Fantastic Berry Sauce

There is a local restaurant Solea . They make a roast duck leg and breast with a berry sauce that I LOVE. I sometimes have a hard time not licking it off of the plate. When I decided to learn to make duck I decided to make up my own version of this sauce as well. All of the people who have tried my sauce say that it's like Solea's only better. That may be because they love me but I honestly have to keep myself from drinking this stuff straight. :) Enjoy!

Berry sauce. 
1 cup of pom wonderful pomegranate juice 
3/4 cup of Pama pomegranate Liquor 
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar 
2 packages blackberries
2 packages raspberries 
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1T honey 

Combine the pomegranate juice, Pama, and Balsamic Vinegar. Let simmer for 5 minutes until a bit of the alcohol has cooked off. 

Add in the berries and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the blackberries are starting to break down. You can encourage the berries to break down by smushing them a little.
Once the berries have broken down, strain through a fine mesh sieve. Use a rubber spatula to get all of the pulp possible off of the berries. (Warning, this will take a little while and might hurt your wrist, if you can get a helper to relieve you for a couple of minutes do it!) Discard the seeds once you are certain you aren't going to get anything out of them. Then clean the sieve and strain one more time to make sure you haven't missed any seeds. Return to the original pan, again make sure there are no seeds in there. Set the heat to low to heat the sauce up. Add honey or lemon juice to taste, you want it to be tart enough that your mouth waters but still with a sweet edge to it. 


This makes a crapton of sauce, but it freezes really well so you can use it later, this stuff is great on duck, butternut squash, on top of a baked brie and I'm sure it has many other uses as well.

Butternut Squash Puree

This is a combination of my own original recipe and some advice I got from a chef at a food event. This swirled with my berry sauce is a beautiful addition to any holiday table and it's also delicious and pretty good for you for those of you looking for a side dish that won't pack on the extra pounds.


Butternut squash puree

2 butternut squash 
2 T olive oil
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2-3T honey 
3-4T light cream 
dash of nutmeg
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
Line a baking sheet with grill foil, or regular foil brushed with olive oil.
Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Brush the flesh with olive oil. Place the squash halves skin side up on the baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes or until a fork can pierce the flesh easily. Let the squash cool until you can remove the skin. Place the flesh in a bowl and use an emersion blender to puree ( you can also use a blender, or Cuisinart). Once the puree is smooth, you can mix in the honey, cream, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg to taste. You want a nice rich puree with some character. 

Roasted butternut squash soup

A few weeks ago or a month I don't remember now. Someone invited me to a soup pot luck. I was feeling lazy the day I was asked so I planned on stopping and picking up soup at New England Soup Factory. However, at the last minute my obsessive nature kicked in and I decided that I needed to make soup. I was feeling really obsessed with Roasted butternut squash soup in particular so I set out to find an easy recipe to make. Then I got worried about it coming out wrong so I of course made another soup but that is for a different post.
Of course Williams-Sonoma came through with an easy recipe. The recipe below is adapted from this one.

2 large butternut squashes, each 1 1/2 to 2 lb.
olive oil
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
4 large shallots, chopped
8 fresh sage leaves, shredded
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock or canned broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Ground nutmeg, to taste, if needed
Pinch of sugar, if needed
1/3 cup hazelnuts
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Then, brush the flesh with olive oil and place skin up flesh down on a baking pan covered with tin foil ( if you can find grill foil I highly recommend it). Roast until they feel somewhat soft to the touch and a knife penetrates the skin easily, about 45 min-1 hour. Remove from the oven and, when cool enough to handle remove the skin.

While the squashes are cooling, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant and the skins have loosened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and, while still warm, place the nuts in a kitchen towel. Rub the towel vigorously to remove the skins; do not worry if small bits of skin remain. run them through a food processor for a couple of pulses to chop them up.

In a large soup pot saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots and the sage and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are tender and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the stock and squash pulp, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for a few minutes to combine the flavors. Remove from the heat.

Use an immersion blender to smooth out the soup ( alternatively you could blend the soup in batches in a food processor or blender but this soup is practically made for an immersion blender.  Reheat gently over medium-low heat. Season with salt and pepper. If the squash is starchy rather than sweet, a little nutmeg will help. If the nutmeg does not give the proper flavor balance, add a pinch of sugar. This is a nice basic butternut squash soup but, if you want to add a little kick  you can add some fresh ginger to taste before you blend the soup.

The hazelnuts are meant to be an optional garnish but I personally refuse to eat this soup without them.