Chilled Yellow Squash Soup
Chilled Yellow Squash Soup
If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying. Unless you don’t, which sometimes is best. But not usually and definitely not for this soup!
You may recall my botched attempt at this soup from a few weeks back. The one I turned into another soup just to keep from wasting it all. A friend commented on that post and said I was persistent. Could be. Some might suggest it is more about being stubborn. 😉 I do tend to keep trying when something doesn't work out.
However, Some Things are Better Left Undone
Years ago, when I was fairly newly married, my first husband requested that I make liver and onions for dinner. I had never even had liver & onions, but I was willing to try it so I agreed to make it for him. After all, I do like giblets in gravy at Thanksgiving, so why not try beef liver?
As it happened, I was also in college and taking Biochemistry. We had recently done an experiment using beef liver. The same exact type of beef liver you buy at the grocery. In fact, the liver we used in our class came from the local grocery. It was a really strange experience to be cooking for dinner the same thing you had used in an experiment just a week or two earlier.
I made the dinner. And we sat down to eat and Michael said that it wasn't the same as what he was used to eating. I found it inedible. I'm not sure he ate it either. AND, I never tried it again. Not likely to either.
Some things are worth working on. Others are not. If you recall, I had tasted a really yummy Chilled Saffron and Yellow Squash Soup which was why I was trying to make the soup in the first place.
Improving On the First Attempt
The biggest problem with the first soup was that I had used way too much liquid. So I set out to make another version, using only as much liquid as needed. It's tricky; you can have too much or too little. I'm still working out the exact ratio in quantifiable terms. I measure based on how it looks in the pan!
The second batch I made was good. We actually had some for lunch warm the first day. And it was tasty. On day 2, we had it cold. And I found that I didn't like the onion flavor in there. Interesting, right? My taste buds didn't want onion in a cold soup.
Also, it was a bit chunkier, so needs more food processor time. This is a tricky thing to time…
The last batch, made this past week, turned out much better. And, it gets simpler when you don't have to cook the onions! I also, inadvertently, forgot the salt. And, to be honest, I liked it better with just a little salt. I did add some to my bowl, but just a hint.
For this batch, I also ran the food processor for about one minute. That seemed to do the trick.
Worth Persisting, Too
I am mostly happy with the recipe as it appears below. But I do plan to buy some saffron and try that in another version. Saffron is certainly going to brighten up the color so it resembles the restaurant version that started all of this soup making.
I’ll need to research to figure out when to add it and how much. When I’m done, I’ll update the recipe!
Chilled Yellow Squash Soup Recipe
Yield: 4 - 6 servings, 1/2 cup each
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients Gathering
2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds Yellow Summer Squash - This is approximate, doesn’t have to be exact
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Preparing
Chop the squash into roughly 1/2 inch pieces
Mise En Place: Line up the ingredients in the order of use, having measuring spoons & cups nearby:
Butter
Chopped yellow squash
Chicken stock
Sea salt
Cooking
Heat pan and butter on medium heat until hot.
Add the squash and cook, with stirring, for about 5 minutes. Just until the squash begins to turn transparent on the edges.
Add the chicken stock slowly, just until the squash is almost covered.
Add in 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover.
Simmer for 10 minutes. The squash will have softened quite a bit
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the squash to the food processor. Process on medium speed for about 1 minute.
Add the squash back to the pan and stir well.
Serving
You can also serve the soup right after it’s ready, even though it’s intended to be a chilled soup.
Chill the soup for at least 4 hours.
Enjoy!
