Maple Bacon Butternut Squash Soup

This is a total comfort food that is probably best suited to a chilly Fall day in November.
Oh well...  butternut squash is always available, and frankly, everyone likes bacon year round.
So... why... not... NOW?

A funny thing happened while I was making this soup, I got a text from my niece, who lives very close by, that she was going to bring over some Coconut Butternut Squash soup to us. 
Fun!  Great minds are making soup from Butternut Squash, I guess!
Everyone likes a soup delivery, but it's even more fun to have a soup exchange!  
(I've got a similar soup on  my blog with Coconut Pumpkin Soup if you're interested) .  
 

Makes about 6 cups
Ingredients

8 slices bacon, cooked crisp, and chopped or crumbled  
1-2 Tbsp bacon grease, or olive oil 
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
4 cups of butternut squash, peeled & cubed
2 bay leaves (remove before blending...)
4 cups chicken stock
2-3 Tbsp maple syrup
1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt & Pepper

Bake the bacon on cookie sheets in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until its crisp.  Drain bacon on paper towels.  Retain a couple tablespoons of bacon grease to saute the veggies.

In a stockpot, saute the onions, celery and garlic over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the squash, chicken stock, bay leaves, cider vinegar and maple syrup.  Add about 1 teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste.  Turn heat to medium high and bring mixture to a boil.  Turn heat down to simmer, and cook for 20 minutes or until the squash is soft.  Using a stick blender, regular blender or food processor, blend soup until its smooth.  Return mixture to the pot and bring back to a boil  Taste and adjust salt, pepper and add more maple syrup as desired.

Serve with crumbled bacon on top.

Chinese Corn Velvet Soup

I'm not sure how authentically Asian this soup recipe is, but if you were served this in a Chinese restaurant with your dinner, I think you would be very pleased!  
It's sweet, savory egg drop soup with corn, ham and green onions with a hint of sesame oil.
Very comforting on a cold winter's day, like today.
It's an easy soup that comes together quickly, I finished this for lunch in under 20 minutes.

The soup will appeal to kids too, as I have great childhood memories of my Mom's version of this soup.  This recipe is loosely based on this Food Network recipe from Martin Yan.

However, memories of my Mom's version have made me add a couple of suggestions
This soup was delicious as written below, but next time I will reduce the amount of broth to 4 cups in order to make a thicker, richer sweet corn taste with the soup.  
It's up to you.

If you want to make this soup vegetarian, then omit the ham and replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.  You could add tofu instead of ham, I bet that's good too.

One other note, if you wanted to avoid using canned creamed corn, I think you could blend cooked corn to make two cups substitute.  If using fresh sweet corn, I bet it's a fantastic alternative.

Serves about 6

Ingredients

4- 6 cups chicken broth (see note above...)

1/2 cup cooked ham, cut into thin strips

1 can (16 ounce) cream style corn

3 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup water

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

1-2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1-2 tsp Siracha hot sauce (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Place chicken broth in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add sliced ham and creamed corn. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring frequently. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until soup boils and thickens slightly. Turn off heat. Add egg whites, stirring until they form long threads.

Stir in green onions, sesame oil, pepper and salt, to taste.
Top with additional green onions and slivered ham, if desired.