Comfort foods

BRRRRRR!!!!! It's cold out there!

Tonight, in sweet home Chicago, it's supposed to start snowing some time around midnight. We're expecting at least 10 to 12 inches. YIKES!!! With this type of weather all I can think of is warm comforting soups and delicious sweet breads. Tonight I made my favorite butternut squash soup and I experimented with zucchini bread. I wanted a more denser and heartier zucchini bread and I think I got it.

Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon Garnish

Ingredients:

1. 1 butternut squash halved and pitted
2. 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup of butter)
3. 1 1/2 to 2 cups of brown sugar
4. 4 cups of vegetable broth (if you want a creamier soup, use 3 cups of veg broth and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream)
5. 1 onion, chopped
6. 1/2 tsp of pepper
7. 6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled (if desired)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Place halved and pitted butternut squash on cookie sheet or 9x 12 in pan (I line it with foil for easier cleanup)
• Cut stick of butter in half (or split the half cup) and place each half inside the pitted hole of the squash
• Separate brown sugar and pank in the pitted hole of the squash along with the butter. Spillage of brown sugar is okay, as long as it's on the squash flesh.
• Place inside oven and bake for 45 mins to 1 hr, or until when poked with fork it slides out easily .
• While the squash is in the oven, take out a large stock pot and place on stove. Either use a 1 tbs of butter or 1tbs of olive oil and sautee chopped onion on medium heat til the onion is transluscent. Take off heat.
• When squash is done, take out of the oven, and carefully scoop out the cooked flesh and put it inside stock pot with sauteed onion. Discard skin. Pour vegetable broth and turn on stove to medium heat.
• Take out hand mixer and puree squash, onion, and broth til smooth. Cook uncovered for 30 mins.
• When serving soup, sprinkle a tsp of crumbled bacon (if you want to keep this vegetarian, use parmesan shavings)

 

Zucchini Bread

 

Ingredients

1. 3 cups of all purpose flour
2. 1 tsp of salt
3. 1 tsp of baking soda
4. 1/4 tsp of baking powder
5. 3 tsp of ground cinnamon
6. 3 eggs
7. 2 cups of white sugar
8. 4 tsp of vanilla extract
9. 1 cup of vegetable oil
10. 3 cups of grated zucchini

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon
• In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Fold in grated zucchini to egg mixture. 
• Slowly add in flour combination to the zucchini and egg mixture. 
• Pour evenly into 2 pre-greased loaf pans.
• Place inside preheated oven and bake for 1 hr.

*I like to sprinkle a combination of cinnamon and sugar on top of the zucchini bread the minute I take the loaves out of the oven. It gives it that special something when you bite into it. My roommate Becca likes to eat it with a little butter. It's devine!!

Bon appetit!