Every Thanksgiving, my aunt puts on an amazing spread with two kinds of stuffing (one with onions, one without) and my grandmother whips up her scalloped oysters. We all look forward to Thanksgiving every year. Oooo the bacon on the turkey! I can't wait! Every year, my aunt also serves that frozen squash that looks like orange mashed potatoes. And every year, my mom tries to get me to eat it. "Try it, you'll like it," like I am a finicky child. I love food, and I love to try new things. But orange mashed potatoes that are really squash is not one of those things. It's like a bowl of orange mashed blah or baby food. I think my uncle and my grandmother are the only ones that actually eat it. Even my mom, for all her attempts to get me to eat it, never seems to have any on her plate. But it's tradition. It wouldn't really be Thanksgiving without the great squash debate.
Today, I finally found a use for that orange squash that has nothing to do with babies, and everything to do with flavor. I got three boxes of the stuff, and defrosted them while I sautéed a chopped Vidalia onion in half a stick of unsalted butter. Then I tossed in a chopped up potato and three chopped carrots, along with a box of chicken stock, added some salt and pepper, a big pinch of thyme and some sage, along with a bay leaf from my Grenada trip. I brought that all to a good boil, then simmered it until the potatoes and carrots were soft. I slowly spooned in the defrosted (OK, some of it was still a little frozen) squash and brought it all back up to a boil. Then I broke out the immersion blender and went to town whirring everything into a nice creamy consistency, with a couple little chunky carrots for texture, and then poured in some fat free half and half. The finishing touch was fresh grated nutmeg from Grenada.
The results: A hearty satisfying squash soup that had me going back for seconds! And all from something I wouldn't even taste all on its own. (Although next time, I'll follow the rules of Paula Deen and start with a whole stick of butter.)
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