Fall 2025 Recipes and Pairings

We put together a 6 pack from our holiday table to yours – something fun for everyone with recipe pairings for a special holiday meal.

butternut squash soup 

The last of late summer's corn, cooked so it still has a light crunch, accents this silky squash soup. I use a rich homemade chicken broth, but store-bought works too. Roasting the butternut squash with honey and a touch of salt intensifies the natural sweetness of the squash and caramelizes the honey. Take time browning the onions; cooking them low and slow deepens the foundational flavor of this hearty soup.

1 large butternut squash (about 3 lbs)
About 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tbsp honey
3 medium onions, chopped
Peeled cloves from 1 garlic head
1/2 cup salted butter
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves
5 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 to 2 qts reduced-sodium chicken broth
About 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 cups corn kernels (cut from 3 or 4 ears)
1/2 cup (4 oz) crème fraîche or sour cream
2 tbsp finely sliced flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Split squash lengthwise and scrape clean. Set cut side up in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Score flesh on each half four times in a crisscross (so juices absorb). Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and spread with honey. Roast until tender when pierced, about 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally with juices. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, cook onions and garlic in butter, stirring occasionally, until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Add sage and carrots; cook, stirring, about 5 minutes more. Scrape squash from shells into onion mixture and add 1 1/2 qts broth. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer until carrots are very tender when pierced, about 30 minutes. Purée soup with immersion blender until smooth. Return to pot and stir in remaining 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, the pepper, and nutmeg.

Add corn; heat soup over medium heat, stirring a few times, until corn is tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Thin with 1 to 2 cups more broth if you like. Ladle into bowls. Top with a spoonful of crème fraîche, a little paprika, and parsley.

chicken pot pie

Like making the stock you can put all kinds of things in a pot pie... I like the classic onion, peas and carrots in my chicken pot pie.

1 onion
2 med carrots
1 cup peas
2 cups left over chicken cut into pieces
1/3 cup flour
3 cups of stock
Salt, pepper and thyme

Sauté the onion till golden in 1-2 Tbsp of oil, lard, or butter then add in stock and whisk in flour. I like to sprinkle in a bit of salt as I go, along with the black pepper and thyme (keep in mind if you brined your chicken you won’t need much salt as your stock will have some). Then add your carrots - I like them crunchy so I add after I make the rue of stock, onion, and flour.

At the end throw in chicken and frozen peas, stir all together and pour into shell. Put top crust on, cover edges with pie shield or tin foil. Bake 425° till golden, a bit less than an hour. 

oven roasted beets with bacon and garlic

Beets are ridiculously good with bacon. There’s lots of garlic, but it candies and mellows in the bacon fat. I have won over many ‘non-beet-eaters’ with this dish.

10 medium beets (half red and half golden, 3 lbs total), peeled

1 lb applewood-smoked slab bacon (remove any rind) or thick-cut sliced bacon

Peeled cloves from 3 garlic heads

1 tbsp olive oil

1⁄2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F . Quarter beets lengthwise. Slice half lengthwise and half crosswise into wedges about 3/4 inch thick. Cut slab bacon into 1/2-inch cubes,or sliced bacon into 1 1/2-inch pieces.

In a shallow 3- to 3 1/2-qt baking dish, toss beets, bacon, garlic, oil, and salt.

Bake, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until beets are tender when pierced and bacon begins to brown, 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours.