Roasted Squash Soup

Squash soup is as fall as colorful leaves, apple cider, pumpkins. And even though the leaves have been blown by the wind into disorganized piles around the yard, pumpkins replaced with holly greens and lights, squash still holds an honored spot in our local grocery stores. As long as these fruit-like vegetables stick around, I will turn them into soup… Bwahaha

Roasted Delicata Squash Soup

INGREDIENTS

3 to 4 pounds squash, peeled and seeded (I use Delicata, but if you can’t find that, Butternut works too)
2 yellow onions
2 McIntosh apples, peeled and cored
3 tablespoons good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 to 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 teaspoon good curry powder

Scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and sliced diagonally (sprinkled on top)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the butternut squash, onions and apples in 1-inch cubes. Place them on a sheet pan and toss with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Divide the squash mixture between 2 sheet pans and spread it in a single layer. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, until very tender.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock to a simmer. When the vegetables are done, put them through a food mill fitted with the medium blade. (Alternatively, you can place the roasted vegetables in batches in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add some of the chicken stock and coarsely puree.) When all of the vegetables are processed, place them in a large pot and add enough chicken stock to make a thick soup. Add the curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Taste for seasonings to be sure there’s enough salt and pepper to bring out the curry flavor.

Recipe slightly modified from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.

Oh my, sweet potato pie!

Raise your hand if you’ve never had sweet potato pie. Much like pumpkin in its consistency, sweet potato pie is custard-like and creamy, but the spices in this recipe create a dessert that is nothing short of heavenly. Trust me on the coriander… I hesitated on that one too.

In my family, no one likes to break tradition (except yours truly), and this pie seemed to set off some alarms. Or maybe it was the color, or the thought of a soggy crust (which this does NOT have)… either way, I got to take most of it home from our family Christmas gathering. Yeah! More for us!

Sweet Potato Pie
(thank you to Joy the Baker (and her Dad) for sharing the filling recipe)

1- 9″ pie crust (chilled)

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2- 5oz cans evaporated milk (1 1/4 cups evaporated milk)
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Boil three sweet potatoes, with their peeling on, in a covered pot over medium heat, until the sweet potatoes are very soft and tender. Test with a sharp knife. If there is any resistance, boil until a knife penetrates the potatoes smoothly. Remove potatoes from the water and let them cool. When they’re cool enough to handle, peel potatoes, cut into chunks and place in a large bowl or food processor. Mash potatoes thoroughly until completely smooth.

Measure two cups of the sweet potato mash and place it into a medium sized pan with the packed brown sugar, all of the spices, salt, the 1/2 stick butter, and one 5 oz can of evaporated milk. Cook on low for about 5 minutes, whipping with a wire whisk until butter and brown sugar are completely melted, and the mixture is blended, smooth and just beginning to bubble. Remove from heat and let cool in the pan.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the three eggs with a fork. Add the second 5oz can of evaporated milk, granulated sugar and vanilla to the eggs, and continue beating until creamy. Pour the cooled sweet potato mixture into the egg mixture. Blend thoroughly with a whisk and refrigerate mixture overnight or use immediately.

Pour into a 9-inch prepared crust.

Place a cookie sheet into the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place pie directly onto preheated cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes to set the crust, and to keep it from getting soggy.  Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F. and bake for another hour. The crust should be brown and the sweet potato mixture will be puffed up, but still slightly wiggly in the center. After 1 hour, remove pie and place onto a wire rack to cool. The pie will firm up more as it cools.

Serve room temperature with whipped cream.

Gather ye apples

Two weeks ago torrential rains drowned what remained of our veggie garden, and our lone apple tumbled from the tree before ripening. Yay for local farms! A short drive out of the city and we are surrounded by an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies. And look! A large box of Golden Delicious apples from my sister-in-law.

We’ve been busy with home improvements and fall cleaning projects …  painting, grout cleaning, gutter and roof cleaning and repairs, tree trimming. The next big project begins later this week when we demolish our kitchen for a few upgrades, new countertops, faucet, and replacement of a crumbling cast iron sink. After we recover from that, a mudroom redo will begin. I’ll definitely miss my kitchen during the next few weeks, but I’m so looking forward to giving it a fabulous housewarming, with homemade fall and winter foods, when it’s done.

In the meantime, I need to do something with all these apples.

Visions of apple tarts were dancing in my head. I began searching through my recipes, but only came up with one even though there’s photographic evidence of others. Two criteria were in order: easy and tasty. Google found a recipe at Smitten Kitchen that sounded like a winner.

The dough: I used my go-to tart dough recipe from Ina Garten, and the combination freeform/tart pan technique from Chez Panisse’s Executive Chef and owner, Alice Waters (through Smitten Kitchen). I like the way the sides are fluted, but the top of the dough wraps the apple wedges protectively into its folds.

Gather up 6-8 apples. I used Golden Delicious for this because that’s what I currently have the most of, but Gravenstein or Granny Smith’s would also be great choices. Slice the apples in half and remove the core and peeling.

Place the halves face down and slice into strips. Hold the sliced halves together and place them into the pastry. Save the cores and peeling you’ve removed for a glaze to be applied after baking.

Fold up the edges of the dough and brush the entire top surface with 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of the sugar on the dough and the other 3 Tablespoons on the apples. Toss a teaspoon of cinnamon onto the apples as well. Because there’s nothing better than the smell of apples and cinnamon baking together. And finally, dot another Tablespoon of butter on top.

Bake in a preheated 400°F. oven (on a pizza stone if you have it) for 45 minutes. Turn the tart every 15 minutes so it browns evenly.

I love the way this crust turned out! Freeform, but structured enough to hold up in a hot oven.

Serve with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

French Apple Tart

Pastry (Ina Garten’s recipe)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water

Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds. Add the butter and pulse 10-12 times, until the butter is in small pits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water into the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to hold together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. At this point you can either: grab a sheet pan and line it with parchment paper or a Silpat mat; or a round 11″ tart pan with a removable bottom.

Roll the dough out to 15 inches. If you’re using a sheet pan, you’ll want to use a ruler and knife and trim the edges. Place the dough on/in the pan of your choice and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

Apple filling (a slightly modified version of Alice Water’s recipe through Smitten Kitchen)
6-8 apples (you can use Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gravenstein, or any other semi-tart apples)
5 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (2 Tablespoons melted, 1 Tablespoon cold)

Peel the apples the cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baller. (Save the cores and peelings for the glaze). Slice by placing the halves cut side down. Place the entire sliced halves on the dough in a ring 2 inches from edge if going galette-style, or up to the sides if using the tart pan. Keeping the halves together helps when you lay them out. Then you can just lightly tilt them and they’ll fan out. Continue inward until you reach the center. Fold dough hanging over pan back onto itself; crimp edges at 1-inch intervals. Brush melted butter over apples and onto the edge of the dough. Sprinkle the apples with 3 Tablespoons of sugar, sprinkle the dough edges with 2 Tablespoons of sugar. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon cinnamon onto the apple filling and dot with 1 Tablespoon of butter.

Bake in center of oven until apples are soft, with browned edges, and crust has caramelized to a dark golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.

Make the glaze: Put reserved peels and cores in a large saucepan, along with 1/2 cup of sugar. Pour in just enough water to cover; simmer for 25 minutes. Strain syrup through cheesecloth.

Remove tart from oven, and place onto a cooling rack. Let cool at least 15 minutes.

Brush glaze over tart, slice, and serve.