Curried Mushroom & Squash Soup

(p. 12 in the original Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzen)

At least one and one-half hours to prepare & simmer 4-5 servings
2 medium butternut or acorn squash
2-1/2 cups water or stock
1 c. orange juice
2 Tbl. butter
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 medium clove crushed garlic
6 oz. mushrooms, sliced1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
a few dashes cayenne
optional: fresh lemon juice
garnishes: chopped, toasted, almonds yogurt

Split the squash lengthwise and bake face-down in a 375s oven on an oiled tray, 30 minutes or until quite soft. Cook and scoop out the insides. You'll need about 3 cups worth. Put it in the blender with the water or stock and puree until smooth. Combine in a kettle or saucepan with the orange juice.

Heat the butter in a skillet and add the garlic, onion, salt and spices. Sauté until the onion is very soft. (You may need to add a little water if it sticks). Add mushrooms, cover and cook 10 minutes.

Add the sauté to the squash, scraping the skillet well to salvage all the good stuff. Heat everything together very gently. Taste to correct seasoning. Since this is a fairly sweet soup, you may want to spruce it up with some fresh lemon juice.

Serve topped with yogurt and chopped, toasted almonds. (Note: this soup need not be served immediately. Simmer a while, and the flavors can mature.)

TANA'S VARIATIONS
I usually make at least twice, if not three or four times the recipe in my big pot, because this is a soup that my neighbors love, and I can freeze it if I need to (I've never had it last more than two days).

I sauté the onions separately and puree with the squash.

I mix the spices in a little bowl, and add half to the squash puree and half to the mushrooms as they cook.

I use half the orange juice called for, and half of that goes into the mushrooms and half into the pot with the squash and onions.

I use the chicken-flavored vegetarian bouillon powder (available at New Leaf) in place of plain water. I don't measure it, I just add it to the squash as I blend it, and then add more as needed at the end, after adding the mushrooms. Don't bother using chicken bouillon-who needs another excuse to use animal fat when it tastes so good without?

I use lots more mushrooms than called for. Sauté them in: butter, fresh Meyer's lemon juice (nothing else will do, and it is not optional in my recipe!), half the o.j. (or Grand Marnier, a tablespoon or so (or pale cooking sherry), lots freshly ground pepper, a teeny of salt (I wait to add most of the salt until the mushrooms are in the soup-tamari can be substituted), and the remaining half of the spice mix. The important thing, to me, is to cook the mushrooms until the flavor is seared into them, and the juice is quite diminished. This concentrates the flavor, which goes right into the soup, providing, with the lemon juice, the counterbalance to the sweetish spices. You can even save some mushrooms aside to put on rice.

Because I sauté the mushrooms separately from the onions, I suppose I use more butter than is called for, but that can be remedied if you believe in calories. The onions could easily be cooked in vegetable oil, saving the butter for the mushrooms.

I usually add more Meyer's lemon juice at the end. The soup is too sweet without it, and even with the spices, too bland. I'd say at least 1/4 cup per recipe is good-some for the mushrooms and some at the end, right in the soup.

After sitting a while, I have to thin this soup with the bouillon.