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.

Black bean and turkey soup

I know I haven't been here in a while and I don't know how often I'll be able to update but I've gone through some changes in the past few months. I've started eating... healthily. I know I know what the hell. But I had a health scare and decided I needed to lose some weight. While I am perfectly happy working out to lose weight that never quite does it for me, even if it is a big part, so I had to make some diet changes. But not an actual DIET. Recently one of my friends suggested that maybe I should start writing about my new recipes because well, I've become a better cook in the past few years and I'm all about discovering new delicious stuff that maybe isn't quite as bad for me. So here is one I found online and made on a whim last night. I think it turned out pretty good and we'll definitely be making it again. Adapted from food and wine magazine
 1/4 pound sliced bacon, cut into bits (around 6 slices)
 1 onion, chopped
 1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons dried oregano
 2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 15-ounce can)
1 quart canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 2/3 cups drained and rinsed canned black beans (one 15-ounce can)
 1 pound of leftover roasted turkey breast cut into 1 in cubes
 10 ounces spinach, stems removed, leaves washed and cut crosswise into strips 

In a large stainless-steel pot, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pot. If you use center cut bacon I found that you don't have to drain off the fat. Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cocoa, Tabasco sauce, oregano, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the black beans and turkey to the pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the bacon. You can add the spinach in at this point and cook for a minute, or if you aren't planning on eating all at once you can add the spinach to the very hot bowls of soup and let them wilt in the bowls so you don't have wilty spinach in your leftovers. Serve with grated cheddar cheese and fritos or Tostidos. If you want to make it a little lighter eliminate the toppings. Serves 2 dinner portions and 2 lunch portions or 3 large dinner portions. Approximately 300 calories per serving

Recap- Homegrown's Cambridge Soup Swap

This past Saturday at Atwood’s Tavern in Cambridge, Bostonist attended our first official Soup Swap, hosted by Homegrown.org. A website founded by Farm Aid to help spread their message, Homegrown.org provides a community for people dedicated to supporting small, local farms, home gardening efforts, great cooking, good fresh food, and a connection to the source of our food.

This Saturday marked the second soup swap in the Boston area run by Cornelia Hoskin of Homegrown.org. The last swap in January was hosted in Cornelia’s home and was reportedly a roaring success. This spring’s swap was moved to Atwood’s to ensure enough room for the participants hoping to stock up on enough soup to last them through the rest of the cold weather.

The concept behind the swap was simple: everyone participating in the swap was asked to make six quarts of soup and separate it into six different containers, preferably quart sized Ziplocs. At the swap, they got to choose six other quarts of soup. Thus they left with the same amount of soup they arrived with, but now six different varieties instead of just one. In addition to their soup for swapping, participants were also asked to bring a can of soup or a monetary donation for the Greater Boston Food Bank.

This Bostonist forgot to label her cream of broccoli soup, but Cornelia was prepared with a pile of Post-its and pens. As people trickled in, the soups were placed on a central table and momentarily forgotten while people mingled. Everyone was really friendly and of course shared a love of cooking and good fresh food. Recipes were swapped, occupations discussed, drinks drunk, and new friendships were made by all. Once all of the participants had arrived, the soups became the center of attention. Each participant drew a number and, once the order was established, people were asked to participate in The Telling of the Soup. This tradition involves the chefs telling the rest of the group anything about their soup that they feel is important to share, such as the ingredients, the recipe’s origin, or even a personal story about making the soup.

After The Telling of the Soup, people were encouraged to go up and pick their six new soups. There was an abundance of vegetarian options at this swap, and this Bostonist ended up with a little bit of everything from zucchini leek to sixteen bean vegetarian soup.

In addition to the soup, participants also left with Homegrown buttons and a map of the Boston area’s local community gardens. Overall this was a great gathering, with great people and over the course of the afternoon, there was talk of some more summer based swaps like a salsa swap and an ice cream swap, so keep your eye on the Homegrown website for more info on future swaps and other events. If you are interested in hosting your own soup swap, go here.

Originally posted on the Bostonist