cooking : soup : winter squash : roasted butternut squash bisque thingie

A fusion of two recipes found on allrecipes.com.

2 lb butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 large red onion, peeled and eighthed (is that even a word?)
1/2 medium head garlic
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and quartered
1 large carrot, peeled and thickly sliced lengthwise
3 C chicken bouillon
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 C plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 C nonfat evaporated milk

Line a baking pan or sheet with aluminum foil and place squash flesh down. Roast for 25 minutes at 350~400 degrees; add the onion, garlic, carrot, and pepper (skin side up, flatten slightly) and roast everything for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven, place the pepper and carrot in plastic baggies, sealed, and set aside to allow them to steam themselves. Scrape the squash flesh into a food processor or blender, along with the onion and garlic (squeeze the tops of the cloves and they'll slide right out of their skins). Puree until smooth, adding the bouillon as necessary. Pour into a large soup pot, and heat to medium-low. Add the butter, olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, oregano, nutmeg, and bay leaves, stirring until blended throughout. Remove the pepper and carrot from the baggies, remove the pepper's skin, and slice both pepper and carrot into long, thin strips, and add them to the soup. Add yogurt and evaporated milk. Turn heat up enough to bring soup to a slow simmer, then reduce heat, cover. Believe that you have just wasted 2 lb of squash and 4 hrs of your life because the creation neither smells nor tastes particularly impressive. But, let it cook whilst you go get yourself skankdalized for electronica night, ultimately leaving it up to the roomie to pass judgement on the experiment. Arrive at the club around 11 but get booted out a mere 90 minutes later beccause the overabundance of chalk-dusty fake smoke tripped the fire alarm. Move on to Roustabout!, which has already finished for the evening since, you are told by your friend's roommate's boyfriend, the other band broke up yesterday. Move on to the gay closet bar to join the bartender and one other patron in watching The Color Purple. Be opportuned to see the "Miss Celie's Blues" + post-juke joint kissing scenes. Be treated to a Hypnotiq-pineapple thing and finally catch a buzz. Exit at 1:30 a.m., have tremendous difficulty getting out of the parking garage, drop friend off for her semi-prearranged bootycall, pick up an MTO, arrive home, and taste the damn soup, which is still stewing on low.

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In the end, it is much better than I was afraid it was going to be, but it's just not right. My hypotheses as to why:

1.) The ingredient proportions are off, and the yogurt added a peculiar tanginess... but at the same time, not enough, because it has turned out to be largely a savory dish and I was hoping for a sweet one. Too much broth and too much garlic, and then too much yogurt because of trying to correct for too much broth.

2.) The squash flavor is more reminiscent of pumpkin, either due to the cinnamon and nutmeg, or because butternut squash really does taste remarkably like pumpkin pie, a fact which I had forgotten since having used delicata squash in my last soup.

3.) The squash weren't ripe enough. Period.

It's tasty, and it will be eaten and enjoyed, but I won't salivate to make it again. That Golden Squash Soup, on the other hand...