7:26pm: As I said before, I made butternut squash soup earlier this week from another recipe that had me cut the butternut squash in half and roast it face down on a cookie sheet in the oven until it was fully cooked and soft, you can tell because the skin will nearly melt off. This way, the squash is soft and easily liquidizes in the soup and is already cooked, removing the need for an immersion blender. Great roasted flavor that way as well.
7:23pm: Verdict: too watery. Cookbook edited for next time. Can't win them all! The butternut squash seeds are still amazing though, that was a good discovery.
For most soups, it's always possible to add "thickeners" a.k.a. flour or cornmeal or a grain that absorbs water like rice.
7:22pm: Next step adding 1/4 cup of orange juice and some salt. More immersion blending.
7:20pm: Got out the pen to edit the cookbook. Cutting the amount of water added in 1/2. This is another reason why it is smart to add water in small amounts so that these things can be judged.
7:18pm: Decided not to transfer to the blender. Keeping the soup on the heat and Karlee's continuing to try her immersion blender.
7:12 pm: Disaster aversion for soup that's too watery. Tried mashing the pieces of squash with a whisk and not working. We're transferring to a blender to get the squash pieces to blend up. I'm honestly surprised this recipe doesn't call to bake the butternut squash soup first. I'll talk about that later--that would be my edit to this recipe, then no immersion blenders, etc are necessary!
7:07pm: Seeds are toasted and crunchy and fantastic! Great flavor. Soup may take a little salvaging. Turning the heat back on to medium and keeping the lid off to cook off liquid.
7:05pm: Karlee's remembering that last time she didn't add as much water as the recipe calls for and is thinking this looks way too watery. Common issue with making soups. Solution #1: let it cook longer and cook off some of the liquid. We'll try that after we finish blending.
7:04pm: Turned the heat off on the soup. We're christening Karlee's immersion blender, this allows her to mix the soup in the pot...and trying to not spray paint our kitchen with butternut squash.
7:03pm: Seeds too mushy. Adding salt and more time. We want them toasted!
7:02pm: Checking the seeds, deciding we're looking for a golden brown. A minute away from the next step of the soup.
6:58pm: Putting the seeds in the oven, planning to check on them in a few minutes so as to avoid burning! Getting out salt and orange juice for the soup.
6:57pm: Stirring the soup, seven minutes left of cooking. The recipe calls for "simmer" so I'm explaining what exactly "simmer" means: the presence of the small bubbles or movement in soup, not quite boiling but also not static.
6:55pm: Drying the seeds before placing on a cookie sheet and adding salt. By the way, Kosher salt or Mediterranean salt is better for all cooking than table salt. I remember that was a big realization for me. Plus it's better for you, and it requires smaller amounts because it's more potent. (Salt for baking is another story)
6:50 pm: All of this makes sense considering the butternut squash seeds are smaller than your average pumpkin seeds.
6:49pm: Washing the seeds, removing "goop." Per the woman's recommendation, we're turning the oven down to 300*. She also says they take less time to cook than pumpkin seeds, really only around 5 minutes.
6:47pm: To prepare the seeds, simply rinse them, place on a cookie sheet, and toss in salt. There are recipes to make "spicy" versions that would include cayenne pepper, chili powder, lime juice, and salt. That decision is up to your taste buds, the process is essentially the same.
6:45pm: GREAT news. Just looked up roasting butternut squash seeds and this woman sounds like she was in the same position as us, decided to give them a try, and says they're way better. Her recipe for roasting them here: http://simpledailyrecipes.com/2401/toasted-butternut-squash-seeds/
6:43pm: The soup is coming to a boil now. Now we turn it to low heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Lull time. I finally get a sip of wine. Tough life I lead.
6:42pm: We just decided we're going to roast the butternut squash seeds we saved according to the roasted pumpkin seed recipe and see what happens! Turn the oven on and pre-heat to 350*
6:40pm: We've turned the heat up to high, put the lid on, and now we're waiting for all of these ingredients to come to a boil.
6:39pm: Things are smelling amazing and we're at six minutes, so next up, add 4 cups of water. In any recipe involving adding water or broth, it's good to add it in increments so as to avoid "shocking" the soup.
6:36pm: Only enough of the Blue Fish Riesling for one glass, so I'm getting a glass of the Frontera Sauvignon Blanc, the other go-to white wine we've found. I've been working on finding the best in Wine&Spirits' selection. The best red I've found: Folonari Pinot Noir. These are all under $10 by the way and will make you never consider buying Yellow Tail or Barefoot ever again.
