As I sat at my desk yesterday, desperately seeking the end of the internet, a random, yet beautiful thought popped in my head.
“Oh my GOD! It is Boo Berry time”.
You see, I am obsessed with this most elusive variety of monster cereal from the General Mills family. Nearly impossible to find, Target always carries it during the Halloween season. Now, I am not generally a cereal eater, but there are exceptions to every rule. I find myself yearning for the sugary blueberry cereal bits and tasty marshmallow ghosts in July. And the bluish-purple milk! Love it. Forget flowers and chocolate; if some guy brought me a box of Boo Berry during the summer, he’d have me at hello.
I go through stages where I am absolutely enamored with certain foods. 2004 was the year of the Juicy Pear Jelly Belly. 2006 brought Trader Joe chicken gyoza in to my life. I could not get enough of brussel sprouts in 2007. And this year? Cardamom.
I’ve used cardamom in oatmeal, with carrots, and chicken. Even rhubarb got the cardamom treatment. My lust for it is insatiable.
When trying to come up with a seasonal soup course for my dinner party this weekend, I immediately landed on butternut soup. I decided to take an unexpected turn and give it an Indian twist with the use of curry and cardamom. The apple and curry blended perfectly and the cardamom added a great, fragrant undertone. Make sure to use a light hand with the cardamom; it has a really strong flavor and the butternut is very delicate and can be easily overpowered. (Full disclosure: I would have sauteed a chopped shallot for a few minutes before adding the broth, squash and apple, but I was honoring dietary restrictions. I suggest trying it for a bit more complexity.) This is a showstopping, but easy, soup that is a great addition to any fall menu.
Just try not to fall in love with it…
Indian Butternut Squash Soup
1 medium sized (about 3-4 lbs) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (Swanson brand is quite good)
1 granny smith apple, peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons curry
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
Add stock, apple and squash to pot and boil for about 15-20 minutes, until squash is soft. Add curry and cardamom to pot and puree using immersion blender (or ladle in to blender). Microwave cream for 45 seconds or mix with a few scoops of butternut puree. (This will prevent the cold cream from separating when it hots the hot puree. This is called tempering.) Add tempered cream to pot and stir. Salt and pepper to taste.
9:38 am on October 7th, 2008
Is this the butternut squash of death that caused such pain and anguish?
I have to say that the butternut and spaghetti are my two faves!!
Yes, this bastard caused the injury.
Spaghetti pasta or spaghetti squash?
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9:38 am on October 7th, 2008
Mmmmm… fall…. DELISH.
Apples, butternut, curry…OH MY!
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9:44 am on October 7th, 2008
Krishnas shun alliums…oh shit you picked up a guy at the temple didn’t you!
I am innocent on this one, promise.
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10:01 am on October 7th, 2008
two thangs:
1. where do you find affordable/plentiful/relatively fresh cardamom?
2. what goes with this drool-worthy dish? Keep it simple with naan on the side?
1. I buy it already ground…I have actually found Whole Foods has better prices than Giant or Safeway. It cost me I think $8, but I have been using it for a while. It is worth the investment.
2. I served this as a course to a dinner party, but if it were for a meal, I would serve it with naan or perhaps a simple salad.
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10:03 am on October 7th, 2008
I’m so glad it’s officially soup season again. (Although I tend to eat soup year round.) This one looks so easy and delicious! Somehow I deprived my kids of Boo Berry cereal. Oh well…
I agree. I made some matzo ball soup last night (another obsession) and I could not be happier.
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10:04 am on October 7th, 2008
Spaghetti squash w/parm…..the other is seldom even worth the carbs.
Agreed, though pasta can be great. Lasagna? Yes, please.
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10:21 am on October 7th, 2008
Ugh…cereal is, to me, one of the most revolting substances on Earth. Probably because I don’t think food should be left to rot in a vat of milk.
You are wrong on this, Shan. Still think you are the bees knees, but Boo Berry makes me insanely happy.
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10:30 am on October 7th, 2008
Can you provide a recipe for a great soup recipe that’s not squash? I find squash disgusting. Even with delicious things like apples and cardamom.
Of course. I know there will be a ton more in the months to come, but here are a few from the archives: Matzo Ball Soup, French Onion Soup, Tomato Basil Soup, and Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup.
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10:49 am on October 7th, 2008
We must’ve been sharing the same brain waves recently. Last night, as the temps dropped, all I could think about as I went to sleep was starting the morning with a big, steaming bowl of oatmeal mixed with brown sugar and raisins. Ummmm. Cereal brain waves.
Oatmeal is the best. I made, ahem, chocolate oatmeal for this week. EVIL.
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10:57 am on October 7th, 2008
On a similar note, I went through a strange period in my life were I was fixated with…….*gulp*……….Fruity Pebbles. Don’t ask me why, to this day I do not understand how or why it happened. Fortunately, I got over that phase many years ago.
