Autumn Squash Soup with Apple Cider and Brown Butter

As soon as chilly mornings and nights return, so it seems does our (my) craving for a warm or hot bowl of soup. With no undue disrespect to minestrone or any other broth based soup, there is nothing more satisfying than one having a rich, thick, creamy texture. Especially when the soup's thickness comes as a result of pureeing slowly roasted or sautéed vegetables and not from a roux or heavy cream. The moment I came across the recipe for Autumn Squash Soup with Apple Cider and Brown Butter in the recently released cookbook, Heartlandia: Heritage Recipes from Portland's The Country Cat (Adam and Jackie Sappington with Ashley Gartland), I had a feeling it would be one of those soups having a velvety, flavorful richness to it. What I didn't know was how insanely, want to lick the bowl in public, hope there is enough for a second helping, delicious it would be. In just one spoonful, it went onto my 'last meal' worthy shortlist. Only I have no intention of waiting until that last meal to make this soup again.

"You can't eat this soup standing up, your knees buckle." (Jerry Seinfeld in "The Soup Nazi"). This Autumn Squash Soup with Apple Cider and Brown Butter is not just a knee-buckling soup. It is the kind of soup that could create world peace. Yes, it is that good. 

The flavors of the kabocha squash, honey crisp apple, onion, fennel, garlic, sage, thyme, fresh apple cider and maple syrup are deepened by one simple ingredient. Browned butter. Whether you are making something sweet or savory, the magical qualities of browned butter take any dish to new levels of taste and complexity. If it hasn't already, it should be given Holy Grail status in the food world.

Enticed by some incredible photographs posted by a friend (and one who I have yet to meet), I have been longing to travel to the Northwest, Washington in particular. Other than attending a conference in  Seattle a lifetime ago, I have never really explored the beauty in that part of the country. And now after reading through the recipes in Heartlandia, I need to, no I have to, I absolutely must, add Portland to my list of must-go sooner rather than later places. So I asked the person who shall remain nameless if he would be willing to give up some of his miles so I could head out there sometime next month. He was. But then I thought, I should wait until late spring and maybe I could convince one of my close friends (the one causing me to drool from just the photos of an amazing brown butter cookie bakery she discovered recently in California) to meet me there for an adventure. If I bring her some of this soup on my next trip out to visit her I am thinking she won't be able to say no. I'll make sure to bring along some great wine from either Oregon or Washington just in case.

There was always baked acorn squash on my childhood Thanksgiving dinner table.  Despite my father's best efforts and the enticement of a butter and brown sugar topping, we could not be swayed into eating it. In retrospect this would have been one of his 'father knows best' about food moments.  One completely unappreciated at the time. Years had passed but those squash seeds planted at the Thanksgiving table finally took root.

The more common varieties of squash gracing our dinner tables, or at least my table, include acorn and butternut. Only recently (like in this past week) have I discovered the versatile kabocha squash, described by some as a sweet potato crossed with a pumpkin. With a deep green skin and intense orange-yellow flesh, it has a strong, yet sweet, moist and fluffy texture. Much like other hard winter squashes or pumpkins, this Asian or Japanese variety of winter squash can be roasted or steamed. Had my father made and forced us to eat kabocha squash when we were little, I would have been politely asking for seconds.

At this time of year the herbs and vegetables in this soup can be found at the grocery store and/or the farmer's market. Before I made this soup I had to 'google' kabocha squash on my phone while walking through the farmer's market as I didn't even know what it looked like. Thankfully the internet kept me from revealing some of my cluelessness to a total stranger.

The kabocha squash is baked in a preheated 400 degree (F) oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife. Baking time will vary slightly based on the size of the squash. My baking time was 50 minutes.

Two and a half cups of cooked squash flesh is needed for this soup recipe. Whatever you do, don't let any of the remaining cooked squash go to waste. Mix it with a little bit of butter (or browned butter), season with salt and pepper, and enjoy it. If you thought eating any leftover cookie dough batter was a bonus for making cookies, wait until you eat this cooked squash. You won't want anyone near the kitchen when you are making this soup.

In a Dutch oven or deep cast iron pot, six tablespoons of unsalted butter are melted and browned. If you have never browned butter before, foodblogger, Joy the Baker wrote a great little instructional post.

