I don't know when squash started not to mean a glass of something orange accompanied by a colour clashing red Penguin but apart from carving pumpkins there are now Acorn, Spagetti and Butternut to choose from. So time for a bit of seasonal cooking ( although I note that my squash came from Greece where surely it is never Autumn but always glorious sunshine and singing Piers ) and make something to eat out of one. Treat or tricky ?
From the library, Gary Rhodes, 365. A huge book with a recipe for every day of the year. I think 365 is a tad unnecessary. Surely there are days when the most committed cook feels like toast and marmite ? Or in Gary's case a lovely plate of buttery crumpets. But great pictures, easy to read and follow and because I am the first person to have borrowed it no splashes or splodges.
( I am going to digress for a moment. For anyone who likes new things but is belt tightening or horn pulling I have two words - The Library. It's a bit like Primark etc in that you have to get a feel for when new stuff comes in but for no outlay you can take out lots of books and for a small amount, DVDs etc and if the book is not on reserve then you seem to be able to renew for up to 12 weeks and what with the romance going out of marriage after 2 years, 6 months and 25 days then 3 months of having a book by your bedside seems a fair ratio. )
Anyway on Page 72. Butternut squash soup. Seems to do exactly what it says on the ambitiously missing tin. First peel your squash. As I get to work this strikes me as what it must be like to peel the base of a table lamp. Peeled, cleaved in half and seeds removed I am left with something that has probably surpassed the potato as printing vegetable of choice in Orla Kiely style households. An onion and garlic follow. ( Could Mother Nature do a little bit of innovating on the packaging front ? If we are reconciled to the loss of the foil and wrapper on the KitKat then surely no tears need be shed over the loss of onion skins or the fiddly bits of garlic paper than will never come off properly).
So chopped, sauteed, simmered and blended , I have my soup. It's OK. It's a bit samey. It's very orange.
So no tricks. In fact exactly as you would expect a soup made and named after a very orange vegetable to be I guess.