Now soups are usually a Fall/Winter food item but butternut squash is one of those things that I always fail to avoid during the summer. I cannot help myself, I love the stuff. That phase has not passed.
Fruity pebbles are better than cocoa pebbles. I am a cocoa krispies girl all the way.
Why avoid butternut-it is fantastic.
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11:01 am on October 7th, 2008
I love me some Count Chocula
Yes, better than Frankenberry, for sure.
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11:11 am on October 7th, 2008
If Count Chocula and Frankenberry got in a fight, who would win?
Count Chocula would outsmart Frankenberry. Our friend Frank isn’t very nimble.
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12:05 pm on October 7th, 2008
Oh, baby. Now this is comfort food that won’t turn me into the Michelin Man. Love me the butternut squash, yes I do. And cardamom, which I use in small amounts as one of my waffles’ secret ingredients but had never used with squash before.
Oh, cardamom in waffles. That sounds excellent. Sadly I don’t have a waffle maker–it takes up too much space in an already tight apartment.
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12:14 pm on October 7th, 2008
I have the bobbleheads of all three – sad yes!
Wow, that is some fandom.
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12:33 pm on October 7th, 2008
What the hell is cardamom?
Nevermind, I Wikipedia’d it.
Thank God for wiki. That’s how I learned where babies come from.
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1:33 pm on October 7th, 2008
Roasted butternut
and acorn squash this weekend.
Was waiting for this.
I am a mind reader like that.
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2:23 pm on October 7th, 2008
When I was a kid, my dad worked for General Mills in Minnesota one summer. They wanted to hire him full-time but he wasn’t interested. As some sort of recruiting tool, they sent us a gift pack of 10-15 General Mill’s cereals (including Boo Berry) every Christmas for 3-4 years.
As a small child, I couldn’t fathom why my dad would be so stupid as to not take a job that provided us with non-stop free cereal!
Your father is a fool! Were they sample packs of whole boxes? I am very jealous.
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3:04 pm on October 7th, 2008
and to think when I was reading this entry, I thought you were going to make “Boo Berry” Soup. You need to figure that recipe out…. and now. (and while yummy, the milk, boo berry combination that is left over after eating all the cereal does not count)
Hm, sounds kinda tricky. I bet some sort of cereal bar with boo berry would be awesome, though.
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9:32 pm on October 7th, 2008
If you want butternut squash soup without all the effort of actually making it, Trader Joe’s sells a very good version. Not as good as home made, of course, but decent enough.
Peter
Another reason to love Trader Joe’s…
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12:50 am on October 8th, 2008
Ironically this is the 2nd internet post I read today to bring up Boo Berry. The other one was a lot more gross, though.
My whole foods momma refused to buy cereal with more than 3g of sugar per serving, so I don’t get the Boo Berry fetish, and I don’t exactly wake up in cold sweats lusting after Product 19.
You need to try it! Have you even had it? You will curse your mother for denying you such pleasures.
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9:03 am on October 8th, 2008
If I promise to keep you in Boo Berry will you promise to keep the curry and cardamom out of the butternut soup? I love butternut soup (just one more reason to love fall), but given that I don’t think that the words Indian and food should be used in the same sentence (ok it is more an extreme aversion to curry than to anything Indian) the thought of defiling something divine with something satanic is, dare I say it, blasphemous! Say it ain’t so lem!
Sorry, friend. Try swapping out the curry and cardamom with fresh tarragon…also very good.
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11:18 am on October 8th, 2008
HAHA! I bought some Count Chocula and Boo Berry last weekend at Target. I didn’t get Frankenberry because, well, it sux, but Yeah, I look forward to BooBerry season every year.
You are a wise man! Frankenberry can suck it.
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1:04 pm on October 10th, 2008
Made this soup last night–big hit. I had already roasted the squash, so that was the key difference. And I used a butternut squash and an acorn squash together (CSA box is overloaded with squash). Had to take a loan out for the cardamom.
Yes, but now you have the cardamom and it lasts forever. So glad you liked this and made it your own.
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12:32 pm on October 14th, 2008
I made this the other night, left out the cream, to bring for lunch this week with a ham sammich. It’s really good but the color is unfortunate, plus I can’t decide wether I like the texture b/c it’s easy to sip w/o a spoon, or I don’t like it b/c it’s reminiscent of baby food. So I’ll mash it next time and see what’s up!
It is the color of squash…that cannot be helped. Glad you liked it though. It is simple, tasty and easy–all you can ask for really.
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8:22 am on October 29th, 2008
[...] I really love Boo Berry Cereal. It is almost an unhealthy adoration, frankly. I definitely love my Mom more than Boo Berry, but totally love this cereal way more than most of the other members of my family. [...]
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