Health & Fitness
Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque
Now that summer has passed, it's time for fall and the warmth of a seasonal bisque.
Ahh, it’s good to be back. Good to be back where I belong. Good to be perched in my comfy chair, glass of wine to my left, Mac set in front of me and a bowl of toasted salted almonds flanked to my right. It’s like slipping on a clean set of chef whites or snuggling into crisp new bedding, the feeling of good health and comfort surrounds me.
Don’t think that I was neglecting you or wasn’t thinking about you. Trust me I was. No need for the sad eyes, I’m back. My mind is rejuvenated, cleared from the clutter of stress and worries. It’s funny how when you begin to break down from exhaustion, the little things that annoy you begin to take a bigger effect. The larger more important issues take an even grander stage. It finally begins to be too much. You give and give to everyone because they continue to ask. You fight and fight to keep going and somehow someway you find the strength to keep on keepin’ on. I actually reached a point where I was more obsessed by the fact that I hadn’t stopped that the final product had become secondary.
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Now that summer has officially passed, the slow stroll back down the mountain has begun, I now can reflect upon the moments that were once a blur.
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It seems decades ago that I did my first Bistro @ Home back in early June; the first of two multi-course dining events during the summer that I donated for a great cause and the second event was at the end of August. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150197390437508.327950.295977967507&type=1
The Amazing Race through the city to an awaiting yacht full of hungry guests in middle of June seems almost years ago.
Affair, a side project for a group of foodies was created in the middle of July and we had a few memorable nights but even that now seems like a mirage.
I had a couple great days with the casting agency from the Food Network in early August where I auditioned for the Next Food Network Star. The auditions went really well and now I play the game of waiting for a possible chance to compete for a dream.
The summer reached a climax a few weeks ago when I catered a wedding on a farm in Huntley for 320 guests. The produce from the farm was to be used in the menu for the night. The kitchen on the farm was small and the equipment was minimal therefore I had to organize and assemble a make shift kitchen. We rented two large grills to cook 340 8 oz. center cut beef tenderloin filets to order. A large refrigerated semi-truck arrived on location on Thursday to act as my walk-in cooler. There I stored all my proteins and produce along with all the items that I could prep ahead of time. I had to arrange for linen service to provide all the side towels, aprons and chef coats. My knife company provided us with additional knives and a meat slicer to handle all the cured meats and cheeses. 2-60 qt. stockpots, sauté pans, a 4-foot tall immersion blender, cutting boards, sheet pans, spatulas, tongs along with all the other necessary utensils were also summoned.
There were tiered ice sculptures and vases (glaciers as I called them because of their enormous size), over 1200 steak and chicken skewers, 1000 crabmeat stuffed mushrooms, 150 pounds of celery root, 20 pounds of vanilla bean ice cream, 340 goat cheese and basil stuffed roma tomatoes, 340 twice baked potatoes with a celery root and red potato filling, 350 bacon wrapped dates with goat cheese, assorted fruits, cured meats and assorted cheeses as far as the eye could see and 120 pounds of butternut squash for the soup course with 50 pounds of apples. The wedding was on a Saturday but the prep began on Wednesday. After all the hours were calculated, I worked over 70 hours over a four-day span. That’s a lot!
The soup course for the night was a Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque finished with a touch of cream. The recipe that I am giving you is the exact recipe to feed 340 guests. I am also including a smaller version for you to execute at home.
120 pounds of butternut squash. All said, this meant 36 butternut squash, halved and cored, roasted in a double deck pizza oven at 400 degrees for an hour and a half. I fit all the halved squash on 8 oversized sheet pans. The roasting process took almost 4 hours total.
10 pounds of brown sugar
1.5 pounds of cinnamon
1.5 pounds of nutmeg
6 oz. of cayenne pepper
20 pounds of apples, cored and sliced
2 gallons of chicken stock
8 quarts of heavy cream
6 gallons of water
Think you’ve had enough? Nope, we’re not done! The bisque was to be served in the hollowed out squash bulbs, which meant we needed an additional 340 squash. There was a crew of four people in charge of spooning out all the seeds and fibers of the squash bulbs on Friday night so the bulbs would be ready for service on Saturday night. If you core the bulbs any sooner, mold will form and that can’t happen. Timing was everything so we had to do it at the last minute possible. It took the crew of four almost three hours just to hollow out the bulbs. They weren’t too happy with me, trust me! When all was said and done, we had 8-bushel baskets of bulbs to be used for the final plating Saturday night.
