Reply #8: Squash Soup:

[mb7588a]

I can't post in the group forum because I am not a donor (poor grad student, sigh), but here is my very favorite squash soup recipe. I made it last night for a pre-Thanksgiving potluck that included many picky eaters. They all enjoyed it. It has that perfect spicy that burns that back of your throat rather than the tip of your tongue - good chili does the same thing. The ancho chili powder and cayenne is key for this effect.

1 large butternut squash
1 large acorn squash
1 medium sweet onion
1 T olive oil
2 T butter
3 T brown sugar
1 T maple syrup
3/4 C orange juice
1/4 C apple juice
1 T black pepper
1/2 t cayenne pepper (careful!)
1/2 t ancho chili powder
1/2 t red chili powder
1/2 t curry powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and cut both squashes in half. Remove the webbing inside, but set the seeds aside in a bowl of warm water after rinsing and removing any remaining squash bits. Chop squash into 1" chunks and place in a large stock pot. Pour water over until all the squash is covered and bring to a boil.

While the squash boils, caramelize the onion in a nonstick pan using the olive oil and butter.

Spray cooking oil/spray (I prefer olive oil.) on a baking sheet. Dry the seeds in a towel and place on the sheet in a short pile. Spray the seeds with the oil/spray also. Stir the seeds on the sheet so all are coated with the oil/spray. Sprinkle the seeds with garlic powder, salt, pepper and red chili powder. Stir again and shuffle into a thin layer on the sheet. Place in oven, stir every 5 minutes. Remove the seeds when they start to pop or have turned slightly more than golden brown and are quite crispy.

When the squash easily falls apart but has not pulverized (approx. 25 minutes?), use a slotted spoon, place squash chunks into a blender. Ladle the boiling water over the top until squash is covered in the blender. Blend until smooth on lowest blender setting. (May have to repeat several times depending on the size of your blender.) On the final blend, add the onions to the blender and blend with the squash and boiling water.

You should have some boiling water left over, set that aside in case you want to add it to the soup later.

Combine the blended mixture back into the stock pot and add the brown sugar, maple syrup, orange and apple juices and the spices. Do the cayenne pepper last and only do a little bit at a time and taste while doing it so you won't be killing your guests. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes before serving.

I like to serve it with a condiment selection that the guests can put on top: the seeds (Try it! It adds a great smokey flavor!), cranberry sauce, plain nonfat yogurt, chopped smoked sandwich turkey.

Enjoy!