Winter Comfort Food

Winter arrived suddenly and with full force this week. With snow coming down and then rain and our little valley completely socked in, all I wanted was to sit in front of the fire with a steaming bowl or mug of hot liquid and a good book. In short, it was perfect weather for a good bowl of homemade soup. So yesterday I rooted around in my cupboards to see what I might find. The lovely little squash pictured above seemed destined to be the soup du jour.

You have to understand that although I sometimes follow a recipe completely from start to finish, more often than not, I am a mad-scientist type of cook. Basically that means that I am big on experimentation and tend to use what I have on hand and what appeals to my taste. My cookbooks are mainly sources of inspiration, ideas and suggestions.



The end result was delicious, so I'll attempt to give you a run down on what was thrown in along with rough quantities, but I encourage you to experiment until you get the consistency and taste to your liking.

Squash soup

1/2 a medium sized orange squash peeled and cut in medium sized pieces
2 apples peeled and cored
2 potatoes peeled and cut in medium sized pieces
1 onion - big hunks
1 large thumb sized piece of ginger grated

cover with 1 to 2 litres of chicken broth (depending on how thick you like your soup) and simmer until all ingredients are tender.

Blend until smooth, reheat gently and serve.



I can't help but think that this would be delicious topped with some brie, but alas, I had none. Still, it was perfect for the type of weather that we've been having and I can't wait to finish it off for lunch today.