ILYSE'S 12 Favorite Things: Day 10

It is Day 10 of ILYSE'S 12 Favorite Things and I LOVE soup during the holiday season. Check out this yummy recipe below from The Silver Palate Cookbook. (It is one of my favorites) I promise you will love it just as much as I do and will make it over and over again. This cookbook has many amazing recipes. It can be purchased on Amazon.

CURRIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Squash and apples complement each other naturally; curry adds an exotic note. Feel free to experiment with other types of winter or summer squash.

4 tablespoons sweet butter
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions
4 to 5 teaspoons curry powder
2 medium-size butternut squash (about 3 pounds all together)
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3 cups of Chicken Stock
1 cup apple juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 shredded unpeeled Granny Smith apple (garnish)

1. Melt the butter in a pot. Add chopped onions and curry powder and cook, covered, over low heat until onions are tender, about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile peel the squash (a regular vegetable peeler works best), scrape out the seeds, and chop the flesh.
3. When onions are tender, pour in the stock, add squash and apples, and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until squash and apples are very tender, about 25 minutes.
4. Pour the soup through a strainer, reserving liquid, and transfer the solids to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, or use a food mill fitted with a medium disc. Add 1 cup of the cooking stock and process until smooth.
5. Return pureed soup to the pot and add apple juice and additional cooking liquid, about 2 cups, until the soup is of the desired consistency.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, simmer briefly to heat through, and serve immediately, garnished with shredded apple.
4 to 6 portions