Day 299.
The year is quickly winding down! I've gotten quite a few emails in the past few days wondering what will happen to this blog at the end of the year. Nothing. It's not going anywhere, but I do reserve the right to take a vacation! I'm kind of a bit pooped.
I will continue to post new recipes as I come up with them, but most likely not on a daily basis. I will also have a new blog to help promote Totally Together: An Organizational Journal for the Busy Household.
This soup beats the pumpkin out of the disgusting black bean and pumpkin soup that I made last week.
The flavors in here are rich and distinguished. It's completely fat-free until you add the cream, which is optional. To cut back on cream consumption, I measured out 1 tablespoon per family member and we stirred it in ourselves at the table. The kids adored this and renamed the soup "Sunset Soup." Adam and I then tried to sing "Sunrise Sunset" for them, but we only knew those first two words, so we just sang them over and over again. It was dorky and sweet all at the same time.
The Ingredients.
adapted from The Daily Soup, Hyperion, p. 27
This soup will serve 6 grown-ups.
--2 cups of fresh pumpkin, or 1 can (15 oz)
--4 cups vegetable broth
--2 cups water
--1 red onion. chopped
--2 celery stalks, chopped
--2 yams, peeled and chopped
--3 chopped garlic cloves
--1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
--1 T white sugar
--2 tsp kosher salt
--1 tsp tumeric (this was the first time I bought tumeric, and I do think it's a necessary spice)
--1/4 tsp allspice
--1/4 tsp nutmeg
--heavy whipping cream, 1 T per family member (optional)
--garnish with chopped green onion (I totally forgot to do this)
The Directions.
I used my 6.5 quart eLume for this soup.
I bought a pumpkin specifically for this recipe. I had huge plans to cut out the flesh, discard the strings and seeds and cook the fresh pumpkin. The kids had other plans, and took the pumpkin from me, wrapped "her" in baby blankets and played house for a few days. When I got "her" back she wasn't quite as hard as she was when I first brought her home from the store. I wasn't terribly worried until I committed pumpkincide and cut into her and found a disgusting black moldy mess.
Mrs. Pumpkin Head is now in the compost bin.
SO! If you have fresh non-squishy and moldy pumpkin, go for it. Otherwise, open a can of pure pumpkin and use that.
Empty it into your crockpot, and add the chopped vegetables. Add the spices and sugar. Stir in the vegetable broth and water. I really don't think it matters one whit what gets added first. It's soup. It's going to cook together all day long.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Carefully use an immersible blender to blend about 3/4 of the soup. If you have littles in the house with texture issues, feel free to blend it all.
Serve with a bit of cream to stir in.
The Verdict.
Gorgeous. This is a gorgeous soup. I love it. The kids enjoyed it (they liked it better when it turned yellow with the cream), and Adam and I liked it an awful lot. I'd most definitely serve this to guests.
Super good.
29 comments:
I'm so glad you found a good pumpkin soup recipe. I have a can in the cubbard. this sounds like good Sunday Supper fare.
That's so great that this one worked out better for you. It sounds delicious. Sorry about the little pumpkin - at least the kids got a plaything for a few days. Though it probably would have been better as soup than as moldy garbage-can-fodder. Oh well. :-)
Wow! I stumbled onto your Blog by accident and am in love! I can't wait to share it with my friends at church and work. We too think crock pots rock. Thank you for the recipes and ratings.
oh ps my name is Claire and I found you from Gayla who had posted to my friend Betty Cornett's blog, who I know from Porter Memorial Baptist Church. I am only a little bit strange. :)
I love this pumpkin soup recipe. I'm going to have to try it. I really get caught up with pumpkin soup in the fall. Here is my pumpkin soup recipe on my blog:
http://samaraandaaron.blogspot.com/2008/10/roasted-garlic-pumpkin-soup-with-beer.html
YUM! I am going to make this soup for a party I am throwing next week, thanks!
OH! Can you reveal your polenta equation for the crockpot again? I know you had it in one of your posts, but I can't find which one :(
Thanks so much!!!
Heidi :)
Samara, your link is broken. I'd like to check out your pumpkin soup recipe so could you please re-post the link?
This soup sounds fabulous! I'm definitely going to give it a try.
