Monday, September 16, 2013

#18 Butternut Squash Bisque

I bought my first Butternut Squash of the season on Wednesday.  I always get my squash from a gentleman at the farmer's market whose farm is a couple miles from my house.  Can't get much more fresh or local than that.

Last year, I was there at the Farmer's Market the very last day, last hour, last minute of the season before it closed for the winter.  It was just me, and about 4 vendors.  Only the hardiest of souls remaining, we were going to hang on 'til the very end.  By that time (end of October) pretty much everything is gone, except for the very last of the late-season squashes, apples, pears, and few other stragglers.  This particular day was especially cold and rainy, and I was shivering as I looked around and made my very last purchases of the year.  When I came to the pumpkin/squash stand, I pretty much bought everything he had left.  I made multiple trips to the car with armloads of butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash.  I must've looked chilly and a little forlorn as I shivered in the drizzly rain, gathering in the last bit of what I could, because this farmer neighbor of ours figured I really needed a cup of hot coffee, which he generously provided. 

I love the lively vigor and anticipation of the first market day in the spring, but there is also a very rich, bitter-sweetness in saying goodbye to the market in the dark, crisp days of late October.

The overflowing boxes of squash from that last market day (which I got at a bargain price by the way, because of the volume and timing of my last-second purchase) kept beautifully in my garage.  I placed them in boxes, covered by a large towel, on top of the deep freeze, and ate them all winter.

Fast forward to the present, and my very first butternut of this year:
Hello beautiful.
 
 
Man, I've really missed the squash.  I quit eating it in the spring when the new veggies started coming on, and I was really sick of it then, but now, heading in to fall, it's starting to sound good again. 

Butternut squash is a funny thing.  It really does taste "buttery" and "nutty", somehow.  It always feels and tastes almost like dessert to me.  Especially when I cut it up in chunks, toss it with some oil and salt and a tiny bit of cardamom, or cinnamon, and roast it in the oven...sublime.
 
However, we're going another route with this beauty today..."Butternut Squash Bisque" (from Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook), which is simply a thick, creamy butternut squash soup, made in the crock pot.  Today is a busy day, and I need this soup to babysit itself for a while.
 
So why the fancy name, you ask.  Good question.  Personally, in this case, I think it's all about the alliteration..."Bisque" just sounds good with "Butternut".  Actually, in modern usage, bisque has come to mean any type of thick, creamy soup that has been blended to be smooth, not chunky like a chowder.  However, traditionally, a bisque was a seafood-based soup that was blended to be smooth.  There is no seafood in this dish, (thank goodness!  I think fish and butternut squash blended together would be horrific!) so the modern interpretation of the word is being used here.


This was a totally easy way to get a nice veggie side going on while I was busy with other things today.  It was simply butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped, carrots, red onion, chicken stock and some seasonings.   It cooked on high for 4 hours, and then I stuck an immersion blender in there to blend it up.  The recipe says to puree it in a blender, but an immersion blender is much easier and quicker and a LOT less mess and hassle. AND, you eliminate the risk of blowing the top off your blender with hot, steamy soup inside!

Half and half is added at the end along with some salt.  One beef I have with this book is that it WAY under salts everything, in my opinion.  Of course you can adjust salt to taste when you serve it.  This soup was a big hit. It was quite thick and flavorful, and everyone liked it a lot.  I really loved the beta carotene in this dish!  It was a pretty orange-y/yellow color and stunning with a swirl or 1/2 and 1/2 on top.  We ate this soup with turkey and cheese sandwiches and called it good.  It was, in fact, very good.

Sadly, it is nowhere to be seen on the internet, so once again, I must point you to your local library for the hard-copy book for this one.  Or, there may be similar recipes on the internet, but this one had some unique flavorings (coriander was one...) that I wouldn't have expected, so you may want to check it out.

Welcome back Butternut Squash, it's good to see you again!
 

 


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