Roasted Butternut Curry Bisque

Wow, it's been awhile! But never fear Internet, I'm still here, and still doing some cooking. So as a "back to blogging" treat, you get a recipe created from my very own brain! I've made this type of soup/sauce before, and figured it was high time to get it written down. This is terrific as a soup, but my favorite way to eat it is as a sauce for cheese tortellini. So with the dulcet tones of Golden Girls playing in the background, here we go!

Roasted Butternut Curry Bisque

Ingredients
2 medium sized butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3 Tblspn olive oil
Curry powder to taste
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 head of garlic, peeled and cloves separated
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tblspn butter
1 large onion
1/8 cup brown sugar
2 cups half and half
1/2-1 cup chicken stock

Directions
1) Toss the butternut squash, olive oil, curry powder, 1/4 cup brown sugar, garlic and salt/pepper in a large bowl until evenly coated. Pour onto a greased roasting pan and roast @ 425 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

2) When veggies have ~ 20 minutes left, heat butter in medium sized pot, and saute onion until translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Add 1/8 cup brown sugar and cook for 1-2 min. When the veggies are done, dump the onion mixture on that pan, freeing up your pot for the upcoming puree.

3) In a food processor, puree the squash mixture, onion mixture and half and half, and pour into the pan, heating on low. This is usually done best in batches, and you want the mixture really smooth. Add chicken broth as needed to get the desired consistency. Serve immediately.


This is a super forgiving recipe, so change it up as you wish! Don't like curry? Skip it! You can also skip the brown sugar and go in a more savory direction with more garlic, or seasonings of your choice. And the amount of ingredients are suggestions, and can easily be changed for your tastes/what you have on on hand. There are no mistakes with this recipe, just happy accidents. 😁

Loaded Pretzel Cookies

Branching out from my usual Allrecipes, this fantastic find was in one of this past year's Taste of Home! Super yummy, and while it has coconut, you can't really taste it...I had a coconut-hater eat them today and LOVED them. :D Win! I recommend not measuring the chocolate chips...you can't have too many.

Loaded Pretzel Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 packed cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups mini pretzels, crushed
1 1/2 cup coconut
1 1/2 cup M&M's

        Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

2) In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Then slowly beat in to the wet mixture until mixed.

3) Add rest of ingredients and stir until mixed. Using about 1/4 cup per cookie, roll into a ball and put on an un-greased cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

As typical with baking, the only thing I changed was to add more M&M's...minus the ones that I had previously eaten out of the bag, I think it only added another 1/8th cup. ;) I used a cookie scooper, which I think made it a little less than 1/4 cup per cookie, and I got 36 cookies out of the dough, as opposed to the 24 that they told me I would get. These seemed to be a big hit with kids and adults - the salty/sweet mixture was a nice change from regular chocolate cookies without getting TOO far away from tradition. You really can't taste the coconut much - you could probably leave it out, but I think it adds a bit of moistness, and also some bulk. All in all, a keeper for this household!

Lemon Cheesecake Squares

You are about to be inundated with lemon recipes. ;) The papa-in-law LOVES lemon desserts, and as June host the holiday known as Father's Day, lemon abounds in the Hunt household at this time of year. These are DEFINITELY a keeper recipe, and are great for a large group of people.

Lemon Cheesecake Squares

        Ingredients
Makes ~20 servings

 3/4 cup shortening
 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
 1 cup rolled oats
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
FILLING:
 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
 1 1/2 cups sugar
 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
 4 eggs
 1/3 cup lemon juice
 4 teaspoons grated lemon peel

      Directions

1) In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar. Combine the flour, oats and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Press dough into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Spread with jam.

2) For filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until fluffy. Add the eggs, lemon juice and peel just until blended. Carefully spoon over jam. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set.

3) Cool on a wire rack. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

   I'll be honest...baking is not my strong suit. I much prefer cooking, so when it comes to baking, I stick pretty close to the recipe, afraid that any changes I make will cause it not set, or rise, or whatever it's supposed to do. ;) So for realsies, this is a "follow as directed". (ok, except for I did add a dash of lemon extract to the cheesecake part, as it need a smidge more lemon.)  I used 3 lemons for the juice and zest, and that seemed about right when I measured it out. 

    The raspberry provides a nice foil, keeping the cheesecake part from being too lemony, and the crust isn't overly sweet, providing a nice clean balance. I recommend using a knife run under hot water (frequently!) when cutting the bars to avoid the cheesecake clumping on the knife. A resounding yes from this household, and hopefully from yours too.