Thin slices of onion and fennel; a peeled and quartered apple; chopped garlic, thyme and sage are added to the browned butter along with fresh apple cider, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup (the real stuff), salt and pepper. On low heat, this mixture simmers until the apple, fennel and onion have softened (approximately 30 minutes). 

Two and a half cups of the cooked kabocha squash flesh are added to the soup base. In order for the flavors to meld, the entire mixture is cooked on low for an additional ten minutes. 

Working in batches, the soup is pureed in a food processor until smooth and returned to the pan to rewarm. (Note: If you have an immersion blender, you can puree the soup in the pan. Lucky you!) The recipe suggests water can be added if it is 'too thick'. I so loved how thick and velvety the soup was, I couldn't bring myself to 'thinning' it with a little bit of water. My soup palate said the texture was perfect.

You can make this soup early in the day or the day before you plan on serving it. However, if it thickens too much after refrigeration, you may need to add a little water to return it to its' initial consistency.

Depending on the size of your soup bowl or whether you are serving this soup as a meal or first course, the recipe yields enough for 4 to 6 servings. The soup can be garnished with pumpkin seeds, thin slices of a honey crisp apple, roasted mushrooms, homemade buttered croutons, or left unadorned. 

Based only on the recipe for Autumn Squash Soup with Apple Cider and Brown Butter, I can hardly wait to work my way through Heartlandia: Heritage Recipes from Portland's The Country Cat. If there was ever a reason to lift a self-imposed cookbook buying moratorium, this book would be it. Next up for me will be their Brioche Cinnamon Rolls. But I probably need to make another batch of this soup first. 

One you make and taste this soup, you will never again make soup from a can, container, or frozen pouch. Even if you are starving and it is the only thing in the house to eat. This Autumn Squash Soup with Apple Cider and Brown Butter will permanently spoil you. Finally you will believe and understand why you deserve better than good enough in your life.

Recipe
Autumn Squash Soup with Apple Cider and Brown Butter (from Heartlandia: Heritage Recipes from Portland's The Country Cat by Adam and Jackie Sappington with Ashley Gartland)

Ingredients
A 2 1/2-3 pound kabocha squash, halved and seeded (for a yield of 2 1/2 cups of cooked squash flesh)
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
2 cups unsweetened apple cider
1 firm, crisp, medium-sized Honey Crisp apple, peeled, cored and quartered
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup 
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Set rack in center of the oven.
2. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place the squash, cut-side down, on pan. Roast for approximately 1 hour or until tender when pierced with a fork. Let cool slightly, then peel away and discard skin or any other tough pieces. Measure out 2 1/2 cups of squash flesh.
3. In a medium Dutch oven set over medium heat, melt butter. Cook, whisking frequently, until the butter solids are brown and start to smell nutty (approximately 5 minutes).
4. Add the apple cider, apple, onion, fennel, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sage, thyme and maple syrup. Bring mixture to a simmer. Season with kosher salt and pepper.
5. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until apples, fennel and onions are soft and tender (approximately 30 minutes).
6. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree soup until smooth (Note: Work in batches). The pureed soup should coat the back of a spoon.
7.  Return soup to the pan. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add water until it reaches the desired consistency. Season with additional kosher salt and pepper (and additional cider vinegar if desired). Reheat until warm.
8. Serve in four to six soup bowls.
Optional: Garnish soup with toasted pumpkin seeds, roasted mushrooms, thinly sliced apples or brioche croutons.

Early morning sunrise and mist on a farm in Little Compton, Rhode Island.

Apple Cider Doughnut Cake

Last week I packed up my camera and set off to drive the back roads of rural Indiana in search of pumpkins, apples, and seeing an unobstructed by buildings and telephone poles views of the sky. I returned home seven hours later from a less than one hundred mile round trip. Had I not wanted to get caught in rush hour expressway traffic, I could have easily spent another couple of hours driving down the two lane roads lined with soybean and cornfields; stopping at every farm stand selling pumpkins, apples, and freshly harvested vegetables; going into all of the open antique stores; and, stopping to take photos every time I saw a great barn, a pasture of animals, or view that caught my eye and made my heart race.

