Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

I feel like such a bad blogger.  I was so caught up and busy yesterday that I didn't have time to post a recipe like I had planned!  So, my apologies!  But I promise... today's recipe is insanely delicious and will well make up for it!

I love fall... obviously.  I've said it a million times since fall started.  And one of the things I love most about fall is the abundance of delicious soups!  Whether it's a hearty bowl of chili, or a nice bowl of classic chicken noodle soup... if it's fall... I've got pretty good odds that I'll be having a bowl of something MANY times over.

So, being bored the other night, I decided to make a spur-of-the-moment soup which I plan to make many times over because it was so delicious!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
2 small, white-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup apple cider
1/4 cup grated apple
3 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
fresh watercress (optional)

Melt the butter in a large pot on medium high heat, then add the onion.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until onion starts to soften.  Add the potatoes and squash and stir.  Let cook another 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.

Add the apple cider, grated apple, and chicken stock.  Stir and cover the pot.  Let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Using an immersion blender (be careful now!), blend vegetables until smooth and creamy.  Once blended, season with salt, pepper and spices.  You can add or subtract the amount of spice based on your preferences, of course.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with a few sprigs of watercress.  

Seriously, this is fall in a bowl.  The butternut is the main star, with the subtle apple flavors playing back up.  Every bite is a unique layer of flavor.  This is something you all need to go make now.  It will warm you up and make you smile!  

 Again... thanks for bearing with me on this better late than never post!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend guys and be safe!

Butternut Squash

Cream of Mushroom & Chicken Soup

Okay, so first off... I've been noticing a lot of blogs I read (whether about food, politics, everyday life, etc.) sometimes have "theme-days"... so in spirit of all of that... I've decided to make Fridays from now on, FYI Food Science Fridays. What will it pertain, you ask? Well... every Friday, before my recipe, I'm going to give an overview of a journal or research article that pertains to Food Science or Technology.

I do this for 2 major reasons.
#1. I've officially decided I'm going to finish up my Biology degree and then go to grad school for Food Science. So it would benefit me to keep up to date with current research and experiments being conducted to be more familiar with what I'm getting myself into, and to just see what's being done.

#2. I think the scientific part of food development is overlooked. There's so many things out there that you wonder, what does that mean? why is this so? So hopefully, the articles I go over are going to give you a little bit of insight into what you're putting into your mouth and how it even got to you in the first place.

I'm hoping the pieces will be interesting and spark some comments, and hell... who knows, you may be on Jeopardy one day and your Final Jeopardy question may be something you learned from one of my articles. I've already read what I'll be talking about on Friday and I'm not letting you in on anything quite yet, so you'll just have to sneak a peak back on Friday afternoon to find out the interesting tid bit.

Anyway, on to the recipe...

Ingredients:

8-12 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2-3 cooked chicken thighs, skin and bones removed, then shredded

The one thing I love about cream of anything soup is that the prep work doesn't usually involve fine chopping, because at the end of day, you're just going to blend the whole thing up to get a nice smooth consistency anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about slicing or chopping.

Heat a dutch oven over high heat. Add the olive oil and when shimmering stir in the mushrooms, garlic, and onions. Saute until the mushrooms start to become soft, about 5 minutes.

Season the mushroom mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Add in the chicken broth and cream. Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the mushrooms are completely tender, about 8-10 minutes.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth or at a texture you prefer. Stir in shredded chicken and season with salt and pepper if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve!

I loved this because it was so quick and easy... and flavorful to the extreme! This could even be put on top of pasta or chicken breasts it was so good. I may even use this for the next time I make green bean casserole! Enjoy! And don't forget to come back Friday for the first installment of FYI Food Science Friday!