Saturday, October 6, 2007

extremely bad mood delicata squash soup

First you have to develop an extremely bad mood. I find that moving into a new home and then realizing that between oddly paranoid neighbors and gout stricken and disagreeable farmers, there is no where to walk your dogs, can create a significant trapped feeling, and lead to some anguish, despair and bitter self recriminations. But you probably have your own recipe for a bad mood.
Once you are alternately crying and thinking about hurling plates onto the paved driveway, slice the squash, 3 of them, and put them in a pan. Dot too much butter in the cavities, pour a half inch of boiling water around them, and put them in a 300 oven. Be sure not to cover them. This is important. When not covered, they will never really soften and you'll need this time.
Decide that perhaps you will feel better if you install your new blinds in your bathroom. You'll have a sense of accomplishment, and you'll be able to shower with the lights on, a win win. After two badly bent screws, skinned knuckles, more tears, write a sarcastic e-mail to Smith and Noble about their "easy to install" blinds, cover the still hard squash and go take a shower in the dark.
Back in the kitchen, take the squash out of the oven, but leave covered. Chop an onion, and saute it in still more butter with several sprigs of thyme. After a while, scoop the now somewhat soft squash out of their shells and add to the onion. Add 3 cups of broth and a cup of cream, simmer for a while.
This next step is important. Be sure that you lose the top to the blender in the move. This way, when you puree the mixture, (after only simmering for 10 minutes b/c by now you are starving and impatient) despite the tin foil cover you craft, soup will dribble all over the blender and remain largely lumpy. The short simmering time will ensure that it is bland and ultimately disappointing, proving you really can't do anything well and it's a mystery why you bother.
Eat it anyway and follow with an extremely large bowl of ice cream.

1 comment:

Stellasmydog said...

wow! that sounds hard. do you recommend this recipe for your patients who chew gum?