Apple Notes and a Squash Recipe

The farm season is truly over now: It snowed here. Yeesh! That's all the more reason to be warming up the kitchen with some cooking. So here are a few notes before I take a short hiatus from CSA posts:

• Applesauce is a wonderful thing. I made a couple of batches in the past week, using up 8 pounds of apples. Applesauce Cake is not far behind.

• I tried out this Sweet Apple Pie Bread earlier this week. It's a quick bread--not especially pie-like--but it's virtually fat-free, especially if you use a skim milk-and-vinegar substitute for buttermilk. Watch out for the way the measurements are written: 1 "T" means a teaspoon of baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon, and not a tablespoon.

• Searching for something to do with fish, I came across Teriyaki Trout with Snappy Apple Salsa by The Crispy Cook. Oooooh, this was tasty. I used Arctic char instead of Steelhead trout, and I didn't marinate the fish for more than 15 minutes, but it worked. The salsa features apple and fennel, which I found I liked despite not being overly fond of licorice. (I had plenty of leftover fennel, so I sliced and roasted it with parsnips and carrots for another dinner this week. I told you I was cooking.)

• With the sudden turn to cold weather, I had a craving for soup. What a good way to use up my final container of Hubbard squash puree! This recipe is liberally adapted from one in the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. If you don't have a Hubbard squash (sigh), try butternut or acorn. (I bet it would work with pumpkin, too.) Roast, boil or steam the squash to get the cooked pulp.

Squash Soup
(Inspired by Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1.5 cups water
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups cooked squash pulp
1.5 cups tomato juice
0.5 cups orange juice
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot. Saute onion and spices until onion is translucent. Add water, apple and celery, cover and simmer about 10 minutes.

Remove bay leaves. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onion mixture to a food processor. Puree the onion mixture and squash and return to the liquid in the pot. Add the tomato juice and orange juice and mix well. Gently reheat. Add salt and pepper to taste.