Curried Butternut Squash Soup - It's a butternut squash Kind Of Day

After our blistering hot summer here in the South and almost everywhere around the country it’s been a welcome relief to see the palm trees rustle (not as in a hurricane strength winds) and feel the lack of humidity in the air.   I’ve lived here in paradise (Hilton Head, SC) for the past five years and my blood finally has thinned so a drop of temperatures to the low seventies spurs the feeling of autumn.   We don’t get the leaves changing colors like other places, the palm fronds just drop (just not the same visual spectacular) So, I wanted to bring the fall into my kitchen.   What better way than with butternut squash and soup? I made butternut squash soup last year for Thanksgiving and I made a vat of it, which was completely unnecessary given all the other dishes we had.   I had squash soup coming out of my and every one else’s ears.   So this time I made half as much.   I had some delicious homemade chicken stock in the freezer from a little catering job I did for the Evening of the Arts Artist Reception.   I made Coronation Chicken for one hundred and fifty.   After poaching five chickens, and reducing the liquid again, I had a rich batch of chicken stock left.   A perfect base for Curried Butternut Squash Soup.

  So here you are I was careful on the quantity, since I didn’t want it in the fridge forever again.   I didn’t need to worry about that, it was gone by the evening.   I’m off to Publix after I post for more squash and the ingredients for tonight’s dinner of Texas Beef Brisket Chili. I’m testing the recipe in this month’s Bon Appetite today.   I’ll report and post that tomorrow.   Now I can’t wait to pull out my All-Clad slow cooker.   A true sign in my kitchen that autumn has arrived.   The bread machine will be next…my son will love that!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

serves 6

1 large butternut squash, peeled quartered and seeded

1 sweet potato, peeled and quartered

1 large onion peeled and quartered

4 tablespoons curry powder            

32 oz chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Canola oil for roasting

Preheat oven to 425 ° F.    Make sure all the vegetables are cut into uniform sizes so they roast evenly.   In a baking dish large enough to hold the vegetables without crowding too much (you want them to have room to roast not steam in the oven) toss with the canola oil, curry powder and season with salt and pepper.   Roast for approximately 30 minutes until the squash is fork tender.   Transfer the vegetables to a sauce pan (my 9-quart Le Creuset worked perfectly) deglaze the roasting dish with a little stock scraping up any bits of stuck on vegetables, add to pan and cover with chicken stock.   Simmer gently for twenty minutes or so, then liquidize.  

It's All Delicious Notes:  The soup will be on the thick side, which I liked, but you may want to add a bit more stock.