Although being out in the flat lands of Indiana on a beautiful blue, cloud filled sky day is not exactly the same as being out in the Big Sky country of Montana, taking a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park, driving through Acadia National Park, or walking on the shore of the ocean in Rhode Island, they all make me swoon. There is something incredibly magical and zen about being in an open space, taking in all of the beauty nature has to offer in front of and above you. Not just with your eyes but also with your soul. For brief moments you envy and completely understand why some choose to spend their lives or long periods of time far away from all of the 'noise' of a city.

I returned from this relatively short day trip with a trunk and car filled with some of the most beautiful pumpkins; not enough Honey Crisp apples; all of the makings necessary to make my front door feel both autumnal and welcoming; hundreds of photos; and a vintage bundt pan. Maybe more importantly, I returned feeling re-energized and filled with the kind of happiness only the simplest of things can elicit.

Last week I had also planned to finally make the two layer Apple Cider Doughnut Cake slathered in a cream cheese frosting. A cake recipe I discovered when fresh apples and cider were not in season. However, all of that changed the moment I came upon this vintage cast iron bundt pan. Who knew a pan could have me give up slathering cream cheese frosting on anything? And little did I know I would be making this cake two days in a row. But not for some of the reasons you might be thinking. But more on that later.

The inspiration the Apple Cider Doughnut Cake recipe, sans the cream cheese frosting, came from Serious Eats. In looking over the recipe my first thoughts were: there needed to be cinnamon in the cake batter, not just in the cinnamon sugar coating and the use of both light and dark brown sugars would further deepen the cakes flavor.

The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of apple cider and one roughly chopped Granny Smith apple. After making this cake twice in less than twenty-four hours, I decided it needed only 1 cup of (fresh) apple cider and a grated Honey Crisp apple.

The apple cider and grated apple are used to make a thickened applesauce used to give both an apple flavor and moistness to the cake. After cooking the cider and apple, the mixture is cooled slightly and pureed in a food processor. Because only one cup of the 'applesauce' is needed for the cake, one cup of (fresh) apple cider is more than enough. 

In addition to cinnamon, the cake batter is also flavored with mace and nutmeg. Mace is one of those spices we don't hear much about these days. Because mace and nutmeg share the same plant biology, some assume they have the same taste and flavor. Serious Eats describes mace as being lighter, subtler and sweeter than nutmeg. A cross between nutmeg and coriander, tinged with citrus and cinnamon. Nutmeg deepens the flavor of a dish, mace elevates it.

Nowadays you can buy spices in small quantities without having to buy a whole jar. In addition to stores selling only spices, some of the chain grocery stores as well as Whole Foods, allow to buy what you need. The days of letting jars of spices expire have finally come to an end. 

The biggest lesson learned in making this Apple Cider Doughnut Cake, twice, is to make sure the pan is well greased. Unless you want to go through all of the work of making this incredible cake only to have it not unmold in one piece. Screaming when this happens is usually necessary, not optional. 

In a 350 degree (F) preheated oven the Apple Cider Doughnut Cake bakes for up to 50 minutes. While the baking time range was 35-45 minutes in the original recipe, my baking time (both times I made it) was 50 minutes. My best advice is to begin checking for doneness at 35 minutes. An over or under done cake is almost as bad as having a cake not unmold properly. 

There are two options for adding the Cinnamon Sugar Coating to the cake. The first is to rub the coating into the warm cake with your fingers. The second is to brush the warm cake with melted butter then rub the cinnamon sugar with the back of a spoon. Both options work. Having given up the slathered in cream cheese frosting plan, I went with the melted butter plan the second time around as it created a slightly crispier finish to the cake. 

This is the kind of cake you want to wake up to on a chilly fall day; to serve to friends visiting for the weekend; to make as a hostess, feel better or welcome to the neighborhood gift; to bring to the office just because; to send off with a significant other going on a weekend fishing or golfing trip with friends, or to make just because it's fall and you can't get enough of the flavors of apple and cinnamon (and sometimes you need a short break from all things pumpkin spiced). Even better yet, it's the kind of cake to make when you can't decide whether you want to eat some cake or a doughnut. You don't have to choose. You can have both. In other words, you really need to make this Apple Cider Doughnut Cake.

