Kabocha Soup With Challah Croutons

• Kabocha Soup
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 3 pounds kabocha squash
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Challah Croutons + Toppings
• 1 cup unsweetened whipped cream (I just hand-whip some of the leftover heavy whipping cream) or creme fraiche
• Chopped chives
• 1/2 pound day-old challah
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 microplane-grated garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Soup Instructions:rnSlice kabocha in half and spoon out the seeds. Cut each half into three wedges. Turn each wedge onto the flat side and remove the green skin. Cut each wedge crosswise into four even squares.
2. Melt butter in a dutch oven or pot, over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, slide in the sliced onion, curry powder and a sprinkling of salt. Stir the onion continuously for 10 minutes, or until caramelized. Slide kabocha cubes into the pot, along with another sprinkling of salt and stir for five minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring everything to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot for 10 minutes.
3. Using a fork, pierce kabocha to check for doneness. It should be soft enough to pierce without resistance, but not so soft that it falls apart. If it's not quite soft enough, stir, cover and cook for another five minutes.
4. When kabocha is cooked through, blend in batches in a blender or use an immersion blender (one of my favorite kitchen tools!) until completely smooth.
5. Stir in milk, then heavy whipping cream. Make sure to keep the heat very low and be careful to not let the soup boil at this point.
6. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Top with a dollop of the whipped cream, challah croutons and chives.
8. Challah Croutons Instructions:rnPreheat the oven to 375 degrees.
9. Grate garlic clove into olive oil, stir in herbs and salt, Be very careful to only include very small, microplane-d pieces of garlic. Larger pieces will get burnt and become bitter.
10. Cut challah into roughly 3/4" x 3/4" cubes. I recommend using a regular knife for a cleaner cut (as opposed to a serrated knife).
11. Place cubed challah onto a baking sheet and pour oil mixture over challah and mix well with your hands.
12. Spread challah out on baking sheet so it's just one layer and the challah is not (or just barely) touching each other.
13. Bake for five minutes and check on it. It should be a nice and toasty golden color. If it's not browning quite yet, bake for another 5 minutes and check on it again. It took me about 12 minutes to achieve this in my oven.

soup, butter, yellow onion, curry powder, kabocha squash, chicken broth, milk, heavy whipping cream, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, croutons , unsweetened whipped cream, chives, olive oil, garlic, oregano, thyme, kosher salt

Taken from food52.com/recipes/77038-kabocha-soup-with-challah-croutons (may not work)