Recipe - Cream Of Butternut Squash And Cranberry Soup

FOR THE CRANBERRY PUREE
1 pack (12oz) picked over;
cranberries (about 3 cups)
1 cup Ruby port
One half cup Sugar

FOR THE SOUP
1 lg Onion; chopped
2 Carrots; cut or sliced up thin
One half Stick (One fourth cup) unsalted
butter
Three fourths teaspoon Ground mace
One half teaspoon Ground ginger
One half teaspoon White pepper plus additional
to taste
3 pound Butternut squash; peeled,
seeded, and cut into 1inch
pieces
2 Sweet potatoes (about 1 1/4
pounds), peeled and cut
into 1inch pieces
6 cup Chicken broth

Make the cranberry puree: In a heavy saucepan combine the cranberries, the
Port, and the sugar and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 7 to
10 minutes, or until the cranberries burst and the mixture starts to
thicken. In a food processor puree the mixture and force the puree through
a fine sieve into a bowl, discarding the solids. The puree keeps, covered
and chilled, for 3 days.

Make the soup: In a large heavy saucepan cook the onion and the carrots in
the butter over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion
is softened, add mace, ginger, One half teaspoon of white pepper, squash, sweet
potatoes, and 4 cups of the broth, and simmer the mixture, covered, for 30
minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft. In a blender or food
processor puree the soup in batches, transferring it as it is pureed to a
saucepan, and stir in the remaining 2 cups broth, the additional white
pepper, and salt to taste. The soup keeps, covered and chilled, for 1 day.

To serve the soup: Reheat the cranberry puree and spoon it into a pastry
bag fitted with a small plain tip. (Alternatively, spoon the puree into a
small resealable plastic bag and cut off the tip of one corner.) Reheat the
soup, divide it among soup bowls, and pipe about 1 tablespoon of the
cranberry puree decoratively onto each serving.

Yield: About 12 cups, 8 to 12 servings

Recipe by: Cooking Live Show #CL9002

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #905 by "Angele and Jon Freeman"
jfreeman@comteck.com on Nov 12, 1997