Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

It's that time of year....where I become obsessed with soups. I was driving home without a plan for dinner (not good friends...not good) We got some butternut squash in the CSA last week and had gone apple picking. Why not combine them and make soup. Genius!

1 small butternut squash, cubed (you can always cheat and by the precut stuff, no judgement here)
1 apple, cubed
1 small onion, diced
veggie stock
dash of garlic powder
dash of onion powder
dash of cumin
salt and pepper

boil the squash, apple and onion in the stock until tender. Puree. stir in the spices and salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh grated sharp cheddar. So yummy! and Warm!

Cauliflower Soup for a Crowd

So we had the Tribe over a few nights back. I was in the mood for something quick, easy, yummy, and warm. Soup! I was inspired by this blog post I read over on Steamy Kitchen. I had picked up a head of cauliflower at the Troy Farmer's Market, and while I was there, I also saw so gorgeous leek and decided to get those too. We had some potatoes from the CSA share as well, so I thought to my self, heck why not throw them in too? Now, I'm going to give you fair warning, this make a TON of soup. If you just want a little, scale the recipe down by half (very easy) or just freeze it!

2 heads of cauliflower chopped into those little floret thingys.
2 leeks, sliced and floated in some water to clean em up real good.
2 potatoes, chopped, skins and all
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 boxes of stock. ( I used 2 chicken, 2 veggie)
2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Throw the veggies, stock and garlic into a stock pot. Boil til all the veggies are tender (about 40 minutes or so). Blend the heck out of it. I'd recommend the blender for this task, unless you have the best immersion blender ever. Next add in your salt, pepper and cream. Stir to incorporate everything. Garnish with bacon and gorgonzola. Yumminess and magic happen.