Roasted Butternut Soup

I’ve been trying to improve my photography and realize lighting is key. I’m lucky enough to have a hubby who understands these things and wants to help—though I can only handle the information he offers in small amounts. It doesn’t take long for me to become overwhelmed by all the details of lighting and camera settings. So, baby steps, folks, baby steps.

Good natural light is already fading fast since daytime is getting shorter and shorter. By picture taking time (after a day’s work and the actual cooking) it’s late and the good light is gone. It means I need to journey into the world of artificial light, color balancing, and who knows what else. I’m not trying to win any awards here, but being a visual person I’m always hoping for a picture that’s appealing.

This picture turned out very vibrant—which suits this soup because it’s vibrant in color and in taste. The butternut squash is a beautiful shade of orange and since there aren’t a lot of extra ingredients to alter it the soup maintains the beautiful color of the squash.

Let’s talk about something more important than the picture—the flavor. Out of this world. Slightly sweet, slightly spicy, smooth and creamy. And, it’s packed with antioxidants, Vitamin A and fiber. Very, very healthy.

The cool thing about this recipe is you can use it a few different ways. The roasted squash and veggies would be a great side dish right out of the oven. A quick puree with a little dash of spices and some cider and you have a great mashed squash to pair with a delicious fall entree like Big Black Dog’s Chicken with Apple Cider Sauce. Or, go the extra step to make the soup. It’ll be worth it. In fact, it was so good I had it for breakfast the next day. What a terrific warm start to a chilly day.

Roasted Butternut Soup

1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds)

½ large or a whole small onion

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 red apple (like Delicious or Gala)

1 cup water or chicken stock

1 cup apple cider

1 ½ teaspoons curry powder

Pinch of nutmeg

½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger

¼ cup dry sherry (optional)

¼ cup coconut milk (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Peel the squash down to the orange meat. Dice into one inch cubes and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Peel and coarse dice the onion and apple and add to the squash. Sprinkle all with olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat. Place in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the squash is fork tender.

Remove the pan from the oven. When cool enough to handle add the squash mixture to a food processor equipped with a blade and pulse until it’s a smooth puree. Add the water or chicken stock and pulse until combined.

Pour the puree into a large pot set on medium heat. Stir in the spices and apple cider. Taste and adjust spices to suit your taste. If the soup is too thick for your liking you can add more water, chicken broth, or cider until it reaches the consistency you want.

Heat the soup until it just simmers. Stir in the sherry and/or coconut milk. Warm for another minute or two and then serve.

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Apple Cider Cake

It’s officially autumn, my favorite season. I love it because the changes that take place in the fall are tangible—cool breezes, the occasional warm sunny day, and the spectacular colors of turning leaves.

It reminds me of my school days and where I grew up. Maybe that’s because it’s so beautiful there—especially in autumn. (It’s a secret that we have beautiful, rural countryside in NJ.)

I indulged that nostalgic feeling by spending the day “back at the ranch”. I traveled an hour west to Mackey’s Orchard to pick up the apple cider that would later inspire this cake. Their fresh cider is sweet, cold and delicious. It’s no surprise it doesn’t last long in our house.

After that I visited with my Mom. She has an ancient apple tree in her yard that produces gnarly, ugly Delicious Apples. I picked probably 10 pounds of them with bugs swarming my face and threatening to fly into my eyes and nose. OK, that’s one of the not so beautiful things about rural living. Swarming bugs. Lots of them.

And the final destination was Genesis Farms to pick up CSA veggies. Apples and white raspberries were the “pick-your-own” this week. The raspberries were ivory with a tinge of pink. The best ones—smack in the middle of a big prickly patch. So, since I wanted those fresh, sweet berries that’s where I ventured. It was worth it although I felt creepy crawly with imaginary critters for the rest of the day.

This weekend we ventured back to Mom’s to help her with some chores. She and I journeyed out for the afternoon while hubby and the dogs communed with nature. We stopped at Stoneyfield Orchards run by Harry Schneiber who taught vocational agriculture at the high school I attended. Harry is now 95 years old and when we pulled up to the stand to get seckel pears for me and peaches for Mom, he was sitting in his lawn chair in the garage. Just like he always has all the years I’ve been getting fruit from him.

So, I brought all the loot home and got busy. There’s applesauce and pickled seckel pears tucked neatly on a shelf in my pantry. And, this beautiful cake is adorning the island in our kitchen—half eaten mind you. You’ll notice the raspberries are red and not white. I made the cake three times before it turned out the way I wanted, and well, frankly, the white raspberries didn’t last that long!

Apple Cider Cake

2 teaspoons EnerG Egg Replacer

4 tablespoons warm water

1 cup gluten free flour blend*

2/3 cup corn flour (finely ground cornmeal)

1/3 cup sorghum flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup sugar

8 tablespoons Earth Balance, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

½ cup apple cider

Fruit for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the EnerG Egg Replacer and warm water together, whisking until there are no lumps. Set aside.

Whisk together in a large bowl: the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In the bowl of a stand mixer stir together the Earth Balance and sugar until creamy. This will take a few minutes on high speed. Add in the vanilla and lemon juice. Then add the EnerG Egg Replacer gel.

Set the mixer to a slower speed and alternate adding the flour (in thirds) and the cider. Scrape the bowl and continue to mix the batter just until thoroughly combined. Do not over mix.

Spoon the thick batter into a greased and floured 9-inch cake pan. Garnish with fruit. I chose peaches and raspberries but thinly sliced apples or pears would work well with this cake.

Place the cake in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack then invert onto a pretty plate. Voila!

Note: I used Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Multi Blend Flour

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