Ok and old squash. My squash from last year winter well in my root cellar but is now starting to mold. I figure its only a few more months until more squash so we better eat it.
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BUTTERNUT SQUASH BISQUE
From AB and SS
2 white onions
Minced garlic
3 butternut squash, peeled then cubed
Butter
Vegetable stock
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Allspice
salt & pepper to taste
¼ - ½ C maple syrup
Sauté onion and garlic in butter in a soup pot. Add cubed squash and cook briefly. Add vegetable stock to cover. Add pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, salt and pepper. Add maple syrup.
Simmer until squash is soft. May need to add more vegetable stock at this point. Puree until blended and season with salt and pepper to taste. Finish with half and half or cream if desired.
Butternut Squash Soup with Apple and Hazelnut Baked in Phyllo
Adapted From Thierry Rautureau, Author of Rover's: Recipes from Seattle's Chef in the Hat
(Makes 4 servings)
1 butternut squash (about 1-1/2 pounds)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons hazelnut oil or olive oil
1 Granny Smith apple
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon minced shallot
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
2 pinches minced thyme
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup apple juice or small amount of brandy extract with water (my substitution for Calvados)
2 teaspoons minced chives
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
3 sheets phyllo dough
3 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream
2 tablespoons hazelnut flavoring (my substitution for Frangelico)
Garnish
Beet coulis
Pumpkin seed oil or hazelnut oilTrim
the ends from the butternut squash and halve it lengthwise. Use a large
spoon to scoop out the seeds and fibrous flesh from the center. (The
seeds can be cleaned and tossed with olive oil and salt to roast for a
tasty snack.) Cut the squash into large pieces for easier handling. Use a
small knife to carefully peel away the skin from the squash and
coarsely chop the meat.
Heat 6 tablespoons of the butter with the
hazelnut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until the butter is
melted and foamy white. Add the squash and cook, stirring occasionally,
until beginning to soften (but not brown), 5 to 7 minutes. Peel the skin
from the apple, using a paring knife so that some of the flesh still
clings to the apple skin. Add the apple skin to the squash with 3
tablespoons of the shallot, the garlic, and a pinch of the thyme. Cook,
stirring, until the shallot and garlic are tender and aromatic, about 5
minutes. Stir in the vegetable stock and simmer until the squash is very
tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the hazelnuts, then work in batches
to purée the ingredients in a blender or food processor until very
smooth. Strain the soup through a fine sieve back into the pan and set
aside.
Core the apple and cut it into 1/4-inch dice. Heat 1
tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat until
melted and foamy white. Add the diced apple with the remaining teaspoon
of shallot and remaining pinch of thyme. Sauté the apple, tossing gently
a few times, until it just begins to soften but still holds its shape, 1
to 2 minutes. Add the apple juice. (If using Calvados, carefully light the liquid with a long
match, and flambé until the flames subside.) Take the pan from the heat
and stir in the chives with salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat the oven to 450-degrees-F.
Melt
the remaining 3 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan, then
take the pan from the heat. Lay 1 of the phyllo sheets horizontally on
the work surface and lightly butter the surface with some of the melted
butter. Lay another sheet on top and brush it with butter as well.
Repeat with a third sheet of phyllo dough. Cut the phyllo sheets in
quarters vertically. Spoon 1/4 of the apple filling onto the bottom
center of 1 phyllo portion, about 2 inches up from the bottom. Fold the
bottom edge of dough up over the filling, then fold in both long edges
to make an even vertical strip. Fold the filled portion of dough upward
as for a flag, forming a phyllo packet in a triangular shape (or simply
fold upward to make a square packet). Brush the top of the packet with
more melted butter and set it on a heavy baking sheet. Repeat with the
remaining phyllo strips and apple filling. Bake the apple-hazelnut
phyllo packets until crisp and well browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
While
the phyllo packets are baking, finish the soup. Stir in the crème
fraîche and hazelnut flavoring (or Frangelico), then use an immersion blender to fully
incorporate. Taste the soup for seasoning, adding more salt or pepper to
taste, and gently reheat over medium heat.
To serve, ladle the
hot soup into warmed shallow soup bowls. Garnish with dots of beet
coulis around the outer edge of the soup and drizzle pumpkin seed oil
lightly over the surface of the soup. Set a phyllo packet in the center
of each soup and serve right away.
Fresh goat cheese is an optional addition to the apple-hazelnut filling
for the phyllo packets, offering a touch of tangy complement to the rich
soup. Note that some phyllo producers now sell half-sized sheets of
phyllo rather than the more common full-sized 14 by 18-inch sheets. If
you purchase the smaller sheets, form 2 triple-layer sheets and halve
each lengthwise.
--Thierry Rautureau
French-born Thierry Rautureau
moved to Seattle and opened Rover's in 1987. Since then, both chef
Rautureau and Rover's have received endless national and local
recognition and accolades, including four James Beard Foundation
nominations for Best Chef in the Northwest, winning the honor in 1998.
Chef Rautureau resides in Seattle, Washington with his family.
