Butternut Squash Soup

Simple but elegant, this is a great fall/winter first course or light lunch (with salad and bread). It's perfect way to dress up a simple meal, and will make your kitchen smell nice. As is the case with many simple things the quality of the ingredients is important. I splurge on flavorful bright yellow butter from a local farm where the cows are feed on grass and hay instead of mass produced butter, which is made from the milk of cows fed mostly corn. Not only does it taste better, but I use it a bit more liberally, as I'm convinced it's healthier. (Something about Omega 3's, I've been told). As one who doesn't use much butter I figure why not splurge on the good stuff when I do? Only use sherry you'd actually drink, as opposed to whatever the hell is in those bottles labeled "cooking sherry". If you use a fino sherry you may want to add a pinch of sugar, but a cream or amontillado will add enough sweetness on its own. (Using an oloroso would be decadent, but might result in the soup being over sweet. Then again, if you have both the budget and a sweet tooth go for it). The squash itself is most important; if you can get one from a farmer's market so much the better. Fortunately this is a sturdy vegetable, meaning even those that have been sitting for god knows how long in your supermarket will make a good soup. Good butter, cream and sherry work magic.

The use of curry powder in this soup can go either way: for years I made it without the curry, but when I decided to include it I found myself making this soup more often. Depending on my mood I'll vary the amount, sometimes making the soup slightly aromatic, other times making it almost spicy. The squash has enough flavor to stand up to quite a bit of curry powder, but it's wise to remember the purpose of this soup is to show off the flavor of the squash. If curry isn't your thing you could substitute very small amounts of sweet spices (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice), which will work, but push the flavor of the soup more in the direction of pumpkin pie.

This recipe will make enough for two large bowls of soup, or four smaller ones as a first course.

One small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small pieces
One onion, chopped
2 Tbs good butter
1/4 cup sherry
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar (optional)
1 Tbs curry powder (or more to taste)
Generous glug of heavy cream

Heat heavy bottomed soup pot. Saute the onion in butter with a pinch of salt until soft. Add squash and continue for another minute or two. Add sherry, sugar (if using) and curry powder. If you want small servings of thick, intense soup add just a little more water than you need to cover the squash. If you want a thinner lighter soup add twice that amount. If you have no idea what you want just measure two large soup bowls' worth of water into the pot and go with that. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until squash is tender (about 40 min, or 20 if your soup pot happens to be a pressure cooker). Mash all solids into the liquid with a potato masher, or one of those fancy hand mixers (if you have one). Cut the heat, add cream and taste. You may want to adjust the amount of salt.

This soup can be reheated, but be careful not to boil it when reheating, as the cream will curdle.