For those of you without a bundt pan, you can make this cake in a 9"x12" baking pan or in two 8" cake pans. Both of those options will give you the options of slathering it first with the cinnamon sugar coating and then with a cream cheese frosting or just rubbing in the cinnamon sugar coating only. Baking times will vary if using alternate baking pans.

Life is short, fall is short, apple season is short. And if you like your apple a day in as many forms as possible, also consider making an Apple Galette, Baked Apples ala Mode, Baked Apples with Oat Crumble, Caramel Apple Dutch Baby ala Mode, Fresh Apple Cake, Shirley's Apple Crisp, or an Applesauce Spice Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. And take the time to go on long drives to places with landscapes different than the one you see everyday. You never know what you will come back with.

Recipe
Apple Cider Doughnut Cake (slight adaptation to Serious Eats Apple Cider Doughnut Cake)

Ingredients
Cake
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large Honey Crisp apple (8-9 ounces), peeled, cored and grated
1 cup fresh apple cider
1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed (Note: Can use all light brown sugar or a combination of light and dark brown sugars)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter or vegetable spray for greasing the bundt pan

Cinnamon Sugar Coating
6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Optional: 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray or grease an 8-9 cup bundt pan. Set aside.
2. For the cinnamon sugar coating, combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir until combined. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring cider and grated apple to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until apples have softened (approximately 8-10 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a food processor and process until pureed. Measure out one cup of apple mixture and combine with 1/2 cup milk. Set aside. (Note: Use any of the remaining apple mixture as a topping for ice cream.)
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon. Set aside.
5. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes).
6. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add oil and beat until incorporated (approximately 1 minute).
8. Decrease mixer speed to low and alternately add flour and cider mixture, for a total of five additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
9. Increase speed to medium and beat until just combined, approximately 20 seconds. 
10. Add vanilla and beat just to combine.
11. Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-50 minutes, rotating the cake halfway through, until golden and tester comes out clean. Note: My baking time was 50 minutes, but suggest checking on doneness at 35 minutes. Note: Scrape half of the batter into the pan, sprinkle one Tablespoon of cinnamon sugar over batter. Then cover with remaining batter. Bake as directed.
12. Transfer bundt pan to cooling rack. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes. Then invert cake onto platter.
13. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture onto cake, using your fingers to rub it into top and sides. Note: Alternately brush warm cake with melted butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar onto cake, using the back of a spoon to rub it into top and sides.
14. Cool cake for at least 1 hour before serving. Store cake covered.

A bin of Honey Crisp apples, cornfields and grazing Longhorns in rural Indiana.

Broccoli Salad

Shortly after moving to a community having both rural and suburban characteristics some thirty something years ago, my affinity and love for antiques was set in motion. With no life experience frame of reference to guide me, my early 'antique' purchases were mostly influenced by pouring over books and magazines, attending antique shows, and browsing in antique stores. After several years of this random education, learning from my 'mistakes', and having my life cross paths with someone possessing a great deal of antique wisdom and knowledge, my eye and heart started to gravitate toward all things from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. To this day my heart races and head spins whenever I discover an antique shop or walk into a home filled with beautiful, sometimes primitive period pieces or collections. Beyond their visual beauty, it is the known as well as unknown stories of their provenance that I find equally compelling. When I look at my small collection of antique hand-stitched samplers, I wonder where ten year old Elizabeth Rannard lived in 1835 and what became of her. Or as I fill some of my hard carved painted trencher dough bowls with gourds, pumpkins, and Indian corn, I imagine they once held balls of dough used to bake homemade loaves bread prized by family and friends.

Walking past the cupboards filled with my collections of antique bowls, platters, and cake stands, I feel grateful to and for all of those who had cared for them before me. As these antique pieces seem to have the unexplainable ability to make all foods look and taste even better (so why do I continue to buy 'new' dishes?) Like how the slightly altered version of a vintage, not yet antique recipe, for Broccoli Salad, served on the brown transfer ware platter was so much more delicious than I had remembered it being.

