Butternut Squash Soup with Smoked Cheddar

My friend Adonia is home for reading week from Montreal. I went to her house yesterday and had the most amazing butternut squash soup which she made from scratch! They should serve this stuff in restaurants! The salty smoked cheddar (from Whole Foods!) really added a whole new dimension to the flavour. I think that is what countered the sweetness of the apple cider.

She packed me some to take to work today and I shared it with Rav. I even got some delicious sugar cookies for dessert! The plant in the picture background was a gift from her for my bday! Thanks Adonia- you made my day:)

Here is the recipe she sent me:

-----Original Message-----

From: Adonia Naidu

Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 10:47 PM

To: Sastri, Savithri

Subject: Re: Tonight

Hey girl,

here's the recipe. I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock , table cream instead of heavy cream and nixed the apple garnish because they were too soggy (and I didn't have the herbs for garnish either) The Kraft recipe puts apples into the base mix and blends them... interesting... I think it would be sweeter. And I added a lotta of extra cheese! Cheese is sooo good...
Hopefully we can bake too!

adonia

From Food and Wine:

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple and Smoked Cheddar

MAKE-AHEAD ACTIVE TIME: 35 MIN

TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 25 MIN

SERVES: 4

"Butternut squash and apples come into season around the same time in Vermont," Silansky says, "and they go so well together." But this soup's key ingredient is its smoked-cheddar garnish. Silansky gets his cheese from Grafton Village Cheese Company, a local producer with national distribution that cold-smokes aged cheddar over a maple-wood fire.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

3/4 cup apple cider

One 1 3/4-pound butternut squash—peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice (5 1/4 cups)

4 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 McIntosh apple, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1/3 cup coarsely shredded smoked cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

One-inch pieces of chives or thinly sliced sage leaves, for garnish

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the apple cider and cook until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Add the butternut squash and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until the squash is very tender, about 40 minutes.

2. In a blender, puree the soup in batches. Return the soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

3. Heat a medium skillet. Add the butter and diced apple and cook over high heat until the apple is tender and golden around the edges, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

4. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls; garnish with the smoked cheddar, sautéed apples and chives; serve.

MAKE AHEAD The soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Reheat before garnishing with the cheddar, apples and chives.