Butternut Squash Bisque & Parmesan Paprika Croutons

I chose our larger garden squash for this bisque because how clever, efficient, and pretty is it to use the rounded bottoms as bowls? There is no need for washing as we just toss them into our composting pail. Recipes for butternut squash soup abound. Though mine is simple with just a few ingredients, roasting the squash and the garlic deepens this soup's inherent, sweet nuttiness.

INGREDIENTS
makes 5 hearty servings/8 more dainty ones

Squash, roasted using about 5 1/2 lbs of fresh, whole butternut
Garlic, roasted, 4 large cloves to one large head if you are a roasted garlic lover like me plus any unused roasted garlic can be frozen
Cream, heavy, 8 fluid ounces
Thyme, fresh, about ten sprigs
Chicken broth, homemade (or the best brand you can get), 32 fluid ounces
Bread, four large slices or an 8 inch length of French bread
Paprika, 1 tsp
Parmesan, 4 T
Butter, olive oil, salt & freshly ground black pepper as needed

Full instructions for roasting squash is here and for the garlic here. Roasting done in advance is a good idea; the actual soup takes only ten minutes or so to do. Extra baked squash comes in handy for making Butternut Squash Spice Cookies & Orange Icing. Squash seeds can be reserved for roasting. Put the scooped out seeds in a bowl of water. They will mostly rise to the top after sitting for a while.  Skim them off with a slotted spoon. If they are still gooey, place them in a colander and put under running water. Dry with a dish towel/tea cloth, picking off any seeds that stick to the towel. Toss with a small amount of oil and salt until coated.

Spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Since a lower temperature is required, I wait until the garlic and squash is done and let the oven cool down to 300 degrees F.  The seeds will take about twenty minutes to get light brown and crunchy.

For bowls, make sure you slice very thin slices off the bottom ends of the squash. Then halve the squash. Remember not to pierce right through the skin with a knife when testing for tenderness during baking as your bowl could spring a leak when filled with soup! Instead test by inserting a knife into the fleshy rims.

So many herbs and spices go well with squash soup--nutmeg, ginger, rosemary, sage--that it was hard to choose but what made up my mind is the plentiful thyme in our potager.

Coat the squash flesh with some melted butter and lay each piece cut side down on a thyme sprig.

Garlic is in the ceramic bowl

Bread crumbs also can be prepared ahead. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cube the bread and mix together the bread, paprika, and olive oil in a bowl.

Spread them in a single layer on a parchment-lined oven tray. Bake for about 8 minutes and then toss with grated Parmesan and return to the oven for another 2 minutes.

The thyme infuses the golden flesh of the squash with its fragrance.

Molten garlic gloves resemble champagne diamonds & topaz

The croutons came out great with a little zing and a touch of cheese

Scoop out carefully with a spoon the squash bottoms that will serve as bowls, leaving about a 1/4 inch thickness. They are pretty forgiving so weak spots could be repaired with a well placed smear of squash.

With a knife, remove the skins on the rest of the squash.

Squeeze out the garlic pulp and add to the squash.

Puree with a stick mixer. A potato masher or a fork can be used alternatively, but the texture will be way less smooth.

Put the pureed squash in a soup pot and slowly add the chicken stock while stirring till well mixed. Puree a second time with the stick blender. Add the cream and heat gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with croutons and a sprig of thyme.

The croutons provided a tasty crunch that set off the bisque's velvety consistency, and it was fun to eat out of the special bowls!

Green is reigning supreme in the garden at present. Since our moving here about four years ago, the ivy has glumly sat on the soil, not doing much until this very rainy year.  It is now covering pillars and walls and looking very lovely.

This perennial geranium is adding a spot of colour.

À la prochaine!

Chicken Soup Redux...and how to make bread crumbs & to poach an egg

Awhile back, I shared a wonderful version of homemade chicken soup on G+ which was brimming with assorted scraps from making pasta, succulent morsels of meat, wilted arugula, toasted breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and the pièce de résistance, a poached egg. That assemblage looked so pretty and made such an impression on me, I vowed the next time I made chicken stock I would have a go at this recipe.

Once the stock was reduced to make it exceptionally rich in taste, its consistency became that of soft jello. Thirty-two fluid ounces of stock suffices for two ample servings.

Since I use two whole chickens with which to make the stock, it was easy to reserve some nice white meat close to the bones.

