Okay, lameness over, if you’ve been following my tweets, to soothe my angst over student loans and photography, I’ve been throwing myself into making lots of food. Gloria reminded me of this blog’s existence, and today I’ll share with you a pretty simple curried butternut squash soup that I thought up while eating a different, inferior, store-bought squash soup.

What you’ll need:
Blender or Food Processor
Pot for soup.

Butternut Squash – medium sized, ours yielded about 4 cups of inner meat, but James ate a lot before I started making this.
1 medium onion – I used red because of what’s on hand, but up to you!
1 tbsp unsalted butter – OR all the butter you want in the world.
3 cloves garlic – confession, I used more, but I’m a garlic addict. Spice to taste.
1.5 teaspoons curry powder – again, I used 1 tbsp, but not everyone is as spice dead as me.
3 cups chicken broth – Vegetable broth okay.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Optional: Heavy cream for fancy spiral topping.

First things first, you have to roast the butternut squash. Cut that sucker in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, put it on a baking sheet face down and stick it in the oven heated to 400 degrees. After about 20-25 minutes, it should be done. Check on it occasionally. You’ll know it’s done when the outer skin is easily pierced by a fork.

Alternatively, you can cut the squash into quarters, put it on a plate, cover it all with saran wrap, and microwave it on high for 6 minute intervals until done. I vastly prefer baking, but James did it the microwave method, before swearing “NEVER AGAIN.” Now, that’s a resounding success if I’ve ever heard one.

After taking the squash out of the oven and setting it aside to cool, you can chop up your onion and garlic, and start frying up the onion in your butter. I just used a regular stainless steel pot that I knew would hold all my ingredients. When the onion starts looking translucent and yummily cooked, put in the garlic, chicken broth, and curry powder and start bringing it up to a simmer.

As that happily gets up to a warm bubbling, turn back to your squash. If you haven’t already removed it from the oven for whatever reason, do so, and prepare to scald your fingers. Now, remove the inside “meat” of the squash from its skin and put that meat into the soup on the stove. If you’ve baked it properly, the meat usually just falls off and it’s quite easy to separate the two. If you find yourself having some trouble, I use an ice cream scoop to get every little bit I can out of the rinds. You should have a yield of about 3-4 cups of squash meat.

Once all the squash meat is in your pot, you should now have all the ingredients heating on the stove – butternut squash meat, butter, onion, garlic, curry powder, and chicken broth. Bring this up to a nice bubbling simmer and let it sit for about 30 minutes. I check on mine and stir it around every 10 minutes, but whatever you feel comfortable with as long as it’s not on fire.

After 30 minutes, pour the mixture into your food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Salt and pepper it to your taste, or add more garlic/curry powder if you want, and tada! Delicious soup! Because I was trying to be fancy and had heavy cream lying around, I put a cream spiral on top of the soup I was serving, but this is completely optional. Highly recommended for those with steadier hands than me, though!

Ingredients:

• 2 Green Bell Peppers
• 3-4 Jalapeño Peppers
• 1-2 White Onions
• 1 Large Can Tomato Sauce (~29 oz)
• 1 Can Tomato Paste (~12 oz)
• 1 Bottle of Beer
• 3 Cans of Beans (16 oz each)
• 1 Pound Ground Chicken
• 1 Pound Ground Turkey
• 1 Pound Thick Cut Bacon
• Seasoning Mix (described below)

Seasoning Mix:

• 2 tbsp. Chili Powder
• 1 tbsp. Seasoned Salt
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp. Cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Oregano
• 1/2 tsp. Paprika

1. Finely chop onions and peppers into ~1/4″ pieces.   Put peppers, onions and beer into  a large pot or slow cooker.  I used a bottle of Yeungling Lager, but most beers should work and will add their own unique flavors.  For stove-top cooking set to medium heat, or for slow cooker set to highest setting.
2. In a large frying pan cook the bacon.  Remove from heat when the strips are a dark pink.  Even if you like to go whole-hog and get your bacon super crispy keep in mind these will be in the chili for a very long time so getting them just-done is the way to go.  Set aside the strips on a plate between paper towels to absorb excess grease.  When all the bacon has been cooked pour out excess grease from the pan into a metal or glass container, leaving about 2-3 tbsp. in the pan.
3. In the same pan cook the ground chicken with about 1 tbsp. of the seasoning mix. When the chicken is fully cooked, drain and add to the pot or slow cooker with the vegetables. Repeat the process for the ground turkey with 1 tbsp. of the seasoning mix and 1-2 tbsp. of bacon grease. After the chicken and turkey have been added to the mix reduce heat to low.
4. Pat excess grease off of the bacon with a paper towel and slice the bacon into small pieces (about 1/4-1/2″  wide). Add bacon to the pot.
5. Strain all liquid from the beans and add to the pot. I used a combination of kidney beans, black beans and navy beans. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste and remainder of seasoning mix to the pot and stir thoroughly.  Fresh tomatoes could be used but I like to keep the tomato as a liquid base for the other ingredients.  If fresh tomatoes are used you should finely chop enough tomatoes to constitute about 1-1.5 quarts (32-48 oz).
6. Allow to simmer for 3-4 hours or longer if possible, stirring occasionally.  I ended up cooking the chili overnight for a total of about 12 hours.  This allowed a richer flavor to develop which I think worked out well. However it did end up burning slightly on the bottom which ended up making the flavor a little smokier, but unfortunately also caused the bottom quarter or so of the pot to be thrown out. In general it would be best to cook this throughout the day so as to keep an eye on it at all times.

This makes I believe about 6 quarts of chili. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream or ranch dressing.

