I made this soup up for Thanksgiving, 2007. Curried Butternut Squash Soup w/apricots & coconut milk 1 c onion 1" x 1 ½" piece ginger, peeled & minced 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded, but not deveined 3 or 4 cloves garlic, smashed 1 T curry powder 1 t ground cumin 1 can chicken broth 2 cans water 1 knorr chicken bouillon cube 2 lbs peeled, seeded, butternut squash, thinly sliced 4-6 oz. Dried California apricots (not Turkish style)depending on how tart you want the soup. 1 can coconut milk 1 t cayenne (opt.) 1 t salt 1 T sugar Saute onions over a medium-high heat with ginger, jalapeno & garlic until onions are translucent. Add curry powder & cumin, saute for a few minutes until the spices are pungent. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the coconut milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the squash is tender. Puree soup with an emulsifier wand or blender. Add coconut milk, adjust seasonings, and bring back to serving heat. This soup is good served hot or cold. Garnishes might be toasted, chopped nuts, chopped cilantro, thinly sliced green onions, toasted, grated coconut or raisin bread croutons. And this was something I came up with when booking catering jobs. A client wanted a "fall" theme to the foods, and had some vegetarian guests coming to her event. She was concerned that they have some interesting dishes to choose from, and would leave feeling like they had an actual meal rather than just "making do" with whatever side dishes they were able to eat. Our chef wasn't exactly familiar with vegetarian foods, but was open to suggestions. Mixed grain salad with roasted butternut squash A mixture of grainstry to use at least 3 kinds, of different colors. I use varying combinations of basmati rice, long grain brown rice*, barley, bulgar (tabuleh), quinoa, wild rice, millet, and sometimes, to lighten the texture, I add couscous. Onions, celery, carrots-chopped Green peas (frozen are fineif you have fresh, blanch them first) Roasted butternut squash cubes** Cranberry vinaigrette*** Chopped parsley & green onions Chopped, toasted nuts (I like pecans or hazelnuts) Cook grain selections separately, according to directions, but remember that they will absorb dressing and soften, so a bit al dente is better than over cooked. Saute onions, celery, carrots until tender, but not too soft. Toss with grains, parsley, green onions and vinaigrette. Gently fold butternut squash cubes in. *Short grain rices are too sticky for this dish, in my opinion. **Roasted butternut squash. Peel squash. Cut into ½ inch cubes. toss in olive oil and roast in the oven, checking frequently until just cooked, but not mushy. If it doesnt brown at all, pass under a broiler after cooking just to brown the edges a bit. ***Cranberry vinaigrette. Make a basic vinaigrette with olive oil, red wine or champagne vinegar, garlic & onion powders, salt & pepper. Put the vinaigrette in a blender with about 3/4 Tablespoon dried cranberries per cup vinaigrette, and puree until smooth. Then, add about a quarter cup of dried cranberries for every cup vinaigrette, and pulse blender until cranberries are chopped, but not pureed. Let vinaigrette sit over night. Before tossing the grain salad in the dressing, taste the vinaigrette for sweetness and add a bit of sugar if need be. It shouldnt be too tart or too sweet. Sprinkle the toasted chopped nuts on top and garnish with sprigs of parsley, green onion tassels or carrot curls and a few whole dried cranberries.

I agree with Annie on the interchangeable part....but I prefer hubbard to butternut. There really are lots of varieties of winter squash....all of them with subtle differences. I find acorn stringy, butternut a little dense, some delicata a little watery, hubbard HUGE and sometimes stringy, Marina del chioggia has a bit of a smokey taste....and I am still searching for the elusive galleux....said to be the sweetest and most delectable. And it must be, a friend gave me one and I left it outside for a bit as a fall decoration and the critters ate it up!! In spite of stringy, watery etc...I love all winter squashes!!

Well, it's going to be the soup (in small mugs; I don't have any soup mugs). Also hot rolls, the dried apricot/mascarpone/walnut appetizer, and blackberry cobbler from the bakery for dessert. Maybe ice cream with the cobbler, or else just leftover cream from my soup recipe. Makes for an awful lot of cream in this menu, but I guess it will be okay. I'll put out green onion tops to sprinkle on the soup. There is no store even 35 miles away that carries chives. I posted a question about the soup recipe because although I've made it many times it's never seemed to me like the amount of squash called for is right. Thanks so much to all of you for your help.

I am a seat of the pants cook.....and I make squash or pumpkin soup like that.... The secret is in the chicken broth. Home made.....cooked with lots of onions celery carrots, parsley, a few carrots, some pepper corns.....strain all out and proceed with your soup.....using cooked and pureed squash or canned pumpkin!....easier and just as good. BUT....if you forgot to start on your soup the day before yesterday....you can get a pretty good imitation of the home made stock by sauteeing some green onion, celery and parsley and some crushed cumin seed....very little, in butter....very slowly....adding flour equal to the amount of butter you used....cooking for a couple of minutes and whisk in canned chicken broth. Then you can either puree the whole mess, strain it or just leave the bits of veggie in there.... Then start spooning in the pumpkin or squash puree and tasting.... I also like some canned green chilis for a bit of bite.....and a splash of dry sherry.....and I often stir in some sour cream. The thin consistancy of the soup meant there was a lot more chicken broth than squash. Linda C