The meat will be marked with some brown where it touched the bone. Using my fingers, I shredded about sixteen fluid ounces into small bits.

Since I do not make my own pasta--not yet that is--I used the inevitable and plentiful scraps left over when using packaged tagliatelle nests.

There is still spinach which was harvested from the potager in late spring in the freezer so I substituted that for arugula. Other possibilities would be escarole or kale or even the small leaves sometimes found on broccoli. A tablespoon of greens per serving is all that is required to spruce up both appearance and taste.

I can't remember the last time I bought a box of breadcrumbs. Not only will no bread go to waste if you make your own, they taste much better when you do!

Choosing French bread for the crumbs, I pulled out the tender part, leaving the crusts which were eventually slathered with butter and jam. Yum! Tear the bread in small pieces and process into small crumbs. Another method is grating a large hunk of bread (choose a coarser grater and/or the bread can be frozen).  (Or the crumbing part can be omitted and small pieces of bread toasted in the oven can be placed in a paper/plastic bag/between two tea towels and gently crushed with a rolling pin.)

Spread the crumbs evenly on a baking pan and put in a 250 degrees F/120 degrees C oven for about twenty minutes or until they are dry and crunchy, with a golden tinge. If a toastier crumb is desired, then bake a bit longer. They can be stored in an air-tight container for many months or in the fridge/freezer if the ambient environment is very humid.

Grate finely some Parmesan, about a heaping tablespoon for each serving.

Mix the cheese with the crumbs in even proportions and reserve.

Never having poached eggs before, I suspected I would have a little difficulty--the first one was overdone, the second was underdone, and the third was Goldilocks approved, that is, just right.

Crack carefully a very fresh egg without breaking the yolk into a small cup. My method is to rap gently an egg against the flat of the kitchen counter and while holding the still intact egg over a cup, I pull apart the egg at its slightly smashed part. To test an egg's freshness, submerge in water and if really fresh the eggs will lie sideways at the bottom.  Less fresh eggs will be more or less vertical and bad eggs will rise to the top.

Though adding a dash of vinegar to the simmering water to help the egg white to coagulate is often recommended, my personal preference is to omit it as the slight vinegary taste can be off-putting to some. In a shallow saucepan or a deep skillet, heat water just under boiling--many tiny bubbles will rise from the bottom with no large bubbles breaking the surface, if water is boiling bring it back to simmer by reducing heat--then  place the side of the cup right on the surface of the water and slip the egg into the water. Put on lid, turn off the heat but keep the pot on the burner, and let sit for four minutes until the egg white is cooked. Scoop out the egg with a slotted spoon. Any raggedly edges can be trimmed off. Repeat with remaining eggs, keeping already poached eggs in a covered, warmed dish. If you have an egg poacher, I envy you. However poached eggs are lovely and worth the effort.

When close to serving, simmer several handfuls of pasta in the stock for about ten minutes until very tender--pasta is gorgeous when engorged with stock. When pasta is done, add chicken and gently heat for a minute or two. To assemble, put the greens on the bottom of a small bowl and pour on the stock with noodles and chicken.

Float a poached egg on top and sprinkle with Parmesan/breadcrumb mixture. As I dug into this comforting, satisfying, and delectable soup, I was whimsically transported into a cozy kitchen somewhere in Italy where my kindly hosts asked if I wanted seconds. Here's hoping they will let me have thirds!

In the potager, the weather, though mild, has been pretty gloomy with lots of overcast skies.

A wood pigeon all by its lonesome

Recently as I was making my late afternoon rounds, I noted a decided chill in the air and knew it was finally time to make one last rose bouquet. Not only does it get dark earlier, it seems to get dark faster. Before I knew it, I could hardly see but the thorns let me know exactly where they were!

Pink Queen Elizabeth and  red & white stripped Ferdinand Pichard roses

My focus on preparing beds for early spring planting has been mostly thwarted by persistent rain which makes our silty soil impossible to till. Instead I am hanging out in my potting room in the sous sol, rummaging about, clearing up any mess, washing used plants pots, sharpening tools, pre-ordering my preferred varieties of potatoes before they get all sold out, and smelling the roses!

With a clean work table and some spare time, I now can fool around with my water colours!

À la prochaine!

Butternut-Squash Spice Cookies with Orange Icing

Our potager gave us numerous Butternut squash of various sizes.  The smaller ones are just enough to provide roasted chunks for the glorification of pasta or to add to gnocchi making those little lumps of goodness tantalise even more. The hefty ones lend their largesse to soups and pies.

