Curried Squash Apple Bisque With Leek Recipes

CURRIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND APPLE BISQUE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place squash onto a baking sheet cut-side down.
• Bake squash in preheated oven until the skin loosens from the flesh, about 40 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a 5-quart stockpot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until the onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add vegetable stock, curry sauce, and apples to the stockpot; bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low.
• Cut squash into 1-inch cubes; add to the stockpot. Bring the mixture again to a simmer, place a cover on the pot, and cook, stirring once every 15 minutes, until the squash is tender and breaks apart easily when stirred, about 2 hours.
• Remove pot from heat and blend soup with an immersion blender until completely pureed. Pour coconut cream into the soup; continue blending until creamy. Top each serving with toasted pine nuts and a couple of leaves of cilantro.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND APPLE SOUP

Steps:

• Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.
• Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.
• Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the soup through a food mill fitted with a large blade, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
• Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND APPLE SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat, and cook until it turns nut brown. Add the leeks and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and saute briefly to release its fragrance.
• Add the squash and apples, raise the heat to high, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Toasted Spice Rub and cook briefly to toast it, about 1 minute.
• Add the stock or broth-water mixture, bring to a simmer, and partially cover. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the squash and apples are tender, about 40 minutes.
• Transfer in batches to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return to the pot, reheat to serving temperature, and season with salt.
• Divide the soup among warmed bowls and garnish each portion with some of the walnuts, if using. Serve immediately.
• In a small heavy pan over medium heat, combine the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns. When the fennel turns light brown, work quickly. Turn on the exhaust fan, add the red pepper flakes, and toss, toss, toss, always under the fan. Immediately turn the spice mixture out onto a plate to cool. Put in a blender with the chili powder, salt, and cinnamon and blend until the spices are evenly ground. If you have a small spice mill or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, grind only the fennel, coriander, pepper, and chili flakes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients.
• Yield: about 1 cup
• In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat about 1-inch of oil to 350 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add walnuts and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain and transfer nuts to a medium bowl. While nuts are still hot and slightly wet, add confectioners' sugar and toss to coat nuts. Stir and toss until all the sugar has melted into the nuts; if bits of unmelted sugar remain on the nuts, they will not fry properly.
• Stir the nuts again before frying. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer a few nuts to the hot oil, allowing the foam to subside before adding another spoonful. (Otherwise, the oil could foam over and burn you.) Fry in small batches until the nuts are medium brown, about 45 seconds per batch; be careful not to overcook. Scatter on an unlined baking sheet to cool slightly.
• In a small bowl, stir together cayenne, cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and the pepper.
• While the nuts are still warm, transfer them to a bowl and sprinkle evenly with about half of the spice mix. Toss well to distribute the spices and then taste a nut. Add more spice mix, to taste, and toss well after each addition. When cool, pack in an airtight jar. They will keep at room temperature for at least 2 weeks.
• Yield: 4 cups

COCONUT BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Steps:

• To bake the squash, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut in half and place halves, cut side up, in a foil-lined, shallow baking dish and cover tightly with more foil. Bake for 30 to 50 minutes, until you can easily pierce the flesh with a knife. Scoop out and set aside.
• Heat about half the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the apple, squash, broth and spices. Bring to a steady simmer, then cover and simmer gently until the apples are tender, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer the solids to a food processor with a slotted spoon, in batches if need be, and process until smoothly pureed, then transfer back to the soup pot. Or better yet, simply insert an immersion blender into the pot and process until smoothly pureed.
• Stir in the coconut milk and return the soup to a gentle simmer. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until well heated through. Season with salt and pepper. If time allows, let the soup stand off the heat for an hour or two, then heat through as needed before serving.
• Just before serving, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet. Add the red onions and sauté over low heat until golden and soft.
• Meanwhile, strip the kale leaves off the stems and cut into thin shreds. Stir together with the onions in the skillet, adding just enough water to moisten the surface. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the kale is bright green and just tender, about 5 minutes.
• To serve, ladle soup into each bowl, then place a small mound of kale and onion mixture in the center.

CURRIED ACORN SQUASH BISQUE

Steps:

• Place squash into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain.
• Combine flour, curry powder, ginger, and brown sugar in a small bowl; mix loosely to combine.
• Melt 1/2 of the butter in a deep pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic; saute for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup whipping cream, remaining butter, olive oil, vinegar, and bouillon cube. Add flour mixture; cook and slowly stir for 15 seconds, then reduce heat to medium or medium-low. Cover with a lid and cook until veggies are cooked through, about 3 minutes.
• Add cooked squash on top of the veggies, and season generously with salt and pepper; do not stir. Cover and cook until squash is heated through, about 1 minute.
• Fill blender halfway with squash mixture. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend until mostly smooth. Pour into a pot. Repeat with remaining squash mixture.
• Reheat soup if needed. Put into a large serving bowl or separate serving dishes, garnish with cilantro, and drizzle with cream.

SQUASH AND APPLE BISQUE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients except the sour cream in a 31/2 to 6 quart slow cooker.
• Cover and cook on low heating 8 to 10 hours (or on a high heat setting for 3 to 5 hours) or until squash is tender.
• Place one third to one half of the mixture at a time in a blender or food processor, cover and blend on high speed until smooth. Return mixture to the slow cooker.
• Stir in the sour cream. Cover and cook on a low heat setting for 15 minutes or until the soup is hot. Stir.
• Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream or unflavoured natural yoghurt (preferably Greek yoghurt), and swirl it into the soup with the tip of a knife.
• For crunch and colour, sprinkle with poppy seeds or chopped pecans.
• If serving chilled: garnish with thin slices of Granny Smith apples and a sprinkling of finely chopped crystalised ginger.
• Chef's Notes: I made this with butternut pumpkin rather than squash, simply because that's what was available. To simplify the preparation stage, I wrapped the two halves of the butternut pumpkin I'd bought in foil and steamed them in a low oven for about an hour. The pumpkin was then easy to scoop out, and I chopped it roughly with a large spoon after I'd put it in the crockpot. I used three onions, roughly chopped, and two leeks, and instead of apple sauce, I used 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped. I also did the blending with an immersion blender. I simply removed half of the soup into a bowl, and blended each half, then returned what I'd removed to the crockpot. It smelt delicious while it was cooking, and tasted great.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH BISQUE

Steps:

• In a roasting pan, toss 3 cups of squash, orange juice and brown sugar; add cinnamon. Cover and bake at 450° for 30-40 minutes or until squash is tender. Discard cinnamon; drain squash, reserving cooking liquid. Set squash and liquid aside. , In a Dutch oven, saute the leeks, apple and onion in butter until tender. Add broth; bring to a boil. Stir in cooked squash; cook for 5 minutes. Add the cream, salt and pepper; heat through. Cool slightly. , In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return all to the pan; heat through (do not boil). , Cut remaining squash into 1/4-in. cubes. In a large skillet, saute squash cubes in oil and reserved cooking liquid until squash is tender and liquid has evaporated. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with squash cubes.