Butternut Squash Apple Soup and Cranberry Porkchops

This is an intensely fall-themed meal, and it is colorful and delicious.  I am not sure if Chris enjoyed it as much as I did, because he does not love cranberries, but he certainly didn't go hungry!  Enjoy! 

Cranberry Porkchops

I made a few small changes to this recipe, including reducing the number of pork chops, so be sure and read my notes!  Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 6 pork chops (I used 3)
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (I used about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3/4 cup white sugar  (I used about 2/3 cup, maybe a little less)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (I love fresh black pepper, so I probably used more than this, and I also added some red pepper flakes for a little kick)
• water as needed (I used about 1/2 cup of chicken stock and about 1/2 cup of water)
• 
  
• Directions

1. In a skillet, brown chops slowly in oil; drain.
2. Add cranberries, sugar, salt and pepper to chops with water. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes or until tender but not dry. Add water if necessary to keep chops from drying out. 

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

On our honeymoon, we ate at a french restaurant where I had this amazing squash soup with apples in it.  When I found this soup recipe, I was pretty sure I would love it, and it definitely reminded me of our honeymoon.  

Rather than peeling and chopping my butternut squash, I roasted it beforehand instead, not only for convenience but to add an extra layer of flavor.  Once you roast it, the flesh just comes right out of the peel into the soup pot.  Also, I had some bread cubes in the freezer, so I toasted those up with some olive oil, salt and pepper for croutons, which made the soup extra special!  Recipe courtesy of SimplyRecipes.com.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 rib of celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
• 1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, chopped (squash and apple should be at a 3 to 1 ratio)
• 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if vegetarian)*
• 1 cup water
• Pinches of nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper (I didn't have any cayenne, but I added a pinch of chili powder and cumin; it would also be pretty good with some sriracha added instead)

*If cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free broth.

Method:

1 Set a large saucepan over medium-high heat and heat the butter for 1-2 minutes. Do not let it turn brown. Add the onion, celery and carrot and sauté for 5 minutes, taking care to turn the heat down if the vegetables begin to brown.

2 Add squash, apple, broth and water. Bring to boil. Cover, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until squash and carrots soften. Puree, and return to a clean pot. (I poured my soup in batches into a traditional blender, but if you have an immersion blender, that would be very convenient!)

3 Add salt and spices to taste, and garnish with chives or parsley.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

The finished product! Yum!

Love,

Jillerina :*