Copycat Soup

Last Thursday night

some friends and I 

had the BEST Butternut Squash Soup.


We were at a fun Tabletop Event at First Baptist Church of The Woodlands.

Congrats to the Women's Ministry on a great night!


The star of the meal was the soup.

It was smooth and sweet,
and yet had the most intriguing spicy kick.

Don't you just love a spicy kick?

Don't you just love intrigue?



I determined that night

that my 274th life goal would be to duplicate

that seductive taste.



Excuse me for saying the words Seductive and Church in the same post.

I hope we're all still friends.



Anyway, this morning I made the difficult decision to hop from Life Goal #5 right on over to #274!

I like to do things out of order.

Mix things up.

Keep people guessing.

It's all a part of my Mystery.




The Chief has another word to describe it,

but Mystery is so much more flattering.



My version isn't an identical copy, of course,

but I think you'll like it just the same.

Disclaimer:  I wish I could say this is a 'healthy soup', but alas, I'm afraid it would be a misnomer.  It has a bit (cup) of cream in it.  But it's the season of bulky jackets and stretchy pants - who's to know??


I'll walk you through the steps, then put the condensed recipe at the end.
But don't skip over the pictures and explanations - There are safety instructions!

All photos are from my trusty phone,

as my recently untrusty camera was being impertinent once again.




Don't you just hate it when cameras are untrustworthy and impertinent?



Start with one Butternut Squash.

In an effort to increase awareness of the Butternut Squash,

they are all now grown with an identifying sticker attached.

 

The hardest part of this whole recipe is next.

You've got to peel and cut up that big sucker.

First,  get out a stack of these.

Just kidding!  But really, you might want to keep a couple handy.

Cut it in half

Then scoop out all of the seeds.

If I was Martha, I would have saved the seeds and dried, toasted, and salted them for a little snack..

At the very least I would have made a wreath out of them.

But I'm Lu.

I tossed them down the garbage disposal.



Please take my advice on this step.

Cut the halves into smaller pieces that are easier to handle.  This makes the peeling easier and less dangerous.  Make sure your knife is really sharp.

Or maybe not.

Just consider your knife skills level and sharpen your knife accordingly.

You want to end up with nice peeled pieces about 1 inch square.  Although we're going to puree' it all in a little bit, so don't stress over the size or shape.

And I know I made some poorly thought-out promise yesterday about limiting the pictures of my Texasware, but I haven't ever shown you this new one that I got at Round Top this year, and I thought the two colors together was so contrasting, complimentary, analogous, uh... cool.

Set the squash aside.

Chop one half of a white onion, one or two garlic cloves (my garlic cloves were ginormous so I just used one), and one carrot.

In a dutch oven, heat two tablespoons of olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of butter.

Add the garlic and onion and cook until it just starts to slightly brown.

Now add the carrot, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg.

Cook all this for about 5 minutes.


Next, dump in the Squash and 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (that's the kick!) and stir everything together.

Now add 2 cups of chicken stock.
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let it cook about 15 to 20 minutes.
Until the squash is very tender.

Let it cool for a few minutes, then in a couple of batches puree it until smooth in the food processor.

Or you could use an immersion blender.

But I have been officially banned by The Chief from ever again using

1)  The Weedeater

2)  The Immersion Blender

Just return the pureed mixture back to the dutch oven you cooked it in.

Now for the good part.

Stir in 1/4 c. brown sugar, and 3/4 c.-1 c. heavy cream!

Put it on really, really, low heat and just get it all nice and hot again.

Taste and add a little more salt if you want...

I drizzled a tiny bit of cream on this individual serving for the picture...

and because I'm unruly.

Hope you like it!

Here's the recipe:





Butternut Squash Soup

1 Butternut squash peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 white onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c.-1 c. heavy cream

Peel and chop the squash.  Set aside.
Chop the onion, garlic, and carrot.
Heat 2 T olive oil, and 2 T Butter in Dutch oven.  Add the onion and garlic - cook until they just begin to brown.  Add the carrot, cumin, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Cook about 5 minutes.
Add the squash and red pepper flakes, stir.
Add chicken broth.  Cook 15-20 minutes until squash is tender.
In batches, puree the mixture until smooth.
Return the mixture to the dutch oven.  Stir in the brown sugar and cream.  Heat on VERY low heat.
Adjust seasonings to taste.

Enjoy!