Taster's Choice: Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup and a Soup Quiz!

The people have spoken and they want Butternut Squash Soup!

Note to Self: Make Better Signs for the Next Party!

On Wednesday, I had my very first soup party at Jimmy's No. 43 to celebrate my one-year of soup making/blogging. But really, I wanted start an on-going communal experience of sharing food, networking and seeing old and meeting new ones friends. 

For this first party, I made a ribollita (bread and white bean soup), a roasted root vegetable and turkey stew, Rachel Mamane's beef and cabbage stew, and a butternut squash and carrot soup - also now known as the Taster's Choice. There was also a mystery soup that Jessica Hulett of Blind Cavefish (followed quickly by Amy Cao of Amy Blog Chow) correctly stated was a parsnip soup - well, really a parsnip apple soup that Emily Mak of eating with emak also noted had onions.

Amy Cao and Sanura Weathers of Team Gazpacho explaining their soup

Jake, Joann, Evan and Matt Working on Their Soup 

Team Potato and Leek - Maritza, Judith and Lori - Figuring out Their Soup

Sister Soupy aka Maritza Norr Showing Her Support

There was also soup games where guests were asked to go into groups with their respected name tags (Everyone was given a name tag with a soup name when they arrived.) So, there was a minestrone, a  potato and leek, a butternut squash, beef and barley, french onion and a gazpacho team. Each team member then had to pick out a single-soup ingredient out of an envelope and as a team they had to form their own unique soup. Depending on what ingredients the teams got, they had to be pretty creative with their recipes like with team beef and barley and their oishii Kabocha (yummy pumpkin soup drizzled with soy sauce) or team potato and leek and their Mrs. Ho's Super Yum Yum Chinese Soup (my second favorite!). Team French onion soup won for their Southern Salmon Chowder that really sounded like an exciting soup I want to test out on the site. They walked away with some swanky white ladles and homemade bookmarks - I wish I had more for everyone!

Soup Team French Onion Proudly Displaying their New Ladles

At the end of the event, I asked everyone for feedback and to vote for their favorite soup and I would post the winning recipe on Friday (today). Butternut squash was the sweeping winner, followed by the beef and cabbage, vegetable stew, and then the ribbolita.. But no worries, all the recipes (even the mystery soup one) will be on here next week.


Overall, it was a really fun night of eating, mixing and mingling, laughing, and playing soup games. I'm not sure that everyone was amused by my 12-question soup quiz (see quiz below) but I think some of the soups made up for that. For the next one, I'd like to try a soup swap party. Please email me at seriouslysoupy@gmail.com and I'll give you more information when the date and time info is figured out.

Vegetables for the soup! Then...

Ribollita

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Roasted Root Vegetable and Turkey Stew

Russian Beef and Cabbage Soup - The Second Favorite

Taster's Choice

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, cubed

1 yellow onion, peeled and diced

2 -3 cloves of garlic, minced

drizzle of olive oil

2-3 cups of water

2-3 carrots, cut up

1/4 cup of light heavy cream

2 teaspoons of nutmeg, approx.

2 teaspoons of cinnamon, approx.

1 teaspoon cloves, approx.

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash open, lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Coat squash in garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let cook for 30 minutes or until soft.  Boil water and cut up the onions and garlic.  Cut up the carrots and add the cooked squash, along with the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt and pepper to the pot. Let cook for 20-30 minutes. Add the cream and blend.

Hope you enjoy this really easy, but delicious soup. I'll be posting the rest of the soup party recipes on Monday. 


Have a great weekend!

Seriously Soupy Serena

And if you want to play at home, here's the soup quiz!

From the website -  Fun Trivia

1. Dried and ground up Sassafras leaves create an integral flavoring and thickener for which soup?

a. Mulligatawny

b. Billy Bi

c. Chicken Gumbo

2. Which Italian favorite traditionally contains pasta, vegetables and cheese?

a. Cioppino

b. Gumbo

c. Minestrone

3. Panada indicates a soup that is made with what?

a. Pancetta bacon

b. Bread crumbs

c. Oysters

4. In which of the following places could you ask for 'Cock-A-Leekie'?

a. Scotland

b. New Zealand

c. Ireland

5. In which of the following countries could you order a bowl of 'Consomme a l'Orange'?

a. Haiti

b. Belgium

c. Poland

6. Where did 'chowder' come from?

a. Old English for eater

b. French for cold

c. French for cauldron

7. What is the real ingredient in mock turtle soup?

a. beef

b. veal

c. pork

8. During the Great Depression in the United States, many people were so hungry they had to queue up at soup kitchens to get food. What nickname was given to these soup kitchens?

            a. Roosevelt Cafes

b. Hoover Cafes

c. Coolidge Cafes

9. A consomme is made by further simmering the stock to produce a crystal clear liquid by clarification. What is added to the base stock to clarify the soup?

            a. Egg whites and egg shells

            b. Thin slices of potato

            c. Ice cubes

10. Brotchan Foltchep is a soup made from leeks, oatmeal and milk. In what country did it originate?

           a. Ireland

           b. Wales

           c. Hebrides

11. What is the main ingredient of the Asian Dhal (Dal) soup?

           a. Lentils

           b. Haricot beans

           c. Chick peas

Bonus Question: The earliest evidence that our ancestors ate soup was in 6000 BC. Can you guess what type of soup it was?

          a. Hippopotamus

          b. Dinosaur

          c. Monkey

          d. Rabbit

Answers: 

1.  c. Chicken Gumbo; 2. c. Minestrone; 3. b. Bread crumbs; 4. a. Scotland; 5. a. Haiti; 6. c. French for cauldron; 7. b. veal; 8. b. Hoover Cafes; 9. a. Egg whites and egg shells; 10. a. Ireland; 11. a. Lentils; and for the bonus: Hippopotamus.