Happy Halloween, all you crazy kids!
I'm not gonna front, I haven't actually made the soup I'm about to suggest to you, but I ABSOLUTELY WOULD. If, that is, I were actually planning on cooking tonight (or any other time soon this season) and not drinking my face off and scaring children. Because that is my real reason for the season.
Tonight I'll be relying on my too-poor-to-botox face and my generally surly attitude to get the point of my "costume" across to the Halloween freeloading youth-- I'll be "Get-Off-My-Lawn-You-Whippersnappers" without having to leave the comfort of my couch or getting dressed AND I'll get to keep all my candy to boot. Win-win!
Here's the soup:
Curried Pumpkin Soup
Epicurious | 2004
by Frank Stitt
Frank Stitt's Stout
ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 onions, sliced
2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned, and thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
1/4 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, and 3 allspice berries, tied in cheesecloth to make a sachet
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and sliced
1 pound peeled pie pumpkin, sliced
1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced
6 cups water, preferably spring water
1 cup heavy cream
Snipped chives for garnish
preparation
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onions, leeks, carrot, and apple and sauté over medium-low heat until the onions are translucent, about 15 minutes.
Add the curry, spice sachet, and the remaining vegetables. Pour in the water and bring to a gentle simmer, for about 45 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft.Remove the spice sachet and puree the vegetable mixture in a food mill.
To give the soup a silky-smooth texture, pass through a fine-mesh strainer. Transfer the soup to a saucepan. Add the cream and taste and adjust the seasoning. Heat gently just until warmed through.Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the chives.
TO DRINK: Riesling, Pikes Clare Valley
For all you Halloweenies out there, stay safe tonight and enjoy all your little (and large, adult-sized) ghouls, the sugar high and the subsequent candy jones.
Oh, by the by, you don't need an organic pumpkin for carving (cough cough, Intercity Velvet). In fact, this may be the one occasion a well-preserved Frankenfood is a longer-lasting choice!
Soup on!