Love butternut squash soup? Nothing can warm the table up like Chef Jeff Blank’s version made with Granny Smith apples and topped with pumpkin seeds.
Tucked away in the Texas Hill Country near Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, is Hudson’s on the Bend, where Chef Blank serves up plates and ladles brimming with imagination. The velvety-texture of this rich soup and its sweet, salty crunch makes any meal unforgettable.
Chef Jeff Blank’s soup recipe
This is one of those recipes that you’ll want to proudly waltz out every year, after you make it the first time. This smooth, creamy bowl of butternut heaven with a crunchy topping comes from a cookbook appropriately called Cooking Fearlessly: Recipes and Other Adventures from Hudson’s on the Bend. Fascinating recipes include Wild Game Chili, Pheasant Tortilla Soup, and things one can only dream of, like Vanilla Praline Sweet Potatoes.
As for the soup, “it’s simple to make and add the garnish just before you serve the soup,” Blank says, “and it’s very simple to use the mandoline to finish this soup off just right.”
Add this to your own soul-warming repertoire by using individual soup tureens, soup crocks, or covered soup bowls to keep this nice and hot while guests gather around the table.
Kitchen tools you need
For the novice cook, this might be the time to purchase a mandoline or V-slicer if you don’t have one. The mandoline will julienne your apples so perfectly for the garnish that you’ll soon be using this handy slicer for homemade sweet-potato fries or fresh veggies for party appetizers.
Butternut Squash and Granny Smith Apple Soup Topped With Jerked Pumpkin Seeds
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 butternut squash
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (reserve some for garnish)
2 quarts poultry stock, reduced to 2 cups, hot
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons Pernod
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and white pepper to taste
Jerked pumpkin seeds (recipe below)
Julienne apples for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Discard stems. In a roasting pan, bake squash for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the necks of the squash are soft. Cool for 30 minutes or until you can handle the squash. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the meat of the squash. Discard seeds and skin. In batches, combine squash with apples and hot poultry stock in a blender. Puree until smooth. Caution: If you are using hot poultry stock, remember that the steam will expand, lifting the blending level. Hold vented lid down with a dry cloth. Transfer the squash/apple puree to a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, Pernod, and cream and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat. Stir often. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve piping hot topped with garnish of julienne apples and jerked pumpkin seeds.
Jerked Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
1½ cups pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup dry jerk seasoning
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Toss ingredients together and bake for one hour, turning and tossing at 15-minute intervals until toasted.
Make This Butternut Squash Soup
By Clare Miers
Love butternut squash soup? Nothing can warm the table up like Chef Jeff Blank’s version made with Granny Smith apples and topped with pumpkin seeds.
Tucked away in the Texas Hill Country near Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, is Hudson’s on the Bend, where Chef Blank serves up plates and ladles brimming with imagination. The velvety-texture of this rich soup and its sweet, salty crunch makes any meal unforgettable.
Chef Jeff Blank’s soup recipe
This is one of those recipes that you’ll want to proudly waltz out every year, after you make it the first time. This smooth, creamy bowl of butternut heaven with a crunchy topping comes from a cookbook appropriately called Cooking Fearlessly: Recipes and Other Adventures from Hudson’s on the Bend. Fascinating recipes include Wild Game Chili, Pheasant Tortilla Soup, and things one can only dream of, like Vanilla Praline Sweet Potatoes.
As for the soup, “it’s simple to make and add the garnish just before you serve the soup,” Blank says, “and it’s very simple to use the mandoline to finish this soup off just right.”
Add this to your own soul-warming repertoire by using individual soup tureens, soup crocks, or covered soup bowls to keep this nice and hot while guests gather around the table.
Kitchen tools you need
For the novice cook, this might be the time to purchase a mandoline or V-slicer if you don’t have one. The mandoline will julienne your apples so perfectly for the garnish that you’ll soon be using this handy slicer for homemade sweet-potato fries or fresh veggies for party appetizers.
Butternut Squash and Granny Smith Apple Soup Topped With Jerked Pumpkin Seeds
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 butternut squash
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (reserve some for garnish)
2 quarts poultry stock, reduced to 2 cups, hot
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons Pernod
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and white pepper to taste
Jerked pumpkin seeds (recipe below)
Julienne apples for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Discard stems. In a roasting pan, bake squash for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the necks of the squash are soft. Cool for 30 minutes or until you can handle the squash. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the meat of the squash. Discard seeds and skin. In batches, combine squash with apples and hot poultry stock in a blender. Puree until smooth. Caution: If you are using hot poultry stock, remember that the steam will expand, lifting the blending level. Hold vented lid down with a dry cloth. Transfer the squash/apple puree to a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, Pernod, and cream and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat. Stir often. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve piping hot topped with garnish of julienne apples and jerked pumpkin seeds.
Jerked Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
1½ cups pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup dry jerk seasoning
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Toss ingredients together and bake for one hour, turning and tossing at 15-minute intervals until toasted.