Smoky Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

I'm still in the process of deciding whether I like butternut squash or I *really* like butternut squash.  Good results so far with roasting it, but to try something new, how about a soup?  After some iffy metric conversions, here's what I ended up doing:

Recipe

1 medium-to-small-ish butternut squash, peeled (obviously) and diced :p
1 onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 c vegetable stock
1 can coconut milk
(coconut) oil, salt & pepper

Heat a couple tbsps of oil over medium in a large saucepan, then add the squash, onion, and garlic.  Cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.  Then add the paprika, stir, and cook another minute.  Add the broth and simmer 15 minutes or until the squash is soft.  Blend or mash it up, then stir in the coconut milk.  Heat and serve, they recommend over lentils.

Notes

Lots of thoughts...

Is butternut squash season over?  This was the iffiest of the squashes I've bought and prepped in the last month or two...

Peeling and cubing butternut squash for roasting is work enough; dicing is a pretty big hassle.

I mashed instead of blending (with my non-existent blender); the chunky texture (particularly the onions, which didn't mash at all really) is not a problem!

I figured rice would be fine, but invested in a bag of lentils anyway.  Definitely a good call.  Wouldn't consider myself much of a lentil fan, but they add a nice earthy, peppery, savory flavor to the soup.

The soup is delicious, but like most vegetarian dishes, it seemed like something was missing.  Some spicy sausage might be a key addition...

Roasted Butternut Squash with Browned Butter & Hazelnuts

a.k.a. butternut squash with extra butter and nuts.  America's Test Kitchen knows what it's doing.

Recipe

Squash
1 large butternut squash (2 1/2-3 lbs.)
2-3 tbsp butter, melted
salt & pepper

Topping
2-3 tbsp butter
1/3 c hazelnuts, toasted & coarsely chopped
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minced chives

Preheat the oven to 425 (and toast the hazelnuts for just a couple minutes if necessary).  Prep the butternut squash: peel, clean out the seeds, and slice into 1/2 inch slices (semicircles or arcs).  Melt the butter, add some salt and pepper, and toss in the squash.  Lay it out in a single layer on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven (they recommend the lowest rack).  After about 25 minutes (when the squash toward the back is browning), rotate the tray.  After another 5-10 minutes (so the new back is browning), take out the squash and and flip.  Bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Toward the end of this (last) period, pop the butter and hazelnuts in a skillet cook a couple minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in the water, and after it cools a minute or so, mix in the lemon juice.  Once the squash is done, drizzle the topping over and sprinkle with chives.

Notes

First things first, I ended up not peeling the squash until it was already otherwise sliced and ready to go.  It's pretty quick and efficient to lay each slice flat and shave off the skin with a few slices.  So I'll probably stick with that.

A lot going on by the end here...  The butternut squash roasts long enough to get nice and tender, but what they're going for with the butter, heat, and low rack is a nice caramelization.  Mine were a little overdone, something to keep an eye on in the future (because I'll definitely do this again).  Same with the hazelnuts - a little too toasty, so a slight burnt taste.  I was a little unsure about the chives - the green touch is nice, but wasn't sure about the flavor.  Overall though, the topping adds a while lot of great complexity.  Thanksgiving 2015?

Butternut Squash Bread Pudding

One of these days I'll get to enjoy a Philly cheesesteak when visiting the City of Brotherly Love.  For now, though, it's all about finding good vegetarian options.  Cooking in this time, we gave this recipe a try (definitely the one I found most promising here (but more dishes worth taking a look at!)).

The Recipe

2 lbs butternut squash cut into small pieces - about 1-2 medium to large squashes
1 baguette, torn into 1 inch pieces
7 eggs
2 1/4 cups half & half
6 tbsp white wine
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 cup shallots, chopped - about 4 large
2 bunches kale, stems removed and chopped/torn
8 oz extra sharp cheddar, grated
olive oil, salt

Peel, de-seed and chop your butternut squash, toss with some olive oil and bake at 400 degrees until soft, about 20-30 minutes (stir occasionally).  Meanwhile, whisk together your egg, half & half, wine, mustard, and a little salt, and fold in the bread chunks.  Let this sit about half an hour (yes, stir occasionally).

Catch your breath, then chop your shallots, and wash and prep your kale.  Saute the shallots for a few minutes with some oil in a very large saucepan.  Then add your kale and stir, saute, cover/uncover about 5 minutes until wilting but still bright green.  Oh yeah, and grate your cheese.

Once those four elements are all ready, turn the oven down to 350 and butter a large casserole dish.  Start with a bottom layer that goes (half of the) bread, kale, butternut squash, then cheese; repeat with the second half of each.  Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and cook until the inside layers of bread are set - about another 20-30 minutes.  Then put it under the broiler a few minutes for a toasty finish.

The Outcome

You definitely want a team working on this one so you can get the squash and bread elements going at the same time.  We vaguely 1.5'ed everything.  No complaints about the balance; if anything, I'd do it again with a little less bread and more squash and kale.  But it's hard to go wrong when you have a nice chunk on your plate and you can carve out a bite wherever looks good!  And the recipe's cooking time may be on the low side - we waited until the inside was clearly set.  The top was crusty but still juicy; the bottom was a bit further along, but it just tasted like Yorkshire pudding...

That left us with a delicious meal, not to mention one of the most filling vegetarian dishes I've ever had.  The egg-soaked bread on its own gives you plenty of starch and protein, and butternut squash and kale are both hearty ingredients too.

Oh yeah, if vegetarianism isn't your thing (or your fellow diners'), maybe crisp up some bacon before the shallot saute?  Some chicken would go well in there too.

Apple Onion Pork with Butternut Squash

Fall is in the air, but maybe not enough of an autumn chill to turn entirely to soups and stews and such...  Instead, we started with some seasonal produce with this recipe.  It's a bit of an ambitious undertaking, appropriate for a group cooking and eating evening.  Butternut squash is always a bit of an ordeal, and this preparation took longer than anticipated to cook.  On the plus side, though, the crockpot can really turn not-quite-ripe squash into a pleasant goo...  It was a shame it wasn't ready with the rest of the entree, though, because the pork and apple-onion relish (?) really could have used another savory component, and it was not nearly sweet enough to pass off as a dessert.  But it was interesting and fun, and now that I've rambled on, I guess trying to provide those thousand words to make up for no picture...  But yeah, no picture :(