Monday, September 27, 2010

{Trying to} Welcome Fall!

(apples from the Farmers Market)

I am a summer girl all the way. I love the sun, the heat, the long days, all of it. I'm from Arizona, what can I say? BUT, I'm trying to be better about embracing the here, and now. And here and now, I live in a place that has all four seasons, and cooler weather. I've been enjoying fresh apples from the farmers market and we took our customary drive up Payson Canyon to see the fall leaves, and I took NO pictures! I know, how could I? I'll refer you to this song for explanation:





O, love that song. (Sorry the video's a little shaky, but the audio quality is pretty good.)
Anyway, another fall activity I look forward to is making delicious butternut squash soup. And this year is extra special since I grew my own butternut squash! (remember how it took over my back yard? Suffice it to say, the takeover is even more complete these days!) I have a fantastic recipe my mom created that I love (and will definitely be making soon), but yesterday I decided to make up a recipe of my own. I'm not gonna lie, I'm really impressed with myself. It turned out amazing, and you're going to want to try it. So here it is:

Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque

1/2 a large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 small shallot, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
3-4 cups chicken broth
aprox. 2 tsp. rubbed sage
salt and pepper to taste
oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss squash cubes with sage, salt, pepper, and oil to coat. Spread out cubes on a cookie sheet. Roast squash until tender, about 25-30 minutes.

In a large dutch oven, saute shallot and garlic until soft. Add roasted squash and chicken broth. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Add more or less broth depending on your desired thickness. You'll notice from the picture that I like mine thick. My husband says it reminds him of baby food, but baby food is not nearly this delicious. If you prefer something thinner, you can add more broth or evaporated milk, regular milk, whatever you like.

That's it! So simple, and so delicious. The only thing this soup was missing was a nice crusty roll to enjoy with it. Let me know if you try it!

5 comments:

Nancy said...

man that looks sooo good! I'm going to have to try that , I need to go get a hand mixer thing for making soups like that this Fall. And btw I'm from AZ too and I'm more of a Fall person, it probably has something to do with the fact that I've never looked very good in a swimsuit, I'm more of a sweater girl.

Unknown said...

holy cow that looks SOOOOO good. my mouth is literally watering. I got a bunch of stuff ready in the nursery today and my sister asked about your blanket. She thought it was the cutest thing ever! just thought I'd let ya know! :-)

Katie said...

That sounds so good, but I'm more interested in those apples. Yum! They look delish!

abby said...

i can't wait to try this! steve makes a really good squash soup too, although i think he just wings it every time instead of a recipe. i can't do that!

pam said...

We loved the butternut squash you brought Saturday night. Thank you so much. We finished up the left overs the next day. Your soup looks great! How much squash do you have left on your prolific plant?