Was it because I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, because I altered the ingredient amounts, or because it was served on an antique brown transferware platter? Whatever the reason or reasons, I am beside myself happy I rediscovered the recipe while going through my collection of cookbooks. Ironically it just happened to come from a book of favorite recipes submitted by women living in the town responsible for opening my eyes to the world of antiques.

Broccoli happens to be one of those vegetables with a significant number of health benefits. From offsetting Vitamin D deficiencies with its high levels of vitamins A and K, to having high levels of vitamin C, to having some cholesterol-lowering benefits, to even having anti-flammatory benefits, we should all be eating it at least weekly. And considering my recent running injury woes, I should probably be eating it daily!

For the creamiest, smoothest, most flavorful dressing, it should be the night before. The overnight resting allows the sugar and red wine vinegar to become completely infused into the mayonnaise, resulting in a perfect balance of sweet and tart. Lately I have become a big fan of Duke's mayonnaise, a brand well known to cooks to the south. This was the mayonnaise I used to make this salad, however, Hellman's mayonnaise would work as well.

A yield of a generous three to four cups of florets will come from 5 to 6 stems of broccoli.

Yes, I am on a bacon binge this week. There are many versions of Broccoli Salad out there on the web and in cookbooks. The ones that do not contain bacon are ones missing a key ingredient in this salad. Cooked to almost crisp and drained on paper towels, the bacon is cut into lardons (i.e., small strips) before added to the salad. If possible, buy the thicker cut of bacon usually found in the meat section in your grocery store. As another good option use the prepackaged thick cut applewood smoked bacon.

The early versions of this recipe used raisins. This one uses dried cranberries. Some Broccoli Salad recipes use sliced almonds. This one uses roasted, salted sunflower seeds. The combination of dried cranberries and roasted, salted sunflower seeds is nothing short of perfect.

This is not the Broccoli Salad you buy from the deli counter at your grocery store. The ratio of dressing to salad is one where when tossed, the salad is one lightly dressed versus one drowning in dressing. The dressing does not mask each of the flavors in the salad, it compliments them.

While the dressing is tossed into the salad right before serving, the broccoli is still able to retain its' crunch the next day. 

Choose your favorite or most beautiful platter when serving this Broccoli Salad. Trust me on this. Yes I know there there is current commercial out there for paper goods that want you to believe the table setting doesn't matter. Remember they are trying to sell you something. And it's more than their products! 

Once plated, sprinkle on the remaining reserved sunflower seeds and the lardons/strips cut from one slice of bacon. Like the fall landscape, this is a colorful salad. Served with a roasted chicken or some grilled steaks, it makes for a perfect meal. As an added bonus, it also one having some health and nutritional benefits. 

While making this Broccoli Salad, a flurry of memories came back to me. Memories of a house I never thought I would ever want to leave or give up; of a whirlwind antique weekend out east with friends; and, of meals eaten on table settings so beautiful even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have been elevated to levels reserved only for five star restaurants. And all of this happened because I had saved and reopened a cookbook purchased so many years ago.

Recipe
Broccoli Salad (inspired by The Happy Times with Home Cooking cookbook, a compilation of recipes contributed by some of the women from Crete, Illinois)

Ingredients
Salad
3 - 4 generous cups broccoli florets, from 5-6 stalks of broccoli (Cut large florets into smaller, bite-sized pieces.)
2/3 pound of thick cut bacon, cooked to almost crisp and cut into pieces
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion (from the half of a large red onion or one small red onion)
3/4 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
3/4 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds, divided

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise (recommend using either Duke's or Hellman's brands)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions
1. Combine the mayonnaise, granulated sugar and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Stir until well combined. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours).
2. Before mixing salad, reserve the lardons from one slice of bacon and 2 Tablespoons of the roasted, salted sunflower seeds.
3. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli florets, bacon lardons, red onion, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds.
4. Add dressing to the mixture, and stir until fully incorporated.
5. Transfer salad to a large platter. Top with the reserved bacon and sunflower seeds.
6. Serve immediately.

Note: Refrigerate any leftovers, covering the platter or bowl with plastic wrap.

Ferns and reflections found on a walk in Wilbur Woods (Little Compton, RI)