I am a
locavore and, as much as possible, I only consume food grown here in the Pacific Northwest. I belong to an amazing Community Supported Agriculture farm called
Helsing Junction. I also support restaurants that promote local eating. I got started when I heard about the
100 mile diet-- and haven't looked back. To be clear, the 100 mile diet isn't any sort of weight loss plan, but where you only eat food grown locally. I've expanded my locavorism a bit-- down through Oregon and out through Idaho, but almost everything I eat was either made or grown in Washington, Oregon or Idaho (although all those makers may not use all local ingredients). From
cupcakes to
honey to
meat to
cheese-- I rock the local eating. I rock all manner of eating.
All of this local eating over the last few years has really tuned me into the seasons-- I don't eat tomatoes at any time but late August or early September. I know what time of year juicy strawberries will be in my belly and I know all sorts of things to do with plums, apricots, cherries and peaches at the height of summer. In the spring I eat lots of stir-fried peas of varrying types and the smell of shucked peas lingers on my hands through the mid summer months.
Now though, it is drizzly with a high of 46 degrees. My farm share is done for the year and I'll be stocking up on locally grown sweet potatoes to go with my storage share of onions, shallots, squash and russet potatoes. Kale and chard will fill my soups, green smoothies and accompany my parsnip mash for dinner.
One a chilly, icky day like today one of my favorite autumn dishes is curried squash soup. It is one of my many recipes that I made up as I go along and it has proven to be a staple for me.
This soup is thick, comforting, satisfying and fills you up with warmth. It is super easy to make too.
You'll need:
2 acorn squash, roasted (you can also use delicata, pumpkin or dumpling squash; a mixture of all of them or any other sweet, winter squash but the texture will change)
1 onion, sliced
32 ounces of broth (I use chicken broth that I make every few months, but four cups of boxed or canned works too!)
4 table spoons of butter
A few tablespoons of curry (I make my own because I like it very spicy but jarred curry powder will work!)
A splash of cream or milk
Salt and pepper (cayenne or black) to taste.
1. Roast your squash. I find that roasting helps develop the flavor of the squash, improves the texture of the soup and cuts lots of cooking time (and again, saves flavor from boiling away). You can roast well in advance one day and then whip the soup up in half an hour.Cut your squash open, lengthwise and remove the seeds. drizzle olive oil over the exposed flesh inside and roast at 350 for an hour to ninety minutes, or until tender. Scoop out the flesh of the squash with a spoon once it has cooled some. Roasted squash is sort of crumbly in many instances, so using a potato peeler or paring knife to remove skin helps if your squash is too hard to handle. Try to not get skin in with the pulp/flesh of your squash.
2. When you're ready to make your soup, coarsely chop an onion and saute it in 2 table spoons of butter in a large saucepan/dutch oven. Really, you'll be using an immersion blender to smooth this soup out so the chop on your onion doesn't need to be pretty. Saute until tender over medium heat.
3.Add your roasted squash to the onions and butter. Allow it to cook for about five minutes. Add another tablespoon of butter.
4. Add your broth and increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Reduce again and let simmer for 15 -20 minutes.
5. Taste the broth. Does it need salt? It probably does. This won't taste like your final product at all, but it is a good time to start adjusting the seasoning.
6. Bring the heat down to low and add the last of the butter. Use an immersion blender to blend the chunks of squash pulp, onion and broth in the saucepan. When smooth taste it to see how the texture is. I like my soup richer so I tend to thicken it with a bit of butter/flour rue if I'm unhappy with the thinness. Ideally, the texture should coat the back of your spoon (and allow you to write your name in it).
7. Season. Add your curry. Curry is super easy to make and you can experiment with proportion. Again, I like my curry spicy so I use lots of cayenne, garlic, turmeric and some smoked paprika in addition to more normal volumes of cumin, coriander, cardamom and ginger. The curry is an excellent accompaniment to the sweetness of the winter squash, but adjust it until it seems right to you.
8. Allow the soup to simmer about ten minutes longer and add your cream as a finishing element to loosen the soup (it will have cooked down a bit by now). The cream improves the mouth feel but milk will work too. Do any last minute seasoning adjustments (salt, pepper).
9. Garnish with a bit of cream, or not.
10. Enjoy!