Yum, yum! I must try this!
BTW, since I stumbled on to your wonderful blog late in the year, and haven't had time to go through most of the posts yet, I was wondering if you'll keep this blog up for a while afterwards (or perhaps continue this adventure next year)?
Thank you!!
What??! You mean you aren't going to do a "year of the toaster oven?" "year of the kitchen mixer?" :-)
Glad you aren't going anywhere!
Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older. When did they? When did she get to be a beauty? When did he grow to be so tall? Wasn't it yesterday when they were small? Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the years. One season following another, laden with happiness and tears.
I love Fiddler on the Roof!
The real question is whether anyone at the dinner table said, "Jamaican me crazy!"
I think I might have to add this to my list of recipes to try.
When is your book coming out? I'm interested in buying, but I'd like to know when it's coming.
Ummmm, sounds yummy. I'm thinking this would be a good first course for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Stephanie, BTW, I am always impressed that you have all of your ingredients ready for the camera before you begi. I know that's how Mom (and Girl Scouts and Home Ec teachers) taught us to cook, but really - don't you ever get halfway through a recipe and have to send a kid down to the basement for a can of broth or over to the neighbor's for an onion?!
Thanks for blogging, as always.
If Mrs. Pumpkin Head hadn't been so worn out, how would you have cooked it? The only way I have ever dealt with pumpkin is from a can. This soup sounds lovely, and there was an Afghani pumpkin dish I love made of fresh pumpkin (don't have the recipe because I didn't speak the language, but I tried to make it anyway), but I was never able to get the fresh pumpkin to turn out soft of as sweet.
This recipe sounds awesome! I am thinking of making some pumpkin bread in one crock pot and soup in the other!
I think you are getting excited about the year ending, you skipped day 298 ;)
Keep up the great work!
OH NO! Pumpkincide. ;)
Steph@
http://wasabimon.com
I'm confused...are you supposed to cook the pumpkin before making the soup? Isn't canned pumpkin cooked pumpkin? Help!
Hi Astrid! You're right canned pumpkin is already cooked, but the original recipe asked for fresh. The crockpot is on long enough to cook the fresh pumpkin. I'd go for it!
xox
steph
OOps. I used baked butternut squash (that's what I had)...I'm cooking the soup right now. We'll see if it turns out. It smells really good!
My kids hated the soup! My husband ate it and so did I, but I wouldn't bother again! I'm sorry;-(. I'll keep trying!
I made this yesterday and it was a winner! My husband (who is quite picky about texture and about cooked veggies) really liked it, my 3 year old LOVED it and I really enjoyed it also! I have a ton of fresh pumpkin I'm trying to use up and this was the perfect way to use it. I think I may add a drop or two of liquid smoke next time.
Thanks for all the fantastic recipes!
I have a couple of pumpkins from a local farm that are too small to carve. This would be perfect for them! I'm going to make it today (since we're stuck inside, being sick on Halloween. =/)
I'm making this right now and snuck a bite. Soooo good. I added a little curry powder and it helped make it a little more Jamaican, man!
Luckily we are eating early tonight. I couldn't wait until 6 to eat this.
I made this soup last night and loved it. I have another pumpkin soup that I make every year and I'm thinking that I will switch between the two.
I make mine a little different though. I couldn't find canned pumpkin at the store, so I used an acorn squash that I had at home. I forgot to add the ginger and only used ½ the turmeric.
I think it turned out wonderful and so did my husband. He said it would have been better with the heavy cream but I didn't give him that option.
bwhahahhahaa on not giving hubby the option! lol! that made coffee squirt everywhere...
;-)
xox
steph
I really enjoyed this soup. My husband was just okay with it. But the big surprise was how big a hit it was with my 8-month-old. She loved it! She recently started refusing to be fed anything. But she has happily slurped down large servings of this soup several times. This makes a lot so I froze two ice cube trays of soup for future easy meals for her. Thanks!
This is about the most well-written recipe i've looked at in a while. I haven't tried it yet, i just wanted to say that i enjoy how you've composed it.
I just got a crock pot, an old one, from my mother. Is it honestly just as simple as throwing in the goods, turning it on and waiting?
This was indeed gorgeous! It was even pretty going into the crockpot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/catalogthis/3380347049/
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