Sunday Soup Day even if the Packers are not playing.

Today I paged through a few cooking magazines and found a chicken, arugula and orzo soup in Every Day with Rachel Ray. This gave me a few ideas and I ended up putting together my own new recipe that included chicken, sausage, basil, spinach and other fresh vegetables.

I was short on time after returning home from church behind schedule. I pulled out my "As Seen On TV" Onion Chopper to quickly chop my vegetables. I chopped one yellow onion, one zucchini, some leeks and one yellow pepper. Then, I poured some extra virgin olive oil into the pot and added the vegetables. I also added a lot of seasonings. I love the McCormick brand Italian seasonings. They're great. I used Garlic & Black Pepper, Garlic & Basil and Garlic & Roasted Peppers seasonings. It seems like a lot of garlic seasoning, but we were out of fresh garlic cloves. I sauteed everything for about 15 minutes until the vegetables were soft.

Next, I added about 8 ounces of vegetable stock and let the veggies cook while I pan fried two chicken breasts and microwaved the precooked Italian sausage (Johnsonville, of course). I sliced the chicken and sausage and added two boxes of chicken stock to the pot.Once the pot had all of the needed stock, I added sliced mushrooms, frozen spinach and chopped basil.

The final touch was the uncooked orzo. I let the soup simmer for about 20 more minutes until the orzo was fully cook.

The completed project looked very busy, but my soups are always very busy. It had a very simple taste, though. The spinach and basil balanced each other quite well. The basil was very strong, but the spinach was bland. The sausage absorbed the broth and was tenderly sweet. Overall, the soup was great.

I don't know if it is a combination of using a cast-iron pot and very good ingredients or if it is my creativity and desire, but everyone seems to be extremely happy about my soups. It makes me look forward to the next concoction that I put together. I know it is going to be every Sunday, at the least, because Sunday is Soup Day.

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion
1 yellow pepper
1/4 stalk leeks
1 zucchini
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
8 ounces vegetable stock
64 ounces chicken stock
2 medium chicken breasts
4 precooked sausage links

Music: Karen O & The Kids - All Is Love
Weather: 60-degrees and sunny