Butternut Bisque

For Thanksgiving Dinner this year, we had a four course meal and served one course at a time with musical programs and even just a little visiting and playing in between courses. It was a great success and made it very fun for the cooks who labored in the kitchen for two days that the meal lasted hours instead of minutes. Plus we cleaned up each portion between courses, so clean up seemed to be a snap!

So, here is our recipe for our first course...soup....it was delicious! We juiced our own apples for the apple juice, so my guess is it was a bit sweeter and thicker than it would be if we had bought juice at the store. Even the kids liked it!

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons sweet butter
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions
4 to 5 teaspoon curry powder
2 medium-sized butternut squash (about 3 pounds)
2 apples - peeled, cored, and chopped
3 cups chicken stock

1 cup apple juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 shredded and unpeeled Granny Smith apple (garnish)

Directions:
Melt the butter in a pot. Add curry powder and chopped onions and cook, covered, on low until onions are tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, scrape out the seeds from the squash and chop the flesh. When onions are tender, pour in the stock, add squash and apples, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered, until squash and apples are very tender, about 25 minutes. Pour the soup through a strainer, reserving liquids, and transfer the solids to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, or use a food mill fitted with a medium disc. Add 1 cup of the cooking stock and process until smooth. Return pureed soup to the pot and add apple juice and additional cooking liquid, about two cups, until the soup is of the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper, simmer briefly to heat through and serve immediately, garnish with shredded apple.

Serves: 4 to 6.

Hummus

I know you all know how to make hummus. You've told me so. What I discovered a couple of months ago, though, is that you all neglect one of the essential ingredients in hummus.

Really people? If you're not making Hummus with Tahini, what are you thinking? Please give it a try.

I've combined a few recipes and tweaked it to my own tastes. Here's the recipe I use:
Hummus

• 3 cups garbanzo beans, drained (reserve bean juice for blending)
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic [I usually double this]
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 sprinkles crushed red pepper

Blend in blender, adding the bean juice to get it to the consistency you want. Place in serving dish and sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

I serve it with sliced carrots, celery and cucumber. It can also be served with pita or chips. It's up to you, but it's a 100% healthy snack or side dish when served with vegetables.