Allen is 30

Math has never been my best nor my favorite subject, but tonight I think I reached an all time low with it. Russ and I are on the verge of turning 30, but until that happens we are enjoying celebrating our friends who are older turning 30 first. Tonight was Allen’s turn to leave his twenties behind, so to mark this occasion Russ and I decided to have a surprise birthday party at our house for him. We wanted to keep it casual, but have food for anyone who wanted to eat dinner. I decided to make Santa Fe Soup and Butternut Squash Roasted Garlic Bisque. Since we were having a small crowd I decided to double both the recipes….which brought math into the picture. Now you would think this wouldn’t be that hard, but somehow I added too much water to the Santa Fe Soup making it not as thick as I would have liked and I managed to not double the garlic in the Bisque. I mean seriously roasted garlic is half the name of the soup and I managed to forget to double it. The bisque was still good, but it didn’t have a pronounced roasted garlic flavor in it. I’ll chalk this up to a learning experience in paying closer attention when multiplying by two to double a recipe….

I found this recipe for Butternut Squash Roasted Garlic Bisque several years ago on the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards. It is hands down one of my favorite soups and is quite possibly in the number one position except that I really liked the Classic Tomato Soup from a couple weeks ago. Anyway, I have made this every year since I found the recipe and just love it. In fact my meat and potatoes husband loves it too even though it doesn’t have any meat in it. To make the soup you roast the garlic and butternut squash. To roast the garlic you cut it in half (crosswise) and rub olive oil on the cut surfaces. Then put it back together and wrap it in foil. For the squash cut it in half lengthwise and rub olive oil on the flesh side. Place the flesh side down on a baking sheet covered in foil. Both will roast for about 40 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile chop the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté these in butter until they are soft. Once the squash is roasted scoop the flesh out and add it to the pot along with the broth and sage. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Let it simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes. Once it has simmered you can add the roasted garlic (which you have squeezed out of the skin and mashed) to the soup. Then puree the soup either in batches in a blender or using a hand blender. (If you are making this a day in advance like I was then stop here and refrigerate and finish it off tomorrow.) Then add the cream to the soup and season it with salt and pepper to taste. I like serving the bisque with a crusty bread. Santa Fe soup showed up recently on the blog here.

The butternut squash is thick, creamy, and a beautiful orange color! I really love the flavor of butternut squash and it works so well with the roasted garlic. This is a savory delicious soup that is hearty and tasty. As I mentioned before I forgot to double the garlic, so the roasted garlic flavor did not come through as strong as it should have. Russ rates the soup a 9.

As for the party, Allen was totally surprised and I think everyone had a good time!

Butternut Squash Roasted Garlic Bisque, Found on the Cooking Light BB

2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

3 cups chopped onions

3/4 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

4 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces (or cut in half if you are going to roast it like I do)

6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth (you can use vegetable broth if you want to make it vegetarian)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whipping cream (I used half and half)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub cut surfaces of garlic with oil. Put halves back together to reassemble heads. Wrap each tightly in foil; bake until tender, about 40 minutes. Cool garlic in foil. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery; sauté until onions are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add squash, broth and 2 tablespoons sage. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until squash is tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, unwrap garlic. Squeeze from skin into small bowl. Discard skin. Mash garlic with fork until smooth. Stir garlic into soup. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth (I use my hand blender). Return to pot. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered until cold. Cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before continuing.) Stir in 1/2 cup cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer soup to tureen. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon cream. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sage.

My Notes: I like to keep this recipe simple and roast the butternut squash along with the garlic. To do this cut the squash in half lengthwise and rub olive oil on the flesh side. Place the flesh side down on a baking sheet covered in foil. Depending on the size of your squash it may be done after 40 minutes (same as the garlic) or it may need a few minutes longer. Once it is done (aka soft) then just scoop out the squash and add it to the soup in the same place in the recipe where you would if you cut it into 1 inch pieces.