The foodie magazine Bon Appetit recently had a great cover shot of a chili made with Beef Brisket and Butternut Squash that looked incredible. We thought it was really inspiring, but we don’t normally keep whole Beef Briskets lying around so we had to come up with something on our own that would round out the dish a bit.

If you like Bon Appetit like we do then you should also check out Cook’s Illustrated which is basically the print version of the PBS show America’s Test Kitchen (or vice versa). They recently had a special issue all about classic soups and stews. Included among them was a recipe for Chili con Carne that had some great instructions for making your own Chile Powder from scratch using those dried, store-bought, pre-bagged Chilis you can find in the Ethnic Foods section of your grocery store. We thought there might be some potential for greatness if we combined aspects of both recipes into one great dish. Read more »

Roasting the Butternut Squash first really brings out the sweetness and the flavor melds beautifully with the tang of the Bleu Cheese and the toastiness of the Hazelnuts. This soup is great served with some crusty bread and a spinach salad, or as a starter for a warming winter meal.

This recipe makes a pretty big batch, which is good since this soup is even better the next day after the flavors have had a chance to blend. Read more »