A falling knife has no handle.

Well, people, I dropped everything EXCEPT the knife when I was making this soup. But, as my culinary idol Julia Child was rumored to have said, "Remember, you are alone in the kitchen and nobody can see you." Thank god. Don't worry, I washed everything . . .

So I made a (if I do say so myself) FABULOUS soup using the potimarron (aka, red kuri squash). I made cream of potato, and then added squash to half the batch. Usually I'm not one for yellow foods — whatever — but this squash turned out to be wonderful. And unsquashlike, I think. So buttery, it barely needed any seasoning. And to thin out the squash batch, I used apple cider. I didn't have any more stock, and I think the cider added a bit of acidic sweetness that did nothing but help.

I also made a pesto-y combo of garlic, basil, cheese, and oil (no pignolis) and dolloped some of that on top along with some sour cream. Three hours (!) later, I ended up with this (excuse the not-so-hot food photography):



And then I flopped onto the couch and ate soup like it was my JOB. And again for lunch yesterday. And dinner. And there's still enough for a few more meals! I love soup.

Here's the recipe (and if anyone knows how to do that "cutout" thing on Blogger where I could put all of this and then interested people could expand it, please do tell). Enjoy! It's courtesy of the lovely people at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. The same folk who shared the info that inspired the title of this entry.


Cream of Potato/Squash Soup

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

2-3 T unsalted butter (I used 2, you could maybe use less. The idea is just to cook the leeks s-l-o-w-l-y, and you need enough butter to do that w/out browning or burning. Also, I used salted (gasp!) because that's what I had around the house. No one died.)

3 leeks, white part only, finely chopped (leeks are spendy! The reasoning behind just using the white part, as far as I can tell, is presentation -- it's a white soup. But I used some of the green at the top of the white to stretch the amount of leek I had)

approx 2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 med red kuri/hokkaido/potimarron squash (2 lbs?) peeled and cut into cubes

2 qt cold chicken stock

1.5 to 2 cups heavy cream (I used about 1 cup of light cream, and everything still came out a-ok)

salt and white pepper (black is fine -- again, the white is for presentation)

a little cayenne (if you don't mind that the cayenne will show in the white soup)

pinch (or maybe a little more) of nutmeg

apple cider (enough to thin out the squash soup -- use your judgement)

2-3 drops lemon juice

WHAT TO DO:

In a saucepot over medium heat, melt the butter, add the leeks and cook until very soft.


Add the potatoes and the stock to the pot, and cook covered until the potatoes are very soft.

At the same time, fill another large pot with water, put squash cubes in, and boil until cooked through (15-20 mins -- but test along the way. The squash will most likely be done before the potatoes are). I had to run upstairs to retrieve the pot sitting on my radiator as a makeshift humidifier. Ah, the urban chef.



When the squash is cooked, drain and mash it twice -- first time with a masher, then the second time using a spoon to rub it through a sieve. Hopefully you have a sieve that's bigger than mine. You'll do the same with the potatoes. EXCEPT YOU KEEP THE LIQUID THE POTATOES WERE COOKED IN. Don't forget -- that's your soup!



Put the potatoes in a pot. Add the cream and enough reserved liquid to make a thick cream soup (whatever thickness you prefer). Return to the heat and bring to a simmer. Season with salt, pepper, a nutmeg, cayenne, lemon juice. Keep warm.

To make the squash-y batch, just take some of the potato soup and add squash to it. Then add some cider. You'll end up with this:


Then garnish with pesto and/or sour cream. So lovely! And filling! Let me know how it goes . . .

(And again: If anyone out there knows how to make that handy "expando" link, please share!)