6:33pm: Adding squash, cooking 6-8 minutes or again, "until fragrant." By the way, this is is from "Food Every Day: Great Food Fast"--by the Food Network. Karlee got the cookbook as a present from the people she worked with at the Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Cute!
6:32pm: Karlee and I are pouring ourselves a glass of wine. Blue Fish Riesling-great stuff. Things are smelling fragrant, adding ginger and garlic to the pan with the onions.
6:30 pm: Butter smells great, of course. We're adding onions next and cooking for about two minutes or "until fragrant." Funny wording. My mom has always told me she cooks by her nose: things are done when they smell good.
6:28 pm: Waterworks are over, everything is chopped, and we're getting out the dutch oven and melting 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.
6:26 pm: The chopping continues and Karlee is crying. Yep, we're chopping onions.
6:24 pm: Chopping up what would be 2 garlic cloves but really only needs to be one because of the freak of nature garlic clove Karlee found. These are the variables you learn to adjust when cooking by a recipe.
6:23 pm: Confession: I actually used goggles to chop onions once when I was little and helping my mom out in the kitchen.
6:21 pm: We've established that all of these ingredients will eventually be pureed so the size of the ginger pieces doesn't really matter, thus the reason why the recipe simply calls for "chopped."
6:20 pm: Karlee is peeling 2 inches of the ginger and chopping it to small pieces.
6:18 pm: We're getting out a small onion, ginger, and garlic. We're going to peel the ginger now and chop the onion last because as Karlee says "because I always cry." Apparently Karlee says they actually sell onion goggles in Ann Arbor. "I almost bought them." Hilarious.
6:15 pm: Let's get to know our chef, my roommate Karlee. She's from Michigan, a senior at Lehigh, and very excited to be going to Med School next year.
Me: "When did you start cooking?" To paraphrase for Karlee: "Two summers ago I just opened up a cook book and just started trying to make recipes, totally self taught, my mom doesn't cook so I don't have really role models. My boyfriend's dad is an amazing chef and has been teaching the two of us how to cook and we're learning together."
6:14 pm: Chopping the butternut squash into 3/4 inch pieces. We decided the best parallel is like the size of your thumb, not to be confused while chopping.
6:13 pm: We're checking the status of our ingredients. I assure Karlee that an expiration date of 10/31 for our orange juice does not mean game over.
6:11 pm: Karlee is scooping the seeds out of the squash. We're not sure what potential is there but we're electing to save the seeds to see if we can treat them like pumpkin seeds. Anyone have good recipes for butternut squash seeds?
6:10 pm: The peeling is over at last! Cutting the butternut squash down the middle in order to extract the seeds.
6:08 pm: I wish you all could see the hack job involved in peeling an oddly-shaped butternut squash. If you're doing this with us, don't lose faith. Karlee's celebrating every good peel at this point.
6:06 pm: We're surprised how much a butternut squash smells like pumpkin. They really are similar flavors and are pretty much interchangeable in recipes.
6:05 pm: Karlee's laughing about the fact that the last time she made this soup, she and her friend bought the butternut squash pre-peeled and already chopped (to her dismay). Now she's realizing why her friend insisted on doing it that way--Peeling a giant butternut squash is no small task. I'm willing to bet it'll turn out for the better.
6:03 pm: We're starting with the butternut squash: We have to peel, de-seed, and chop the butternut squash. "This is going to be a process, right?"
6:00 pm: Let's wash our hands first as every good cook should.
5:56 pm: Turns out we're getting hungry at pre-time change dinnertime so we've moved the liveblogging of the butternut squash recipe to 6pm new time! Follow along to cook with us!
Hello readers,
Tonight on November 7th, 2010, the first day of daylight savings time and my dad's birthday(!) I will be liveblogging starting at 7pm as my friend and roommate Karlee makes her favorite butternut squash soup.
I made a butternut squash soup early in the week and look forward to seeing what her recipe includes!
If you watch the progression, you'll get to read consistent updates about how the recipe is developing and feel like you're hanging out in the kitchen with me and Karlee, where we are at our finest.
See you in a few hours!
10:36 am: For those of you who may want to cook along with us, here are the ingredients you need to assemble before 7pm tonight!
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion
- 1 piece of fresh ginger
- 1 garlic cloves
- 2 3/4 lb small butternut squash
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juices
- Salt
- Pepper
- Sour Cream
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