You’ll need:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage **See below for notes on sausage
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced ** I used one red, one yellow for variety and colorfulness
• 2 yellow onions, sliced ** Only used half of one large yellow onion and it was plenty
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Below is my own rendition of the instructions!

A note on sausages: I imagine you can use most kinds of sausages in this recipe, though I would advise trying turkey or chicken because I think the lighter taste helps really balance out all the other flavors in the dish. You can use raw or precooked – I used the aidells brand of precooked chicken sausages, sun-dried tomato flavor.  Ryan was raving about the aidells sausages, and I have to agree that they are very tasty.  If you use precooked sausages, I also recommend browning them in the pan for the first step anyway so you can use a bit of the grease that runs out of them to sautee the peppers and onions in.

First, heat some oil in a big skillet and cook the sausages over medium heat until browned. Drain out most of the grease, but leave in a bit for the veggies!

Throw in the chopped peppers and onions! I like to pump up the heat to medium-high initially to get a good saute going.  Salt and pepper them to taste, though don’t overdo it because there are many other savory and sweet flavors coming in later.

One the onions are looking translucent and a bit browned, throw in the chopped garlic, dried oregano, and basil. Revel in the sudden complexity of the smell! At this point I turned the heat back down to medium.

After a couple minutes, add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes (after draining them) and the marsala. Stir well, then simmer.

It might look something like this at this point:

Cut the sausages up – Giada recommends 1-inch cubes but I like to go smaller because my jaw is gimpy and I think it works better to have smaller bits when you put it in sandwich form. Throw the sausage into the pan, stir it around a bit, and let it simmer until the sauce is thickened (it says 20 minutes on the recipe but mine took about half that long).  As long as the marsala is cooked off and the sauce looks decently thick you’re good.

Now you have a couple choices when serving this dish  – we took a fresh white baguette and hollowed out the innards a little and just scooped the mixture into them to make subs. It was amazing.  You can also serve bread on the side or eat it straight – I would however definitely go with bread in some form because the taste is pretty intense.

On a somewhat related note, it has always been a challenge for me to find marsala in the wine section of a grocery store. Today, with no helpful wine expert to direct me in Safeway (Whole Foods, you spoil me), I spent a good 10 minutes searching up and down the aisle before finding it in next to the sherries and ports. Since I am kind of uneducated about wines and liquors in general, here is what I learned:

• Marsala is a fortified wine, meaning that it is combined with added alcohol (which has a natural preservative function). 
• There are sweet and dry versions, which can be matched to the recipe (I got a medium sweet one)
• The color varies from gold to red, which is why Wynn, Karen and  I were confused about what color it should be… turns out we were all correct!
• Because it is fortified and also often used in cooking, grocery stores will most likely carry it with other fortified wines or in a cooking wine section.  I found this bottle for about 5 bucks, and have plenty left. Since mine’s sweet I might try it by itself as a dessert wine…

Anyway, here are pictures and the recipe! Enjoy!

Chicken and Mushroom Marsala (recipe taken from Smitten Kitchen)

• 3 whole boneless chicken breasts with skin (about 2 1/2 pounds), halved  (I just used boneless thighs again for the lower price)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup Marsala
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet heat oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown chicken in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a large plate as browned.

Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and saute onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add Marsala and cook mixture, stirring, until Marsala is almost evaporated. Add broth and chicken with any juices that have accumulated on plate and simmer, turning chicken once, until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter.

Simmer mushroom sauce until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter is just incorporated. Spoon mushroom sauce around chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

Luckily, we had master chef Christoper there to appease our stomachs with homemade bruschetta and garlic bread. Also, Sophie brought over a bottle of chianti classico that went really well with the appetizers and surprisingly decently with the main course. What? Red wine with seafood? Yes, yes we can.

Also, I got to break in my new, awesome, large, gas-range-wielding kitchen last night!  Being able to talk to people who are sitting at the bar while I cook is so good.

Photo!

I lifted the recipe from the Food Network site and added my own comments below:

**As far as proportions go, I find that this recipe serves 3-4 people easily.

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/4 cup tomato concasse (tomatoes peeled, seeded, and cut into strips) **I just used diced tomatoes from a can!
• 1/4 cup sliced scallion greens
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1 cup fish stock **fish stock is a little hard to find, chicken or vegetable stock work fine as substitutes
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces gemelli **definitely recommend using gemelli in particular – it goes so well
• 1 tablespoon very finely grated Parmesan
• 1/2 pound smoked salmon, sliced thinly and chopped **you can definitely get away with less
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons chiffonade fresh basil

Directions

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato, scallion greens, and garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the vodka. Return to the heat and flame.

**Note: You’ll need one of those long lighters that you use for grills and such, I’ve tried using matches before because I lacked lighters and it’s not pretty.  After you light it on fire, pick up the pan and shake it lightly and watch the flames dance! It’s pretty and blue.  The shaking will help the vodka burn faster/more evenly I think, while also being a source of entertainment.

When the flame dies out, add the stock. Bring to a boil and reduce by 50 percent in volume. Add the cream, salt, and pepper, and cook until reduced by 50 percent in volume.

**Note: This takes REALLY LONG if you are making a lot; with my doubled recipe yesterday it took about an hour and a half. Generally though, I would expect it to take only about 30 minutes with a regular batch. You’ll know it’s about done when the cream takes on the reddish color of the tomatoes in the sauce!

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain in a colander.

Add the pasta to the cream sauce and toss to coat. Add the cheese, salmon, and herbs, and remove from the heat. Toss to coat. Serve immediately.