Foods: Butternut Squash Soup and Waldorf Salad

[coraa]

The career fair yesterday was too long. But. I have lived!

I made this for dinner two days ago. It makes a lot of food, which was on purpose, because it freezes beautifully. You might be able to cut it down, though.

If you make the squash soup with vegetable broth or water, they're both vegetarian-friendly, though neither are vegan as written.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is a squash-lover's squash soup, I think. I'm not sure whether I'd use it to try to convert a non-squash-lover, since it's definitely tastes like butternut. But it's spicy and slightly sweet, and faintly reminiscent of a pumpkin pie, although more savory.

I specify a lot of seasonings. These are all things I have on hand, and I like them, so I throw them in. But I have made a deeply lovely butternut squash soup with only curry powder, or only nutmeg, or only ginger, or something else entirely. Really, everything between the honey and the cream is up to you. Don't not make the soup because you don't have one of the spices on hand.

• 1 butternut squash (5-6 lbs)
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  
• 1 medium onion, or 1/2 large onion
  
• 3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable), or water
  
• 4 tbsp honey (to taste)
  
• 2 tbsp ginger (to taste)
  
• 2 cloves garlic (to taste)
  
• 1 tsp pepper (freshly-ground, if you can) (white pepper will make a more aesthetic soup, but I never bother)
  
• 1 tbsp wasabi, or more if you like spicy (plain shredded horseradish will work fine, in absence of wasabi)
  
• 1 tbsp curry powder (I use sweet, since if I want some bite I use the wasabi, but if you like a hot curry powder feel free)
  
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  
• 1 cup cream or half and half (milk also works, but the texture won't be as satiny)
  
• salt (to taste)
  

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Halve the butternut squash. I wish I had a good method for this, but I don't; I always wind up in moderate fear for my fingers. The best method I've found yet is to cut the butternut around the middle, and then split the two sections lengthwise, thus winding up with quarters; this is easier than trying to split the whole thing at a go. But the best I can say is use a good sturdy knife and a solid surface and the courage of your convictions.

Scoop out and reserve the seeds and other glurge in the squash cavity.

Once you've halved the squash, oil the skin side a little (this is to keep it from sticking) and lay it skin side down on a baking sheet. It may take two baking sheets. I use cookie sheets with lips, but anything that will hold them will work. Brush 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil (melted butter works too) on the flesh side, and lightly salt. Put in the oven and ignore for 40-60 minutes, until a knife goes smoothly and cleanly all the way through the squash.

While the squash is baking, dump the seeds and glurge out into a mesh strainer. Under running water, separate the seeds from the stringy, fleshy stuff and discard the goop. You almost certainly won't be able to clean all the strings off the seeds, unless you take a long time doing it (and don't bother) -- that's fine, you just want to get the biggest wet masses out. Then salt and pepper the seeds and turn out in a frying or saute pan. Over medium heat, dry them out until there's no visible water in the pan (the seeds will still be damp), and then add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil and fry until crisp and sizzling. Set aside.

When the squash is done, pull it out of the oven and, once it's cooled a little, use a spoon to scrape the flesh from the skin. Drop the flesh in a large soup pot. Break it up with the spoon so that it's in several-inch chunks rather than one big orange mass. Pour the broth over. (If you use vegetable broth, this is a very vegetarian-friendly recipe, although of course not vegan because of the cream. If you have neither kind of broth handy, water will do fine.) Add the ginger (as much as you like; I use around 2 tbsp minced), the garlic (ditto), the pepper, the wasabi (if you want a bit of bite; this is my secret ingredient), the curry powder (again, as much as you like, depending on your curry tolerance), and the nutmeg. Bring to a simmer.

When the soup is simmering, pull it temporarily off the heat and mush up the squash. If you are fortunate enough to have an immersion blender, this is an excellent time to use it. If not, a potato masher used with vigor will work nearly as well. Or you can blend it in a regular blender, although you should always be careful when blending hot liquids (do it in small batches, and hold the lid on -- and when holding the lid on, guard your hand with a tea towel). You want the squash to be more like a puree than a chunk soup, though a few pieces of unblended squash wouldn't go amiss.

Add the cream (or half-and-half or milk, and probably yogurt or sour cream would work too, though I haven't tried them), return to the heat, and return to a gentle simmer. Taste, and add salt if necessary. Top with fried squash seeds. Serve.

It freezes beautifully -- just chill it, then portion it out into ziplock bags and chuck in the freezer. The texture is even nicer if it's been frozen and thawed once.



Waldorf Salad

This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's recipe on Good Eats, to suit my mayo-hating, walnut-loving partner. It goes great with the soup, and can be made while the squash is baking.

• 3 Fuji apples, or other eating apples with good flavor
  
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
  
• pinch salt
  
• black pepper to taste
  
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  
• 1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
  
• 3/4 cup raisins
  
• 2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
  
• 2-3 sprigs mint
  
• 1 green onion
  
• 1 tsp curry powder
  

Chop the apples, skins on. They should be somewhere between eating-apple piece size and charoset size -- I usually go for 1/2 to 1 inch cubes. They don't have to all be the same size, either.

Toss the apples thoroughly with lemon juice and salt. Pepper to taste -- I use a couple of grinds, you can use more if you like a peppery flavor. Add the mayonnaise and toss well. Since this recipe is low on the mayo, you might need to get in there with your (clean) hands to make sure the apple's all coated.

Add the walnuts, raisins, and celery. Roll up the mint leaves and slice very thinly (chiffonade, if you know the term). Slice the green onion thinly as well. Add to the salad along with the curry powder and toss very well to coat.

Chill for at least 30 minutes, and 1-2 hours if you can manage it. Traditionally this is served on lettuce leaves, but I generally don't bother.

Comments

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

Must be the season for butternut squash soup, I made some the other day too. Yum! Mine was more basic though - I didn't add any sugar or wasabi or anything, only a little nutmeg. I might have to make it again and try the spices!

[clairebaxter.livejournal.com]

If you just want to cook the squash, you can cook it whole. You just have to stab it a few times for air vents, like baking potatoes. (You can even cook it whole in the microwave; I usually do that when I'm making squash muffins or a squash soup, though I could see that the flavor in soup might differ that way.)

[fairnymph.livejournal.com]

Yum, these sound great!