I roasted the squash on Wednesday night and then began the process of peeling away the skin to preserve the usable portion. On Friday morning, I began cooking the base of the bisque with final finishes to be made Saturday night, moments before the soup course was to be raced to the awaiting guests.
The final presentation happened on long tables in the greenhouse, just outside of the main dining room, where the squash bulbs were placed on serving trays with two large stockpots of soup at each end. The assembling crew would bring me empty bulbs of squash, I’d fill them with the soup, place the cap of the squash on the top of the now piping hot cauldron of bisque and the servers would run the trays to the guests.
Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque finished with Pepita Seeds
3- Butternut Squash halved from head to toe and cored. By cored, I mean using a good-sized spoon and remove all the seeds and fibers from the bulb.
1-cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp ground nutmeg
2 yellow onions, small dice
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup Sherry wine
½ can of chipotles in adobo
¼ cup tomato paste
4 Granny Smith apples, small dice
3 cups heavy cream
½ cup toasted and salted pepita seeds. (Now, you can certainly use the seeds from the squash. Wash them thoroughly; dry them completely, season with good sea salt and roast in the oven until they turn a nice golden brown. Or, you can go to Caputo’s and purchase them already roasted and salted. You choose. I chose Caputo’s. I know I cheated. Gimme a break, it’s been a long few weeks and I’m tired!)
In a small mixing bowl combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg with salt and pepper. When the squash has been halved and cored, rub the contents of the mixing bowl over the orange flesh of the squash. (Think about a nice relaxing massage of brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg over your stressed out butternut squash halves!) Rub, rub, and rub!
Place the now well coated squash on a sheet pan and set in a 375 degree oven and roast until the flesh of the squash has become fork tender. At this point, remove the squash and let cool. Be patient here. Make sure you’ve allowed the squash plenty of time to cool. That caramelized mix of brown sugar goodness is really hot and will burn you, so trust me on this! Oh and yes, you can do this a day ahead of time. Just make sure you properly refrigerate your squash. Now, when cooled, remove the flesh from the skin of the squash and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Discard the skin!
In a large stockpot, caramelize the onions on medium high heat with a touch of olive oil. If you have some bacon fat lying around, feel free to substitute the olive oil with the bacon fat. (Oh c’mon, everything is better with bacon fat!) When the onions have begun to caramelize a bit, add the minced garlic and sauté until the garlic has begun to caramelize as well. Now add the tomato paste and sauté until the paste has taken on a much darker tone. At this point, deglaze the stockpot with the sherry wine and reduce the wine by half. Add in the chipotles along with the adobo sauce and the diced apples. Give this mixture a few good stirs to fully distribute the heat. Now, you’re ready to add in the flesh portion of the squash. Add enough water to cover the squash. Bring the water to a slow boil and let simmer for about 25 minutes. When the fibers of the squash have completely broken down, remove from the heat. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture. At this point, you should have a nice smooth texture. If it seems too thick or baby food consistency, add more water. We’re looking for a nice smooth texture, nothing too thick like porridge! When the consistency is about right, return the cauldron back to a medium heat and bring the bisque to a slow simmer. This is the time to swill in the heavy cream. The cold cream will drop the temperature of the bisque so allow the soup to return to its slow simmer. After about 15 minutes, give the soup a taste. Salt and pepper perhaps? I’ll leave this up to you!
To plate. In your finest white-rimmed bowl, ladle the bisque in the center making sure to keep the edges of the bowl nice and clean. Give the rim a quick wipe if needed and garnish with the pepita seeds. If you want a fun variation, substitute the pepitas with toasted almonds. In the photo I also added a few crumbles of Maytag Bleu cheese and a touch of reduced Balsamic vinegar. Tasty indeed!
If you’d like to see more photos from the wedding, please click on the link below. I tried to take as many as I could but I was so busy trying to get everything assembled that I hardly had time to capture the moments. It was a great day. Long and exhausting? Yes but completely worth it!
