Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger

This is a really delicious soup to make on a fall day. I added freshly grated ginger at two different times in the recipe to give it a lot of flavor and a little kick. 

After pureeing the whole batch in the blender in little tiny increments, I am really longing for an immersion blender so I can just puree right in the pan. If you use a blender with hot soup, remember to puree in SMALL batches, just about 2 inches worth of soup in the blender at one time. Otherwise, for some reason, the heat or steam from the hot soup will cause the lid of the blender to fly off and hot soup will spray all over the kitchen. Yes, this is learned from personal experience. 

2 or 3 butternut squash (about 4-5 pounds total)

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup diced onion

2 leeks chopped

1 Tbs. light brown sugar

2 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 can light coconut milk

4-6 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

minced chives or green onion

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds. Rub squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet. (It is best to use a baking sheet with sides on it to keep the oven clean.) Bake until the squash is very soft, about 45 minutes.  

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-low heat. Mix in the onions and leeks and cover the pot and cook about 15 minutes until tender.  Add the brown sugar, 1 tsp. ginger and the garlic. Saute another 2 minutes.

Using a large spoon, scoop the inside out of the squash and add it to the pot. Add the coconut milk and about 4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Puree the soup, adding additional broth as desired. Season the soup with salt and pepper, and add the remaining 1 tsp ginger and bring the soup to a simmer again. Serve in bowls garnished with chives.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

These are really delicious, chewy, ginger molasses cookies. The addition of orange oil or orange zest adds a really unusual touch. The cookies are also good with chopped Macadamia nuts or chunks of white chocolate mixed in.

I usually roll these cookies in a large grain sugar before baking, but this time I rolled them in pearl sugar for a different look.
 
Sift together:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cloves
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp ginger
 
Mix thoroughly:
½ cup margarine
¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup + 2 Tbs dark brown sugar
1 eggs
¼ cup molasses
2 tsp finely grated orange zest or ½ tsp orange oil
 
Optional:
2 oz chopped Macadamia nuts
 
Combine the shortening, butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer set on high speed, beat until fluffy. Add the egg, molasses and orange zest or oil and beat until blended.
 
Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or as long as overnight.
 
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter baking sheets.
 
Using wet hands, form the dough into 1 ½ inch balls. Roll the balls in sugar and place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with a few drops of water