butternut squash soup

I hope it doesn't do injustice to this recipe to start a post with another apology, but I feel it's due. Sorry for 2 soup posts in a row. But this one is so good you won't mind, I promise.

Butternut squash soup is one of those things, like risotto; you order it in a restaurant and love it, but assume it's too complicated to make at home. But, like most vegetable-cream soups, it's simply a matter of vegetables cooked in broth until tender, blended, with some cream stirred in at the end. This recipe, another one adapted from The New England Soup Factory cookbook (working my way through one page at a time), is stunning. It adds apple and parsnip to the butternut base, and it's served with a little bit of gorgonzola cheese to counter the sweetness.

Grocery list: 4 T butter, 2 garlic cloves, 1 large onion, 2 apples, 3 carrots, 2 parsnips, 1-2 stalks celery, 1 2-pound butternut squash, 8 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade, covered before here), 1 T worcestershire sauce, 3 T brown sugar, 1.5 c cream (I used half-and-half and it was perfect and still plenty guilty enough), gorgonzola cheese for garnish.



Start by prepping all the vegetables: peel, remove seeds if applicable, dice.



Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium high heat, and add all the vegetables. Saute for 10 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium so it's just simmering, and cook until the vegetables are soft (about 35 minutes more).



Turn off the heat, and stir in the worcestershire and the brown sugar. Season the soup with salt and pepper.



Like all cream soups, you want to blend it *before* you add the cream, which is last. So, either with an immersion blender, or by moving batches of the soup to a blender (carefully - and only fill up the blender half way with each batch, so you don't splatter boiling hot soup all over yourself - the things I learned before having a stick blender).



Finally, return the soup to the pot if you've used a blender, and stir in the cream. You might need to turn the soup back on low heat, depending on how hot you like your soup.



To serve, place a spoonful or two of gorgonzola cheese crumbles in the bottom of a bowl, and spoon the soup on top. The book actually calls for an even more impressive garnish (crispy prosciutto and sauteed apple slices), but I skipped it.

winter salad: roasted acorn squash, apples & blue cheese

After all the Thanksgiving dinners, I can only think about salads (and running 6 miles a day every day this week to make up for the pumpkin brownies my Gramma made). This is adapted from December 2008 Bon Appetit, which originally called for butternut squash but I substituted acorn. (Also note, this is half the original recipe -the original serves 10.)

Grocery list: (dressing) 1 T balsamic, 1 T lemon juice, 3 T good quality olive oil; (salad) 2 T balsamic, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1 2-pound butternut or acorn squash, 2 heads belgian endive, 1 fuji apple, 4 oz crumbled blue cheese, 1/4 c dried cranberries.



Start by roasting the squash. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Peel and slice crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces. Arrange on a lined baking sheet and brush each piece with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Whisk the balsamic and brown sugar together, then brush each piece of squash; return to the oven and roast for an additional 5 minutes.



Flip squash pieces and brush with remaining vinegar-sugar combination. Continue to roast until squash is fork-tender, about another 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

Trim the root ends of endive and arrange leaves on plates - about 5-6 leaves per plate, for 4 plates. Core the apple and cut into thin strips, and evenly distribute across plates. Place squash strips in center of each plate, and top with cheese and cranberries.

For the dressing, whisk the balsamic, lemon juice and olive oil with salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing over each salad and serve. This would also be nice with a few pieces of toasted walnuts too...

old school apple pie

When I was growing up, one of my favorite things *ever* was spending time with my grandparents, who live on the Pee Dee River in rural North Carolina. They grew (and still do, although less volume) every fresh vegetable imaginable, and had all kinds of fruit trees right by the house - figs, peaches, pears, apples, etc. My Gramma and I would bake all kinds of cobblers and pies, which, looking back on it, probably planted the seed for my love of cooking. These days it's fun to impress A and his family (all from Pittsburgh) with recipes that aren't so common outside of the southeast -- recipes taught to me by my Gramma. One of A's favorites is this apple pie.

Grocery list: shortening, flour, salt, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, golden delicious apples (6 cups sliced -- about 5-7 apples depending on size).



The most authentic southern pie crust is simple, although it pains me every time I have to purchase shortening (crisco - yes, really). Cut up 3/4 cup of shortening into little pieces in a bowl, then add 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp salt.



Mix with a fork until the consistency is that of little clumps of dough. Add 1 T of ice water at a time, working with your hands, until you can form the dough into a ball (usually about 3-4 T of water). Knead until smooth, then split into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.



Next, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and make the filling. Peel and slice the apples to make 6 cups. Add 3/4 c brown sugar, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and 3/4 cup flour, plus 1-2 T of cinnamon. Pour 2 T of melted butter over the mixture. Work the apple slices with your hands until they are coated with the filling.



To finish the crust, roll out the ball of dough on a floured surface until it's 2 inches wider than your pie pan on all sides. Place the dough into the pie pan and add the filling.



Roll out the top crust till it matches the shape/size of the pan, then transfer carefully to cover the pie. Work the bottom and top edges together, pressing around the perimeter of the pan.



Cut slits into the top so steam can escape; pat a few teaspoons of butter on the top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake covered with foil for 25 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes until golden brown.



Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

watercress, apple and horseradish salad

I made this salad to accompany the walnut-crusted tilapia, which is a loose interpretation of a recipe I found on foodnetwork.com. I tend to find a combination of things I like in a salad and then get stuck in a rut (I was recently reminded by the comment "oh, caesar again?"). So this recipe is a refreshing change of pace. I loved how the sweetness of the apple contrasts with the slight kick of fresh horseradish root.

Grocery list: 1 bunch fresh watercress, 1 horseradish root, 1 apple. For the dressing: 1 shallot, 1 lemon, apple cider vinegar, walnut oil, fennel seeds.



Start by making the dressing. Mince the shallot, and juice the lemon. Add a pinch of fennel seeds, salt pepper, and equal parts oil and cider vinegar. Whisk and let stand while you make everything else -- you want to wait to dress the salad till just before serving it.



I have never worked with a fresh horseradish root before, but it was pretty easy, and not nearly as spicy (is that the right word? nasal-passage-burning?) as the jarred variety. First, you peel it, then shred the root till you have a handful.



I used hydroponic watercress, which is all they had. You just chop off the root ball, rinse, and spin dry. Slice the apple, and you can rub the extra lemon halves (to spread any remaining lemon juice) on the apple slices to prevent them from turning brown on your plate. To serve, toss the watercress and horseradish with the dressing, and top with a spiral of apple slices.

green beans with apples and almonds

Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables ever, and this is my favorite way to prepare them. Grocery list: just green beans, an apple, and handful of slivered or sliced almonds.

Wash the green beans and snap the ends. Cube the apple. Heat olive oil over med-high heat in a large pan. Add the green beans and cook a few minutes before adding the apples and almonds. Stir frequently until the beans are as crispy-done as you like them. The apples will caramelize a little and get even sweeter, and the almonds will toast. Season with salt and pepper and that's it...