👨🍳 Cooking in the Time of COVID 👨🍳
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
Autumn frost squash is actually a specialty butternut squash, bred for its compact size and named, I suspect, for its misty cast.
One lesson I learned from this foray into squashdom is to not expect perfect consistency of flavor from one squash to the next seemingly identical specimen. ’Jever dig into a bag of roasted peanuts in the shell where one radiates leguminous luciousness and the next is just kind of – off? I’m sure that’s true of most produce, but it’s easy to forget; I’m speculating that this was an example of that lesson.
There wasn’t much depth of flavor in this baby after I roasted it, and the flesh was on the moist/squishy-pulpy end of the continuum, so between its flavor (which I could doctor up) and somewhat soggy texture, I decided that its destiny would be the soup pot.
Garnished with what I had on hand, chestnuts and fresh herbs (looks like I know what I’m doing, doesn’t it?), the soup was a festive celebration of seasoned puréed squash, chicken broth and heavy cream with a bit of fresh thyme and sage. Ginger came to the party too. But alas, not Mary Ann. (Speaking of a misty cast.)
Next up, red kuri squash.
(For those who are just joining us, the saga begins here.)
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes. ❤️
Enjoying the squash tales. Thanks, Rich! They are in spring me to plant more winter squash. I like to try out a new kind every year. Maybe the red Kuri next.
Thank you, as always, for reading me, Pauline! Let me know which squash you settle on!
Hmm, I’m working my way through one of these at the moment, and the one I got seems fairly flavorful… Though I’m just briefly boiling chunks of it in my usual vegetable medley, so it doesn’t cook long enough to get too squashy (plus it’s part of what is effectively a stew, so context may help, there.) It’s good with cinnamon!
And when I say “working my way through”, I mean it’s a behemoth sitting in the fridge and I’m hacking chunks off to throw into various meals (don’t judge me!)
It’s possible that this is one of those “size matters” issues. The spoon in the second photo reveals that this squash was a young’un – hardly the behemoth that you’re tackling; maybe they need to mature in order to develop some real flavor. Still, it was a good excuse to make squash soup!