Bourbon-Butternut Squash Soup

Gluten-free recipe. After the Christmas-time feeding frenzies, I always seem to find myself scouting out soup recipes for  January dinners. This soup is perfect for the fall and winter seasons. Organic butternut squash is plentiful in grocery stores, and when roasted, yields a "meat" so flavorful and rich that it needs neither butter nor salt. The following recipe is an excuse for me to use my favorite gluten-free bourbon in a recipe (Maker's Mark). It's also an excuse to showcase the flavor of the regal butternut squash. 

The following recipe is my own -- an amalgam of the best of several different recipes.

Bourbon and Butternut Squash Soup 

with Bourbon Créme Fraiche

Ingredients:

1 large organic butternut squash (3 pounds)

olive oil for greasing squash

1 T olive oil

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced leeks

1/2 t. cumin

2 T chopped fresh garlic

1 T chopped fresh ginger

2 T maple syrup, grade B

2 T gluten-free soy sauce

1/4 c. bourbon (Maker's Mark is my fave & gluten free)

1/2 c. dry sherry

1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg

5 cups gluten-free chicken stock

1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Microwave squash on high power for 2 minutes to make it easier to cut. Cut squash in half length-wise and remove pulp and seeds. Brush exposed flesh with olive oil and place face down on foil-lined baking dish. Add 1/4 cup of water to dish and then cover tightly with foil. Cook for 90 minutes (one hour for convection ovens). 

It should be very soft when you push on it. Scoop it out into a bowl. 

In a heavy soup kettle (I use my 6-quart Le Creuset), heat the olive oil and add onions. Cook until light golden brown and add leeks and cumin. Cook for 2 minutes and add garlic and ginger. Cook for one minute. Then add maple syrup, soy sauce, bourbon, sherry and nutmeg. Add squash and stock and bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook gently for 15 minutes. 

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Add cream, but do not reheat to a boil because the cream will clot and make lots of white specks throughout the soup.

For an added touch, garnish the soup with:

Maker's Mark Créme Fraiche 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of Maker's Mark bourbon

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 T buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

Place cream in heavy saucepan and heat to 100 degrees. Remove from heat and add buttermilk. Transfer to a small jar and store for 24 hours at room temperature (75 degrees). When créme fraiche has thickened, add the salt and bourbon and stir until incorporated. Place in a small container and refrigerate until ready to use. If you don't have time to make your own créme fraiche you can purchase some at the grocery store and incorporate the bourbon. 

A perfect pot of soup.

Next-day leftovers are even more flavorful.