For an update on my little Evie, please see under the recipe.
Feeds:4
Skill level: Beginner
Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large sweet or yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 large Granny Smith or other hard, tart apple, peeled, cored and cubed
1 can coconut milk
1 c chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp thyme
TIP: Microwave the squash for 2-3 minutes before you try and peel and cube it. Butternut squash is extremely hard and softening it up will make your life a whole lot easier.
1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) The hardest part of this peeling and chopping, which I dearly hope most people can manage. Because everything just gets blended up, even chopping is unnecessary. Cut the butternut squash, apples and onion in rough 1 inch cubes.
3) Use a large oven safe pot or roasting pan for the soup. I used my fabulous Dutch oven but any thick metal pot or pan will work. Add all the ingredients to the pot and cover. If your pot or pan does not have a designated lid, feel free to use aluminum foil.
4) Stirring occasionally, cook the vegetables for an hour or until they are very soft and break apart with a fork. There should be enough liquid to cover over half the vegetables. If you feel that you need more liquid add more stock or water.
5) When everything is soft and the apples look like they have exploded a little, take the pot out of the oven and get your blender out. Ladle the veggies into the blender and, in batches, blend the vegetables until smooth. Pour the soup into a clean pot on the stove.
6) This is the point where you get to fix it and make it perfect. If the soup looks too runny to you, let it cook on medium heat until it thickens up to your likening. If it is too thick, add more chicken stock or water. Add salt and more spices to taste. Other spices that work well in this soup are: rosemary, oregano, more cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves. I recommend sticking to one flavor pallet (i.e oregano and cloves are probably not the best idea).
7) Serve it up in large bowls with a nice hunk of beer bread!
My poor little baby stink has been through some big changes in her little life in the past few weeks. She has moved from Florida to Nashville with me and is adjusting to living in a house with a friend, Patrick, to my apartment with just me.
This is not to say that Evie and Patrick were the best of friends but they did enjoy each other's company.
Like I said, her many changes include more time spent on walks because she can't just run around a yard whenever she wants. Those walks, that would help her get out some of that energy and maybe let me sleep past 6:00 AM, can be a little rough. I have tried just about everything I can think of but, sometimes, her suborn side wins and what would have been a nice walk turns into a lesson in patience and a bunch of standing. I have attempted giving her plenty of time to wake up, eat her breakfast and smell my coffee before we go on our adventure but nothing seems to work. A few days ago on one of these walks we made it a whopping 6 blocks in an hour. Yes, kind reader, that is three blocks out and three blocks back in an hour. She will walk about three yards, stop, smell a leaf, look at a passing car, smell another leaf, gaze meaningfully into the distance and then walk another three yards. Did I mention that she is suborn as an ox? It is so hard to get mad at her but she has made it very clear that it is her way or the highway. Maybe one day she will learn to walk in a strait line for at least one block. I can dream...
Doesn't she look the picture of walked innocents? Lies. She would not move and just wanted to watch the cars and leaves go by.
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