Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup

Its a wonderful feeling when you have thrown together supper without having to visit a grocery store or open up a cookbook. It becomes one of those 'AHA' moments, and your so darn smitten with yourself you might as well pat yourself on the back. And you're right, your mother taught you good.

This was one of those nights. I perused through some favorite recipe-and-all-things-knowledgeable-gold mines and then set off on my merry way. Then this happened, and it was good if I say so myself. 

Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup

2 cups coarsely chopped leeks (from one giant leek, or two small), rinsed well

2 T olive oil

big pinch of salt

3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (from a can), coarsely chopped

1 t adobo sauce (from chipotle can)

4 cups chopped butternut squash

2-3 cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Heat olive oil in heavy bottomed soup pot. Saute leeks and pinch of salt until softened. 

2. Add garlic and chipotle plus adobo sauce. Cook for just another minute or so until fragrant. 

3. Tumble butternut squash into pot and add broth until squash is mostly covered. 

4. Let soup come to a simmer, cover and cook for about 10 minutes until squash is very tender. You can't really over cook this. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

5. Submerge your immersion blender into soup and puree until smooth. You can also use a regular blender, just make sure you leave the lid cracked so hot steaming soup doesn't blind you. 

6. Stir in heavy cream.

optional toppings: chopped olives, a swirl of adobo sauce in a bit of yogurt or sour cream, crumbled feta, chopped cilantro, or a drizzle of chili oil.

A God given right

"There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Bread.

Crusty, moist, warm, filling bread is the food of gods. Not ambrosia, but bread. I am kind of bread crazy right now. It's mostly because recently I was given a recipe (thanks Katie P) for no knead bread which turns out the most perfect, delicious, easy bread ever. In the past I have attempted to make bread and it always turns out to be a thick crusted, bland rock. Even more reason that I almost did jumping jacks when I pulled this lovely loaf out of the oven on Sunday eve. How appropriate? My very first perfect bread experience and it was on a Sunday! I'm almost compelled to head to the closest service, but I think another slice of heaven will do for now. Like I said, it's godly.

To continue with this obnoxious praising of a loaf of bread, here are a few fun facts about you guessed it:

-One bushel of wheat will produce 73 one pound loaves of bread

- Napoleon gave a common bread its name when he demanded a loaf of dark rye bread for his horse during the Prussian campaign. "Pain pour Nicole," he ordered, which meant "Bread for Nicole," his horse. To Germanic ears, the request sounded like "pumpernickel," which is the term we still use today. It may be the one food that every culture, race, religion and dietary leanings consumes on a daily basis.

-Scandinavian traditions hold that if a boy and girl eat from the same loaf, they are bound to fall in love.

-Legend has it that whoever eats the last piece of bread has to kiss the cook.

- Breaking bread is a universal sign of peace

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No Knead Bread
from New York Times, adapted from Sullivan Street Bakery

3 cups all purpose flour or bread flour (or any other combination of flours. Whole wheat, millet, oat, barley, rye, spelt)

1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1 5/8 (1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons) water (does not have to be warm, but not HOT)


1. Stir together flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Pour water over flour mixture. Let sit for a second, then, with a wooden spoon, stir until well combined. It should form a rough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 12-18 hours (18 is really what you should shoot for) in a warm (70 degrees) spot. After resting, you should see the surface dotted with bubbles.

2. Lightly flour a work surface and turn dough out onto it. Sprinkle a little more dough on top and fold it over itself once or twice. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel for about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, quickly and gently form into a ball. Generously coat a kitchen towel with flour; put dough seam side down on towel. Sprinkle a little more flour on top and cover with another towel. Let rest for 2 hours. Dough should double in size and will not spring back easily when poked with your finger.

4. At least a half an hour before the dough is ready, preheat oven to 450 degrees. At the same time, place a dutch oven and its cover in the oven. When dough is ready, remove pot from oven, and flip dough in. Seam should be up. Gently shake the pot to center the dough. Cover and place in oven. After 30 minutes, remove lid and bake for another 15-30 minutes until top is golden. (Mine was perfect after 15 minutes). Cool on rack.

Now repeat, again and again and again.