Butternut Squash Soup

1. Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add seeds and fibers from squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter turns saffron color, about 4 minutes.
2. Add water and 1 teaspoon salt to pot and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, place squash, cut side down, in steamer basket, and lower basket into pot. Cover and steam until squash is completely tender, about 30 minutes. Take pot off heat and use tongs to transfer squash to rimmed baking sheet. When cool enough to handle, use large spoon to scrape flesh from skin. Reserve squash flesh in bowl and discard skin.
3. Strain steaming liquid through fine-mesh strainer into second bowl; discard solids in strainer. (You should have 2-1⁄2 to 3 cups liquid.) Rinse and dry pot.
4. Working in batches and filling blender jar only halfway for each batch, puree squash, adding enough reserved steaming liquid to obtain smooth consistency. Transfer puree to clean pot and stir in remaining steaming liquid, cream, and brown sugar. Warm soup over medium-low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Stir in nutmeg, season with salt to taste, and serve. (Soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Lightly toasted pumpkin seeds, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, or a dusting of paprika make appealing accompaniments to this soup in addition to the croutons.