Friday, November 6, 2009

Day 3: Southwest Pumpkin Soup

You know you live in Arizona (and I can say this, cause we used to live there) when:

The best parking spot is determined by shade instead of distance. You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron. The temperature drops below 95 and you start to feel a little chilly. You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car. You break into a sweat the instant you step outside... and its only 7:30 a.m. The idea of running out to the car without putting your shoes on... is absurd. And when you need to cool down, you stand behind the motorcycle exhaust for some reprieve. And then...











...there's this soup. It's hot. It's Arizona hot.

And spicy... like J.Lo spicy. The recipe was originally printed in Bon Appetit in the most recent issue... but I've made so many changes, that I'll just write out how I made it, and let you look up the original yourself!

What you'll need:

5 Cups organic chicken broth
2 Cups half and half
2 Teaspoons brown sugar
3 Teaspoons cumin
2 1/4 Teaspoons chili powder
1 Teaspoon coriander
1/2 Teaspoon nutmeg (don't leave this out!!)
1/4 Teaspoon black pepper
2 Chilpotle peppers (chopped) in adobo sauce plus 1 Tablespoon adobo sauce

2 1/4 Cups pumpkin puree!!!

Sharp cheddar cheese
Cilantro (for garnish)

Bring chicken stock, half and half, sugar, and all spices (including peppers and adobo sauce) to a boil. Whisk in pumpkin and reduce head to simmer. Cook about 25 minutes, whisking every five minutes or so. Ladle into bowls and serve with sharp cheddar cheese and cilantro.

Note: If you don't like things spicy, reduce the chili powder to 1 1/4 Teaspoon and cut down to one chilpotle pepper.

I give this an A for flavor and texture. It's a little thin, but dunk some crusty bread or a grilled cheese sandwich in it, and it's Divine! My husband would probably give it an A- because the spice gave him the undereye sweats. And that made his makeup run. (I'm kidding! Geeze!)

1 comment:

  1. Sounds good, but you didn't say how much pumpkin to add.
    Your introduction to the recipe made me miss Arizona. Crazy, I know.

    ReplyDelete