I was in my late 40's when I learned to love chestnuts. That is, very recently, 2022. I'd never had them, okay?! My partner decided to throw some onto our CSA order one week and, while they take some work, they were a complete hit with both of us. He had also thrown some red kuri squash on an order, since we had never tried that either. 

The chestnuts got 'et that week, and the kuri squash was sitting there waiting for inspiration. I decided to get more chestnuts last week, throw in a butternut squash, and make some warm, creamy soup! Cross-referencing other recipes, this is what I ended up making (this would work with a wide variety of squash, this is just what we had):

1 lb chestnuts
1 small-medium red kuri squash
1 small-medium butternut squash
1 small shallot, fine dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 leaves of fresh sage, minced (2-3 tsp fresh, 1 tsp dried or to taste)
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup veg or chicken stock
3/4 cup cream
a splash of dry white wine
salt and pepper
Optional: goat cheese or creme fraiche for garnish

Score and roast chestnuts
Roast nuts on a rack-lined sheet pan in a 450 degree oven for 35 minutes or until tops are peeling back. Put chestnuts in a kitchen towel, squeeze to crack/release shells. When cool enough to handle, extract the meat and remove papery skin as well. Finely rough-chop nuts and set aside. Meanwhile...

Roast squash in 450 degree oven.
Cut butternut squash in half and scoop out seeds, oil lightly and place face down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Cut red kuri squash in quarters, scoop out seeds, and then cut one more time into eighths. Oil and place on the same sheet pan. Roast for 25-40 minutes until soft and mashable. The red kuri was done before the butternut squash, so I just removed them to a plate and let the butternut squash continue a bit longer. Scrape flesh into a bowl and mash up. You don't have to mash too much here, since you'll be blending the soup more later.

Cook shallots and garlic.
Melt butter in a pan over medium heat, cook shallots a few minutes, add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add sage and chestnuts, to bloom the sage a bit and warm and soften the chestnuts further, 1-2 minutes. Add more butter if it seems too dry. There's always room for more butter!

Put it all together.
Add squash, stock, shallot/garlic/herb/chestnuts mix to a pot and stir together. Splash some white wine, and add cream a bit at a time, saving some back if you're not sure of the consistency. Before soup is hot, use immersion blender or regular blender to blend together all ingredients until smoothed (mine still had small chunks of chestnut in it, that was fine with me!) Never blend piping hot soups, it is a splash/burn risk. Blend while warm, then heat to desired temperature once it is blended, adding more cream if needed to reach desired consistency. Mine was a bit thick, but you may want yours thinner. Add salt and pepper while heating, to taste. I like a lot of fresh ground pepper in mine, to counterpoint the sweetness of the squash and chestnuts.

Ladle soup into bowls, top with goat cheese or creme fraiche as desired.

This goes great with a rustic, crusty bread if you have it!

I was amazed at how naturally sweet this soup was. Some recipes call for a little sugar in them, and I can't imagine needing it, with the sweetness of the squash and nuts already being so strong.

We're in the thick of it now. It's officially Thanksgiving week, which means my counters and fridge are overflowing with ingredients, ready to tackle the mountain of dishes I plan to cook up this week, including all the necessary ingredients to make and freeze some leftover turkey pot pies.

Despite *Science telling us otherwise, our favorite has continued to be the Alton Brown wet brine. We have made many birds many ways in our past 21 Thanksgivings as a couple, including the pre-brining years, dry brines and wet brines of various ilk, the miserably attempted smoked year (threw the whole thing out it was so bad), the amazing sous vide year, and various combos of whole, pieced, and spatchcocked.

 

Also, I will be spatchcocking again, putting aromatics in a little foil nest under the center of the bird and a ring of stuffing around the outside. This is a method I developed for myself years ago when I discovered spatchcocking of poultry generally, and as well wanted turkey drippings to still flavor the stuffing without the food-borne illness concerns of stuffing a whole bird.

Photo of me with one of my early very successful turkey attempts! 2005?

Here's 2020, spatchcocked goodness:


Video of Alton's brine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKr1rByVVCI

Written recipe:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe-1950271

* Kenji throwing down the science that supposedly proves me wrong. But you can't argue with our taste buds, Kenji!! https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-the-truth-about-brining-turkey-thanksgiving

1. Using a good sharp knife, trim kernels from the cobs and place in a small bowl. Set aside 
2. Put cobs in a medium pot and add Parmesan rinds (if using), mushroom stems, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and 8 cups water. 
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, maybe 40-45 minutes or so. 
4. Strain resulting stock through a fine sieve into another bowl. Set aside stock, toss solids into your compost.

1. Put dried mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and pour hot water over them to cover (boiling works, but not necessary). Push gently down with a fork to submerge them and let soak while you do other steps.
2. Add butter to pan over medium heat and melt. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for 7-9 minutes until browning and cooked.
3. Meanwhile, mince garlic and shallot. Add chicken stock and undrained can of beans to a second pot and warm over low heat. Add a little salt and 1 Tbsp thyme, stir to combine and leave warm until needed.
4. Add flour to pan of mushrooms and stir to combine about a minute, thickening any juices and clinging to mushrooms.
5. Add the shallot and garlic to the mushrooms along with the Tbsp of olive oil. Stir frequently over medium-low heat, softening the shallot and garlic without allowing anything to burn.
6. Put some paper towel or coffee filter in a fine mesh sieve, then strain the liquid from the rehydrated mushrooms into to pan with the mushroom mix. Squeeze to get excess out, then add rehydrated mushrooms to rest of the mushrooms. Reduce heat on mushrooms to medium-low. 
7. Remove 1 cup of the bean and chicken stock mixture to another bowl or large wide mouth jar. Take 1 cup of the mushroom mix and add to this. Pour 1 cup milk in and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
8. Mix together all parts--the mushroom mixture, the beans and stock, and the bean/mushroom blend, stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serve up and enjoy!