The Taste of Fall

Last week we made pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice cookies, squash & apple soup, and apple & five-spice pork roast.  Yesterday we made melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies with a brown sugar frosting.  All gluten-free by-the-way.  As soon as my six weeks of gluten-free are over, I'm making those first pumpkin cookies again cause they were fantastic (and I actually preferred them without the glaze).  Oh, and tonight I'm making dinner in a pumpkin.

The epitome of fall flavors was in this:

Apple-Butternut Squash Soup (from Cooking Up Vermont via Linda)

3 T vegetable oil

1 medium white onion, diced small

3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped

1 T kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground allspice

1 large butternut squash (about 2 pounds) peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cute into 1-inch pieces

2 quarts water or chicken stock (I would reduce next time and do 4 c. veg or chick stock and 2 c. water)

2 cups apple cider

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups half and half

 

Heat oil in stockpot over medium low heat.  Add onion, celery, carrot, apple sale, pepper and spices.  Cover and cook until vegetables are slightly tender...8-10 minutes stirring occasionally.  

 

Remove cover and add squash, water or stock, cider and lemon juice, stirring to combine well.  Simmer over medium-high heat for about 40 minutes or until squash is fork tender, stirring occasionally.  

 

Working in batches, if necessary, transfer squash mixture to a blender and puree until silk smooth.  Transfer back to pot and slowly whisk in half and half and heat through.  Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.