Archives for the 'pumpkin' tag
Give Thanks to the Gourd
If you live in New England, you gotta try Hood’s Pumpkin Eggnog. Tastes like my pumpkin custard before it becomes ice cream. And only 180 calories per serving!
The Williams-Sonoma Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread is seriously good.
And this Turkey Day, why not serve curried pumpkin soup?
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
Photo courtesy of A Trip Down South.
My Sweet Gourd
Consider the versatility of the pumpkin. Reducible to bread, cheesecake, beer, and — most vitally — ice cream, chock full of vitamin A and beta carotene, is not genus Cucurbita truly the messiah of fruits?
Here’s a recipe for curried pumpkin soup I’ve used for many autumns; I intend to publish it in my eventual cookbook featuring only pumpkin- and maple-syrup-based recipes (forthcoming circa 2029). I originally ripped it off KraftFoods.com. I’ve increased the amount of curry powder used, and there’s no reason you can’t use vegetable stock for a vegetarian dish.
Creamy Curried Pumpkin Soup
(Makes seven 1-cup servings)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can (29 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth
2 cups water
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed
1. Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion; cook and stir 3 min. or until crisp-tender.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients except cream cheese until well blended. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Place cream cheese in big bowl and knead with tines of a fork. Ladle hot soup onto the cream cheese and continue to knead, adding as much hot soup as necessary until cheese is evenly melted. Add mixture to main pot and stir until blended.
For special meals (I did this one Thanksgiving), it’s fun to serve the soup in actual pumpkins. Buy as many small pumpkins (1-2 lbs.) as you have guests; wash; slice off the top third or so to make a wide mouth; scrape out the innards; and ladle the soup inside.
You see? Edible and adaptable into crockery! Pumpkins are like big, orange taco boats.
