Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque

I recently went to the farmer’s market and got myself quite a spread. As you can see below, you can buy a lot with just 13$ Canadian. Add in a chicken, and you have the basis for a great meal. You do not have to be fancy or too terribly skilled. You just have to want to put something better on the table than the preservative, flavor-enhanced garbage the fast food companies want you to eat.

It is all about value for your dollar, so take a little trip with me. I did a little shopping at the local farmer’s market, and this is what I ended up with. (Minus the chicken, I bought it at the local IGA.) Today we are going to look at a few things that are in season: butternut squash, acorn squash, apples, new potatoes, garlic, rosemary, carrots and onions.

I am going to make two courses with this spread here. Total cost? It was $18.00 CDN with the chicken. (The chicken is free range… and worth the investment.)

First off, a soup:

I stopped by the local IGA and did myself for a search for a soup that would have the ingredients that I bought. I figured butternut would be a good soup. A look over at the Campbell’s section found me this:

Sorry that the picture is blurry… my cell phone takes crappy pictures while my shaky hands are holding the box. I guess one could set up a tripod, but the folks at the grocery store probably would frown on that. Here is the list of ingredients on the back of that bad boy:

Butternut Squash, Water, Carrots (Cheaters!) Cream, Sugar, Dehydrated onion, Carrot Juice Concentrate, Dehydrated Potatoes (that also have sodium phosphate), yeast extract, modified corn starch, sea salt (wow!), buttermilk powder, butter, parsley, lemon juice concentrate, and spice (oh how obtuse!)

Let me see, carrots in butternut squash soup? That is a cheater’s version. Something you do when you are in the shit, and have no more butternut squash. Why use sugar? I think it was to mask the pissy flavor of the carrot juice, and dehydrated onions. I understand the potatoes, because there is not enough squash to thicken the soup, but yeast extract?

I have never put that in a soup, EVER.

Now, here is my version, with 6 ingredients, not including the salt and pepper. Follow me, and I will show that you will never have to buy that other crap again.

While the soup sounds like it is a gourmet sensation, the components of this soup could not be any more basic. If you have and can do the following, you will have it made!

One onion peeled and chopped small dice.

One small clove of garlic, peeled and smashed.

Butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and diced. (I am not quite done that here.)

Begin to sweat those ingredients in a medium sized pot. You will need to cook for a few minutes for the vegetables to soften. Then you add:

Two of these bad boys full of vegetable stock. One day I will make a post on how to make this easy stock. You could use water if you like. Some would say to use chicken stock. I believe that the flavors of the soup should be clean. I do not like butternut soup that tastes like chicken and butternut. (I would use chicken stock if the soup is supposed to be chicken and butternut soup.)

Okay, so the soup is starting to come to a simmer. Let the soup continue at a simmer for a good 15 minutes. You can cover it if you like. The goal is for the squash to become fork-tender.

Here are some unassuming apples. Peel and core them, then chop them into large chunks.

Cook the apples for a good 5 to 10 minutes. They should be soft. Blend the soup with a hand blender until it is nice and creamy. I accidentally had a couple of chunks of squash left. Thing is, one *could* strain the soup if they were serving it a picky critic in a 5 diamond restaurant. The point is to serve something so good that the person won’t mind eating the occasional texture enhancing chunk of vegetable goodness.

Here is the soup in all its goodness. One would argue that I need a sprinkle of parsley to give it some green, or some crème fraîche so it will be creamy, etc. Listen, try the soup first, and appreciate the flavor, and you will know what I mean when I say that it does not need anything else.

Bon Appétit!

Here is the recipe for those of you looking for something more concrete than the description above.

Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque

Servings: 8

Yield: 2 liters

Ingredients:

• 30 g butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled, smashed
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and chopped
• 1000 mL vegetable stock
• 4 large apples peeled, cored and sliced
• to taste salt
• to taste pepper, freshly ground

Method:

1. Sweat onions in butter over medium heat until they are just soft, but not colored.
2. Add garlic, sweat for 1 minute.
3. Add butternut squash and cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add vegetable stock, cover and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat; simmer gently until the butternut squash is fork tender.
6. Add chopped apples; cook until apples are starting to break up.
7. Blend together with hand blender until the soup is a smooth consistency.
8. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
9. Serve to your adoring fans.

Tagged as: apple, butternut squash, fall, garlic, ingredients, October, puree, recipe, seasonal, soup, vegetarian