Butternut Bisque

I love finding great recipes. Even better, I love finding great recipes on cute blogs that aren't even totally food-recipe related (it's an aspiration of mine to be a blog like that).

Enter: Little Family in the Big City. Abbie is the coolest (maybe one day we could be friends) and I love her take on life. Plus, she's Mormon, which is rad (in my totally non-biased opinion, of course). Plus, she lives in Brooklyn, which is super-cool too.

Anyway, so on her super-cool blog [[actually it comes from her food blog, but keep reading anyway]] (hm..I think that's my new favorite adjective...) I found a great recipe for Butternut Bisque. It's beautiful, and comes originally from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine.

It made a ton and it's SO good. It also freezes really well, another plus. The directions are pretty easy and I think maybe the only thing that I changed was that I needed to cook the squash a little longer than twenty minutes to make the squash tender.

Butternut Bisque

3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more for garnish (optional)
Coarse salt
1 large butternut squash (about 4 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Sour cream, for serving

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium. Add onion, garlic, thyme, cinnamon, and cayenne. Season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Add squash, broth, half-and-half, and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Working in batches, puree in a blender until smooth. Stir in lemon juice; season with salt. Serve bisque with sour cream, garnished with cayenne, if desired.
4. To Freeze: Ladle cooled bisque (without sour cream) into airtight containers, leaving 1 inch of space; freeze up to 3 months.
5. To Reheat: Run container under hot water to release bisque. Heat with a bit of water, stirring occasionally.