[RAZIE]

Can anyone out there help with a yummy butternut soup recipe that's really great and will knock the socks off my guests!!

[lamington]

How about fairly simple: fry onions in butter until golden, add cubed butternut and sautee for a minute or three. Cover with chicken or vegetable stock. When tender, puree well. Add just a little cream and adjust thickness of soup. Season with black pepper. Salt if necessary. Serve with a blob of sour cream, OR parmesan.

FOr really impressive... make a cooked beetroot puree and swirl it through the butternut soup in the bowl to make a pattern. Serve with sour cream or good parmesan.

[RAZIE]

Thanks
I like the beetroot story. Do I just cook the beetrot and puree and swirl!!

[lamington]

Yep. If you want more flavour, you could add something to the beetroot puree... not sure offhand what. Sour cream in the puree, rather than served separately? Or maybe just a touch of a 'dark' spice. Hmmm. Also, you could pour the beetroot puree into the bottom of the bowl, then gently pour on the butternut. Might create a 'halo' around the soup when the bowl is full. You could draw up a little more puree with the end of a chopstick or something.

[RAZIE]

Thanks ever so much. Gonna give it a bash. Are you also into cake decorating?

[lamington]

Hi there. No, haven't ever had enough mouths around me to experiment with cakes, let alone decorating them!

It was dinner time just after I suggested the soup with beetroot, so I went and made it myself. Here are some comments:

If the soup is quite thin, then the textural difference of using thick beetroot puree is interesting, but you might be better off piping it onto the surface of the soup if you want to make it look attractive.

I tried a puree with a little rosemary, and it would go well with a quite savoury butternut soup, and cheese, probably parmesan. I also tried a beetroot puree with a little sourcream and I think this would go with a quite sweet pumpkin soup. No cheese.

have fun!

[RAZIE]

Thanks for the tid bits. I am an avid cake decorator and love experimenting with food. I am definitely going to give it a bash!!

[StrangeBrew]

Dang Lamington, you got my creative juices flowing, i might just have to try this for dinner tonight hehe...sounds delicious

[Chefkell]

I serve this at my place in the fall. You can vary the booze to what's avalable too...Kahlua, Rum, Apple Scnapps all work well.

Butternut Squash Bisque
With Bourbon Maple Syrup



For the Soup

3lb. Butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 qt heavy cream
½ cup brown sugar
¼ pound butter
1 qt milk
1tsp. Ground nutmeg
2 tsp. Dry mustard
1Tb. Ground cinnamon
salt and pepper

1. In a heavy bottom pot melt the butter and add the onion and the garlic; cook over med-low heat till just softened and translucent.
2. Add the brown sugar and simmer till melted in
3. Add Butternut Squash, nutmeg, mustard, cinnamon milk and cream and simmer till the Squash is cooked through
4. Put soup in the blender (carefully) and puree.
5. Strain through a china cap and season to taste with salt and pepper.



For the Bourbon Maple Syrup

1 cup Bourbon
3 ice cubes…Ooops wrong recipe!
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup Maple Syrup

1. In a small pot add brown sugar and bourbon and reduce( watch out for spontaneous combustion) till thickened and foamy.
2. Add Maple Syrup and simmer 3 more minutes
3. Let cool to room temp before using

[lamington]

mmmm that sounds yummy. But mine was quicker teeheehee.

[RAZIE]

Yum, yum. Wow, another version ... sounds goooooooood and definitely a calorie killer!!!!

[Anneke]

Razie,

I like to add a couple of steps to my butternut squash soup. I split the squash open lengthwise, oil them, spice them up with whatever I'm in the mood for (cumin, cinnamon, coriander, cayenne, allspice), brush a little maple syrup over them, and roast them for a while. How long? It depends. I once accidentally roasted them to the point where they had almost completely dried up; it was the best butternut squash soup I'd ever made! After the roasting you proceed as usual, with the mirepoix, add the squash, you may deglaze with a little Cognac or what not. Add vegetable or chicken stock, cook til soft and puree.

I don't add cream or milk in my soup. I find it is rich enough as it is, and I like to give my guests room for the rest of the meal. The roasting with the spices and maple brings out a whole other depth of flavour which I think you will enjoy.

Good luck!

[RAZIE]

Yummy .... the roasting sounds like it gives an added zing to the soup. Will let you know once I have tried it. I note your location is Canada. Have you ever accessed Goldaskitchen site? I love shopping .. but then who doesn't?

[Marzoli]

This is a cool thread. I see butternut squashes at our little market sometimes--always wondered what ya do with them.
I think I'll be trying the soup.

[ChefHogan]

Great information here, the sponge absorbs....

Hogan