You may not realize but the term "Squash Soup" in our house has always been met with derision. Once my husband saw it in a recipe and not understanding the difference between Butternut Squash and Yellow Squash instantly thought it sounded like the worst thing ever.
Then it became a long standing joke and veiled threat "If you don't stop xxx I will make Squash Soup" in which he would laugh and say "but I want it, you won't make it for me!!!"
Lately I've become a miniature soup nazi... Only it's "Soup For You!!!"
And I secretly plotted to make the dreaded soup... When I broke the news to him, it was on a Sunday night and didn't see it coming.
Then I got the attitude. "Why would you risk a whole dinner on this?!?" he whined as his panic grew...
But he tried and loved it. No surprise here but it was fun toying with his emotions.
Recipe below: I found it in the Epicurious App for Iphone (also I made it sans shrimp)
Ingredients
24 large shrimp in shell (about 1 lb), peeled, leaving tail and first segment of shell intact, and deveined
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
2/3 cup chopped shallot
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
3 whole star anise
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 3/4 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (5 cups)
4 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Garnish: fresh cilantro sprigs
Cooks' note: Soup (without shrimp) can be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. If making soup ahead, begin marinating shrimp about 40 minutes before serving.
Preparation
Toss shrimp with ginger in a bowl and marinate, chilled, 30 minutes (do not marinate any longer or enzymes from ginger will begin to cook shrimp).
Make soup while shrimp marinate:
Cook shallot, garlic, and anise in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot is softened, about 5 minutes. Add squash, stock, and water and simmer, uncovered, until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove star anise.
Purée soup in 2 batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids) until very smooth, about 1 minute per batch, then transfer to cleaned pan and keep warm, covered.
Sprinkle marinated shrimp with salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté shrimp in 2 batches, stirring, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes per batch, transferring to paper towels.
Bring soup to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Divide among 8 shallow soup bowls and mound 3 shrimp in each bowl.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