Some people don't care much for veggies in general and are quite shocked to find them in their desserts. They add colour, texture, and most of all, taste -- yeah, yeah, nutrition also, but let's keep that our little secret. Carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, and pumpkins are usually interchangeable, perhaps with a few adjustments, for making delicious pies, sweet quick breads, cookies, and cakes. Butternut has a lighter flavour than pumpkin, but heavier than carrot or sweet potato. Roasting brings out its sweetness and nuttiness.

One way to to tackle the work flow of making these cookies is to reserve some squash roasted for other reasons.  The surplus squash can be frozen and thawed when needed for this recipe.

Ingredients
makes about 23, 3-inch cookies

Roasted butternut squash puree, 4 fluid ounces of prepared puree
Flour, all-purpose, 12 fluid ounces plus 4 T
Baking soda, 1 tsp (keep in mind if you are going to substitute ingredients, that in order for the soda to be activated, there has to be an acid ingredient like crème fraîche, buttermilk, yogurt, or molasses)
Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg, 1/4 tsp (already ground is OK, but grating your own is much better)
Cloves, 1/4 tsp
Butter, unsalted, room-temperature, 8 T
Sugar, vanilla or plain, 8 fluid ounces
Egg, 1
Vanilla extract (if not using vanilla sugar), 1/2 tsp
Crème fraîche, 2 T
For the icing: 8 fluid ounces of sifted, powdered sugar, up to 4 T of freshly squeezed orange juice, 1/2 tsp of finely grated orange zest

To roast squash, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub and dry squash. Using a sharp, strong knife (ceramic knives are fantastic for difficult slicing), pare off a slice from each end. Placing the larger flat end securely on a surface, halve it lengthwise or cut it in two pieces first before halving it lengthwise. The latter is easier to do and small pieces roast faster.

Thoroughly scoop out the seeds with a sturdy spoon. Be sure to scrap off all fibrous bits. Seeds can be reserved and roasted with flavouring for delicious snacks and toppings.

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Coat each piece, place cut side down on a parchment-lined oven pan, and put in oven for about forty-five minutes.

While roasting, the squash emits an earthy and appetising fragrance. When done, they test via a knife tender all the way through, the skin is blistered and the flesh carmelised. 

Let cool and then scoop out the delectable squash. Mash well and reserve.

Start making the batter. Vanilla sugar is very popular in France, though vanilla extract is used also. To make your own vanilla sugar, put several used (washed and dried), split vanilla pods in a large jar of sugar and let steep for a few weeks.

In a large bowl, cream sugar into softened butter till it looks like mashed potatoes.  A stick mixer/stand mixer or a fork can be used. Manual labour will take probably about ten minutes while the electric helper will do it in three.

Add the beaten egg and mix well. Then stir in the crème fraîche and butternut squash puree until well blended.

Mix together the spices, flour, and baking soda in a smaller bowl.

Stir dry ingredients into wet, just mixing enough to moisten and to bring together.

Refrigerate for an hour for the dough to become more workable. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place rounded (not heaping!) tablespoons of dough on parchment-lined cookie pans.

While les petites gateaux (little cakes which is what the French call cookies) are baking, gather the ingredients for the orange icing and reserve as it needs to be made close to use since it hardens readily. Once the cookies are out of the oven and cooling on a rack, then stir the sifted powdered sugar, zest, and juice together.

Start with one or two tablespoons of juice and add more to get a dipping/dribbling consistency. I used four tablespoons.

Cookies are done when edges or slightly brown which is about twelve minutes. Let stiffen for a minute or two, and then lift with a spatula onto a cooling rack. If you don't have such a rack, remember to remove one from your oven before you heat it. When they are completely cool, either dip the top surface into the icing or dribble it onto the cookies while still on the rack (put a tray under the rack to catch any surplus). Let icing harden. If there is extra icing, you could make some filled cookies: split like an English muffin, spread the icing on the bottom, and put on the top half.

These cookies are wonderful with a rich, dense texture like cake while being crisp on the edges and bottom, a dreamy creaminess of pumpkin-like flavour/aroma, and sweetness tinged with tartness. They keep for about three days in an air-tight container at room temperature and longer in the fridge. They taste good warm, at room temperature, or cold. And if that was not enough, they can be frozen so one does not have to eat all of them quickly.

À la prochaine!