(adapted from The Smitten Kitchen)

4 ounces butter, melted and browned (you can use oil, but…)
3 large eggs
267 g - 333 g / 1 1/3 - 1 2/3 cup sugar (we use the lower amount)
427 g / 1 3/4 cups of pureed winter squash
290 g /2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon TKI Pie Spice or Speculaas Spice
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk the first four ingredients together.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then fold the dry into the wet until just mixed.

This makes 18 muffins or one bread. Cook muffins for 18-20 minutes or a loaf until a tester or sharp knife comes out clean.

Optional: Mix 1/3 cup toasted, chopped pecans, 1/2 teaspoon Pie Spice or 1/2 teaspoon Speculaas Spice, &42 g / 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar. Sprinkle on top of the bread or muffins. Then bake.

 

Winter Squash Soup with Ginger and Turmeric                 Serves 6-8.
3 pounds squash, baked whole in the oven in a pan of water at 350 degrees for an hour while you putter about, then cooled enough to peel, scoop out, and cut into chunks. Or you can cut your squash into big chunks and steam it.
3 tablespoons of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 hot chili, minced
1 large apple, cored and chopped
1 tablespoon Sweet Turmeric Masala OR  ¾ teaspoon turmeric, ¾ teaspoon coriander, 1 teaspoon cumin (see note) 
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
6 cups of broth (more if you use a drier squash)
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and seed the squash. Chop roughly and set aside. 

Sauté the onion for 3-5 minutes, then add the fresh ginger and garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the turmeric, coriander, and cumin or the Sweet Turmeric Masala. Cook 30 seconds, stirring. Don’t worry if it sticks to the bottom of the pan, just don’t allow it to burn.

Add the chili and apple and cook 3 minutes. Add the squash and broth. Cover and cook until the squash is very soft, then puree the mixture. A stick blender comes in handy here or you can blend it in batches in a blender. If you use a blender, be very careful, as hot liquids like to explode out of blender lids. Keep a dish towel over the top of the blender. Salt and pepper to taste and serve with a dollop of whole milk yogurt or sour cream.

Note: If you decide to use the cumin and coriander, toast them in a dry skillet until they become aromatic. Allow to cool and grind in a mortar or a spare coffee grinder.

No picture of the finished salad here. The pictures did a disservice to the delectable salad. So here's a picture of the pre-roasted delicata squash. It's one of the easiest squashes to prepare. It cuts easily and the seeds are easy to remove. In fact, that grapefruit spoon there is usually used to remove squash seeds, not to eat grapefruit. This is a quick easy salad to prepare. Eat it as a main course or an accompaniment. Serves 4-6 as a salad or 3 as a main course.

1 large delicata squash
2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup

(please click on the recipe title for the whole recipe)

I’ve made tons of squash soup lately, but I can’t resist buying squash this time of year. So I bought a gorgeous Cinderella squash, orange and squat and lovely. And I cut it in half, put it in a pan with an inch of water (cut side down) and roasted it til soft. Took it out, drained the water, turned the halves over and let them cool. Then I scooped out the seeds and cut off the skin and put the squash in a container in the fridge. What next? Pie, that’s what. No, really. You'll love it. And it's far better for you than most of the pumpkin pie recipes floating around out there. Also lighter.

Either make a crust or buy your favorite pre-made crust. Pre-bake it or you’ll end up with a soggy mess. Consider a nut crust, if you're making one; the nuts give a textural contrast to the filling.  

(Click post title for entire recipe.)

This is a very vegan-friendly soup, so if you want to omit the dairy and sausage, go for it, the soup won't suffer. I used squash from the very delightful Whistling Train Farm and sausage from the wonderful Skagit River Ranch. The amounts below are loose. This is not a precise exercise in baking, where amounts must be just so or the whole thing is ruined. This soup is easy and gorgeous; the orange is bright, the bright green, olive oil slicked kale contrasts sharply, and the crumbled browned sausage brings it all together.  I'd love to post a higher resolution, larger shot of this soup, but Shopify doesn't allow that. 

(Click title for the rest of the recipe.)

Squash Soup with Apple and Sausage

1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic (~3 tablespoons), minced
1 large acorn squash (about 1½ pounds) that you’ve baked (see above)
1 small or medium apple, diced
2–3 cups of chicken broth
½ pound of chicken sausage, cooked and chopped into small pieces
2 tsp Kitchen Imp dukkah
1½ Tbsp olive oil
 
Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a soup pot. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add the dukkah and continue to cook for another 2 minutes, until the spices and onion and garlic start to stick to the pot. Add the apple and 2 cups of broth. Add the squash and simmer for 15 minutes. Purée soup in a blender or with a stick blender. Return to pot and check the consistency. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner soup. Add the sausage and bring the soup back up to a simmer briefly. Taste and correct salt and pepper. 

Eat with a green salad with a light vinagrette, toasted pecans, and pears.