Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

It seems like every season is my favorite time of the year, but after a steaming hot Summer I have been very much enjoying the cooler weather.  I've also been loving soup this time of year!  Now that we are into Fall everything is inspired by my favorite color palate and by glorious root veggies and heartier fruits.  This soup was so amazingly tasty and easy to put together.  And was a perfect excuse to bust out the immersion blender!

Butternut squash has a naturally sweet flavor which was enhanced by the tartness of the Granny Smith apples and the smokey bacon.  However, if you wanted to make this vegetarian, that would be easy to do.  Just omit the bacon and swap out the chicken stock for veggie stock.  Voila!

Step One:

• 3 Strips Bacon (I used thick cut pepper bacon)

Fry up the bacon until crisp and set on a paper towel to drain.  Crumble for topping on the soup as a garnish.  Reserve 5 T of the bacon grease for the next step.

Step Two:

• 1 (2 lb) Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into cubes
• 3 Leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced and well rinsed
• 3 Carrots, cut into 1/2 in coins
• 3 Celery Ribs, chopped
• 2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 5 T Reserved Bacon Grease (or Butter)

In your covered Stock Pot cook the veggies and fruit over medium heat in the Bacon fat (or butter) until soft stirring occasionally.  Approximately 15 - 20 minutes depending on the size of your pot and the size of your cut. 

Step Three:

• 1 C Apple Cider
• 5 C Chicken Stock (or Vegetable Broth)
• 1 1/2 t Thyme
• 1 t Sage

Add the liquid and herbs to the pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.  This will further break down the veggies and allow the herbs to bloom.  Then using an immersion blender (or separate into batches into a blendar or food processor) blend until desired consistency is reached.

To serve, top with the crumbled bacon.  As I made this for lunches I added the bacon to the batch after blending.  The flavor was fresh and mildly sweet with a wonderful heartiness.  We served it with a slice of home made oatmeal bread to dunk.

Enjoy!

Chorizo Jambalaya

In struggling to create a menu without actually creating a menu this week I've done some improvising.  Last night's meal was from the hip and aside from being slightly underdone turned out pretty great!  It is also the bones for many variations, which I love.

I was actually inspired to make this dish by a question from my cousin for a paella recipe.  Essentially Jambalaya and Paella are cousins.  The main differences are the seasonings.  Jambalaya, in my interpretation, is flavored/colored by smoked or sweet Paprika  and tomatoes where as Paella is flavored/colored primarily by a pinch of Saffron.  Each dish has flexibility in the proteins you choose.  Since Tim doesn't care for seafood, I stuck to an all natural Turkey Chorizo, but Shrimp would have been oh so good!

I took the opportunity to use my cast iron Dutch oven for this recipe as the heat retention is excellent.  I considered using a combination of stove top and oven cooking methods for this recipe, but ended up sticking to just the stove top.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Smoked Chorizo (I used an all natural Turkey variety); sliced in 1/2 in half moons
• 2 T Olive Oil
• 1 Carrot, diced
• 2 Celery ribs, diced
• 1 Onion, diced
• 1 Red Pepper, diced
• 1 Hot Pepper, diced
• 2 C Brown Basmati Rice
• 28 oz Crushed Tomatoes
• 4 C Chicken Broth
• 2 t Sweet or Smoked Paprika (I went with sweet)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 t Oregano
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Cracked Pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the Chorizo allowing some browning on the edges.

In your Dutch Oven, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the Carrot, Celery, and Onion and saute until softened, approximately 5 minutes.  Add the Peppers (red and hot) and cook for two minutes more.  Add in the Rice and stir until well coated.  Toast until a slight nutty aroma is emitted, 2 minutes, while stirring constantly.  Add in the Tomatoes and the Broth and bring to a boil.  Stir in the Paprika, Bay Leaf, and Oregano and cover with the lid.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, simmering gently, for 30 minutes, no peeking.  Stir after 30 minutes and adjust liquid if needed.  Cook until rice has the desired doneness.

Stir in the Chorizo and enjoy!

Variations: Chicken, Shrimp, Fresh Tomatoes, Roasted Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Eggplant, Kale... the choice is yours!

Roasted Red Pepper Potato Soup

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I am so glad we have entered Fall and left the sweaty heat of Summer.  Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the glorious sunshine and the seemingly endless days, but I can not stand blistering heat.  Thus, by the end of the Summer season, I'm able to let it go and enjoy my sweaters and hoodies and thick woolen socks.  

My appreciation for this season is more than being able to wear comfy clothes, I also love soups and stews!  These are so easy to prepare in quantities that allow for leftovers.  The bounty of hearty vegetables, squashes, potatoes allow me to take my time in deciding the menu.  Along with a nice hearty soup, I love to enjoy a grainy whole wheat bread.  Inspired by the season and the bounty our CSA continues to provide, I whipped up this variation of a classic Potato Soup.

I used what I had on hand for this and enhanced the flavor where I felt I could.  The first time I made potato soup was the first time I cooked leeks.  This time my aromatic were shallots as I had neither leeks nor onions at the time.  As the more simple version of this soup has only starch I enhanced the flavor with roasted red peppers which provided a nice depth to the creamy flavor.  Potatoes are a consideration for this soup as typically I see Russet or Yukon Gold as the potato of choice.  I had on hand only Red Potatoes, which worked out fine and gave me a nice excuse to use my immersion blender.  Amping up the flavor I decided to sweat the shallots in some white wine, Pinot Grigio.  The bright apple flavor made me think that next time I could use some apple, but I didn't this time.  There are so many variations you could do with this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 T Olive Oil (Or cook 3 slices of bacon and reserve the drippings, then add the bacon to the finished soup)
• 8 medium Red Potatoes, medium cube (could use Yukon Gold or other potato)
• 2 shallots, diced (Could use sweet onion, leeks, Spanish onion, yellow onion, white onion...)
• 2 cloves Garlic, diced
• 1/2 C Dry White Wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
• 1/2 C Roasted Red Pepper (I used some from a jar, but you could easily roast your own with better results)
• 6 C Chicken Stock (could use Vegetable Stock)
• 1 1/2 t Dried Thyme (Or use fresh, or Rosemary, or Sage)
• 1 C Heavy Cream (Or whole milk, or 1/2 C Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt)
• Flat leaf or Curly Parsley, chopped (I had curly on hand and it was a nice addition)

Optional:

• 1/4 C Shredded Cheddar (Or Smoked Gouda, particularly with the bacon, or Fontina, or Chevre...) - I didn't use Cheese in this version

Assembly:
I recommend generally preparing, chopping, assembling all the ingredients ahead of time.  In this case the soup comes together pretty slowly so you could start by chopping the shallots and garlic and cut up the potatoes while those are cooking.  It all depends on your counter space and knife skills.  Preparation makes for a more relaxing experience.

Heat your soup pot over medium heat with the olive oil.  Add the shallots and stir until translucent (1 - 2 minutes).  Add the garlic and cook stirring 1 minute more.  Add the white wine and bring to a boil for 1 minute.  Add the potatoes, red peppers, thyme, and broth and bring to a simmer until the potatoes easily yield to a fork or knife, (20 - 30 minutes).  Remove from heat and using your stick blender (or in batches using a regular blender or food processor), blend until mostly smooth or desired texture.  Stir in the heavy cream and parsley.

Serve warm with whole grain bread or crackers and enjoy!