11.24.2005

The Royal Butternut


Butternut squash. One of the finer names of the produce section? I think, yes. My fourth year of university had me making this from about November until February. It goes without saying that (it being in my fridge all the time) a bit of experimention came about on the degustation side of things as the winter months rolled by. Example...I would put toasted bread with goat cheese on the soup one day, add cream to it another, add some left over rice and parmesean to it the next. This recipe is versatile. Enough said.

What you'll need: About 2 liters of homemade stock (using my interpretation of vegetable soup stock or any of the thousands of soup stock recipes that exist on the internet) or the kind you buy at the supermarket. You'll also need a large butternut squash (or two smaller ones) and a blender.

Preparing the butternut:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Cut your butternut squash in half (lenghtwise) and discard its seeds and filaments.
On a baking sheet, pan, whatever, place the butternut squash skin side up so that the orange part of the squash is lying face down on the baking sheet. Poke some holes through the skin using a fork and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife slides through the squash with ease.

Preparing the soup stock:

I'm back and ready to type away this recipe once and for all. I apologize for the delay. So really, as long as you cook your vegetables well (before adding water to them) and allow them to simmer for about an hour, you're in business. This is by no means the best vegetable stock out there, but it requires minimal ingredients, so it's good for when you don't have lots lying around the kitchen. You can add almost anything too it as well. Try dressing it up with some boiled potatoes and leeks, or cauliflower, or a whole bag of carrots if you're not a lover of the butternut.

What you'll need:

6 carrots, chopped
5-6 celery stalks, chopped
2 large onions or 4 small ones, chopped
3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
tbsp. salt
black peppercorns (optional)
bay leaf (optional)

Materials:
A large pot (something that can hold 4 or 5 liters)
A blender

Once you’ve finished chopping up all of your vegetables take about 1/4 c. of olive oil and add it to your pot.

Place pot on stove and set to medium heat. When the oil is hot add the carrots to the pot. When they have softened up a bit add the celery, then the onions and whole garlic cloves. Feel free to pour in more olive oil if you find that the vegetables are starting to stick to the bottom of the pan (I'm pretty sure I end up using about 1/3 c. of olive oil in total...if not more) if they burn/caramelize a bit, don’t fret, this will add loads of flavor to your stock. When you’re vegetables are well cooked (should take about 30 minutes or so) add enough water to cover them completely and then add about 2 or 3 cups more. Throw in your salt, black peppercorns, bay leaf.

Cover your pot and allow everything to simmer (low-medium heat) for about an hour. After this let your pot to cool off for about 10-15 minutes. Then, take all of the contents from the pot (minus the black peppercorns and bay leaf) and liquefy in the blender. Empty all of your blended stock into a large bowl.

When your butternut squash has finished cooking remove it from the oven, allow it to cool and peel away the skin. Put about a quarter of the squash into the blender and pour in some already blended vegetable stock. Pour these contents back into your pot. Repeat this step until all the butternut squash has been incorporated into the stock. Then add salt and pepper to taste, some cream, and enjoy.

11.23.2005

Fresh Out The Kitchen



Sweet and cinnamony delights are these. Recipe. They don't mention this, but try adding some cinnamon, cardamom, allspice or what have you to the dough. Freeze the left over dough and enjoy all winter long...