Home, Cooking: Fall, In a Bowl

It’s fall. Is it fall? It’s no longer 90 degrees at 5 p.m., and it’s rained — a little. So what if there is still a soggy feeling to the air, and the shorts drawer can’t yet be reasonably transitioned into its winter status as the hoodie drawer? I’m choosing to say it’s fall. 

Since that’s the case, and the farmers’ market is full of squashes, apple, and cider, this week I made my first installment of what Epicurious once called Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Crème, back when they still had this one on their website. A dear friend made this for me when we were roommates, a full, big 20 years ago. Since then, I’ve craved it whenever October looms. 

It’s got apple cider in both the soup proper, and reduced in a crème that you drizzle over the top. If you are too annoyed to make the reduction, or you burn the cider (as I’ve done countless times), just skip that and top the soup with plain crème fraiche or sour cream. However, I must advise that the smell of cider boiling down on the stove cannot be beat — real autumnal scents, no candle needed. 

For some reason, I love to have this soup for dinner in a mug, alongside a couple pieces of pizza. Something about the pure vegetable-ness and sweet fruitiness of it really works with unfrozen leftover Avalanche. 

Of course, this soup freezes beautifully, in flattened zipper bags. If I ever find myself with extra apple cider, I freeze that, too, in 1.5-cup portions, so I can make this soup when the stars align.

Fall, In a bowl

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2½–3 lbs. butternut squash (or honeynut, if you can!)
  • Option 1: Roasted (sweeter, in my opinion!): Cut squash into fourths, lengthwise, and de-seed. Toss into a 350-400 degree oven, whenever you have one going for other reasons, and cook until squash can be pierced by a fork. Let cool, peel away skins. Store the squash as mash until you make the soup. 
  • Option 2: Peel and seed, while raw; cut into ½-inch pieces (should make about 6 cups).
• 2 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only; rinse in a colander, and pat dry if they look gritty)
• ½ cup chopped carrot
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 2 small tart apples (Granny Smiths are fine, if no other better farmers’ market option is available), cored and chopped 
• 1½ tsp. dried thyme
• ½ tsp. crumbled dried sage leaves
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock 
• 1½ cups apple cider
• ⅔ cup sour cream or crème fraiche 
• ½ cup whipping cream (or you can substitute half-and-half)

Directions

1. Put butter in your soup pot and melt at medium heat until it’s foamy-ish. Add in leeks, carrot, and celery, as well as squash, if you haven’t pre-roasted it. Sauté until soft (about 15 minutes). 
2. Meanwhile, start reducing ½ cup of the cider. Put it in your smallest saucepan and boil it until it’s only ¼ cup. (Don’t forget it’s there, like I sometimes do!) When it’s reduced, mix it, with your smallest whisk, with the sour cream or crème fraiche. It’ll look like caramel-y crème. 
3. Back to the soup. After the first bunch of vegetables is sautéed, add apples, thyme, sage, squash (if you roasted it), stock, and 1 cup of the cider. Bring to a boil and then simmer at medium-low for 30 minutes or so. 
4. Cool until you feel like you can safely blend. Use a blender or immersion blender, and puree until smooth. Add in whipping cream or half-and-half. Blend again, until even. 
5.  Serve soup in bowls or mugs, with a drizzle of crème over the top.