Butternut Squash and Parsnip Soup

I lost my favorite recipe for butternut and parsnip soup!😬 So I winged it and came up with this! This version is slightly sweet. I plan to attempt a more savory one as well.

Ingredients

1 medium to large butternut squash, peeled and cubed

4 peeled and cubed parsnips
½ a Vidalia onion, large dice
Salt
White pepper
1/4 to 1/2 tsp Ground thyme
4 Tbs butter
1 honey crisp apple, peeled and cubed
1 can coconut milk
Olive oil, about 2 Tbs
2-4 cups unsalted chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Ground Cardamom
1 Tbs Maple Syrup

Roasted Pepitas (or clean and roast the squash seeds!)

Directions

Coat squash and parsnips in olive oil. Add salt and pepper over top and sprinkle about ¼ tsp ground thyme over, then toss to coat. Roast in preheated 350° F oven for 30 minutes.

In large pot, melt and brown butter over low heat, stirring, until it smells caramelized and is a brown color. Add onions and apples and stir. Cook over medium low heat for 5 to 8 minutes, or until soft.

Check that the squash and parsnip are soft from roasting by poking with a fork. Once easily pierced, remove from oven and add to pot with apples and onions. Blend with an immersion blender, or carefully add to blender or food processor in parts, until everything is blended smooth. Add up to 2 cups of stock to help the blending process. If you did not use an immersion blender, transfer the soup back to the pot.

Add ⅔ a cup of coconut milk to pot. At this point you can add up to 2 more cups of stock, or a bit more milk to reach a consistency that you enjoy (or both, I like to add a bit more coconut milk, and usually use all but 1/4 of the can). Bring the soup to a simmer.

Add 1 Tbs maple syrup, ¼ tsp ground cardamom, ¼ tsp cumin and more salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 10 to 20 more minutes, until warmed through.

Ladle out, and top with some pepitas to serve.

Italian Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients

6 sweet or mild Italian sausages

2 red bell peppers, sliced

1 vidalia onion, sliced

6 cloves garlic, finely diced

1/4 to 1/2 cup red wine

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

2 Tbs Butter

1 Tbs Olive Oil

White, cooked rice to serve (or large fresh rolls)

Directions

Heat olive oil in large skillet that comes with a lid. Add sausage links. Pour 1/2 cup water into skillet. Cover with lid. When water begins to boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 12 minutes. Remove the lid and turn heat up to medium. Brown sausages on all sides, then remove to rest, at least 5 minutes. Slice sausages into rounds after resting. Do not drain skillet.

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Saute 3 minutes. Add peppers and seasonings. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, then add wine and sausage. Cook until wine reduces and taste for seasoning. Adjust as needed. Serve over hot white rice, or on rolls.

Larpmom’s Turkey Soup

The best thing about Thanksgiving is the turkey. The second best is using the leftovers to make soup.

This soup requires dark bone stock. I’ve posted my stock recipe here.

Here’s the recipe:

Turkey Soup

Ingredients:

2-3 cups leftover Turkey, cut into chunks
4 Carrots, peeled and cut into large dice
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 stalks Celery, diced
8 oz Portabella Mushrooms, sliced
Half a bag Dutch Gold Potatoes, cut into medium chunks
Half a large Vidalia onion, diced
Bouquet garni (1 sprig Sage, 2 sprigs Rosemary, small handful of Thyme, 1 Parmesan cheese rind, 2 bay leaves, little over half the tops of 1 bundle Italian parsley)
Turkey bone stock
Salt and pepper to taste
6 Tbs butter
The reserved fat of three rashers of bacon
1/3 cup Sour Cream
1 splash Heavy Cream
Parmesan for grating (optional)
Handful of diced Iltalian Parsley leaves

Directions:

Melt bacon fat and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook a few minutes, then add carrots, garlic, celery and onions. Stir and cook about 3 to 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms begin to soften, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add turkey and give it a good stir. Add stock, and herb bouquet, then bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.

Add diced parsley, sour cream and a splash of heavy cream. Let the soup warm through and then taste, add salt and pepper as needed. Remove herb bouquet and serve with a little parmesan grated over top, of desired.

Larpmom’s Turkey Stock

After the Thanksgiving dinner has ended, it’s time to utilize the leftovers. What better way than to make a nutritious bone stock, and then use it for Turkey soup! 🙂

I didnt get a picture, because well, I forgot.

Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Turkey Stock

Ingredients:

1 whole turkey carcass, meat removed (mine was a 20 pound bird)
8 whole black peppercorns
1 bouquet garni (you can use anything that complements what you used to cook the turkey. I used 2 sprigs of Rosemary, a handful of Thyme, 2 Bay leaves, a large sprig of Sage, Italian parsley stalks, and a Parmesan heel. Tie it all together with kitchen twine.)
2 carrots, skin on and roughly chopped
5 crushed cloves garlic
2 stalks of Celery
1 large Onion, quartered
Salt
Carrot peelings from soup prep
Enough water to just cover the carcass in a nice sized stock pot

Directions:

Using a big kitchen knife, break down the carcass at the joints so that the entire thing fits comfortably on an large baking sheet. Add the celery, garlic, onion and carrots to the sheet as well. Roast for 25 minutes in a 400° F oven.

In a large stock pot, add peppercorns, bouquet garni, and carrot peelings (I prep the vegetables for the soup while the bones roast. I always use carrots, so I toss the peels in to make a better stock). Add the roasted bones and vegetables. Pour cold water over until bones are just covered (mine came to about 10 cups). Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Skim off any foam you can see. Add about 1/4 tsp Salt. Simmer 4 to 6 hours, until stock has reduced to about half. Use tongs to remove the large bones and solids, then pour over a large mesh strainer in a storage bowl or container to remove the rest of the solids. Let cool and refrigerate overnight. Remove any fat/grease that congeals on top of the stock overnight before use.