Sweet and Savory Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

In a large soup kettle

Bring ½ C water to a boil

1 celery stick, trimmed and quartered

Allow to cook until celery is tender.

Remove and discard celery.

Add to celery broth over low heat:

6 C chicken broth

4 C plain pumpkin, pureed or canned, mix in thoroughly

Puree in food processor or chop finely and stir into soup base:

½ C sweet onion, cubed

1 ripe peach or cooking apple, seeded or cored, peeled, cut into small pieces

Add to this:

1 TLBS fresh ginger powder

Stir in ¼ tsp each of the following:

powdered -

clove

cinnamon

nutmeg

curry

smoked sweet paprika

Beau Monde

1 TLBS parsley

1 TLBS molasses

1/3 C sugar or 1/4 C pure maple syrup

Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours. The apple and onion need time to cook and the spices need time to meld together with the pumpkin.

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot in soup bowls with a dollop of sour cream.

Optional - top with one of the following:

1 tsp. chopped scallions

a few small sprigs of dill weed

a few mint leaves

a tsp of roasted sunflower seeds

for a subtle effect a sprinkle of finely ground cardamom seed

Serving Suggestions:

Serve as an appetizer with hot buttered corn muffins and a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio or other favorite white wine.

Turn this into a light main course by serving it with sharp cheddar cheese on warm Ciabatta bread. And don't forget the white wine.

FOODNOTES: Years ago I learned how to make southern chicken with peaches from a former beau's mother who hailed from Georgia. She made this incredible roast chicken stuffed with peaches. The combination was delicious. When I made it there were plenty of leftovers. I have always enjoyed making soups, so I set to work with the leftovers, making a winter squash soup using a chicken-peach broth with a lot of cut up pieces of chicken. I ground up the peaches, added a few spices. Though I don't recall what spices I used then, it was one of the most memorable soups I've ever made.

I made the above recipes with canned chicken broth and canned puree pumpkin. I read several pumpkin soup recipes, some of which use typical pumpkin pie spices, treating pumpkin more as a fruit. Other recipes treat the soup as a vegetable incorporating more herbal and savory spices. I decided a combination of both would be good, but I conservatively added only a tiny bit of the diverse array of seasonings, with the hopes that the flavorings would be subtle.

I have also seen recipes that call for pears for the fruity element of this soup. Something about adding a little bit of a creamy topping with a sprig of green or one of the other spices really sets this off, both taste-wise and visually. My guest opted for scallions, dill, sunflower seeds and cardamom on top of the sour cream.

Barbara's French Onion Soup

serves 4 - 6

½ -1 stick butter
1 TLBS cooking oil
6- 8 large Vidalia (or sweet) onions, peeled and thickly sliced

1 TLBS unbleached white flour
1 large can chicken broth
OR
5 cups water and 5 chicken *bouillon cubes

2 TLBS brown sugar
OR
2 TLBS sugar
1/2 tsp molasses

1 lb cheese: suggestion – suggestion - combination of Swiss, Colby and Mozzarella four thick slices French bread pan toasted on one side for each bowl. Traditional French Onion Soup recipes often call for Gruyere Cheese, but many French Onion Soup recipes adopted by other countries make their own suggestions, such as grated Parmesian, mozzerella or Swiss. Whatever tastes the best probably the best.

*Bouillon can be replaced by a few TLBS soy sauce (to taste) which will give the broth a rich flavor as well as a deep golden-brown color.

In a large kettle melt butter with cooking oil (oil prevents butter from burning) over low heat.
Add onions. Cook over medium-low heat. Cover and stir occasionally. When the onions become translucent and golden brown, add sugar and molasses mixture or brown sugar, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat to prevent sugar from burning.

Mix flour, and 2 C chicken broth in blender until smooth. Turn heat on low and slowly pour flour-broth mixture into the kettle, stirring constantly. The flour will thicken the soup as it cooks. As soon as this happens, begin to slowly add the remainder of the broth. Continue stirring. Turn heat off and allow soup to sit.

Pan toast four thick slices of French bread or another favorite bread. Pour hot soup into four soup bowls about ¾ full. Place toasted side of bread down on soup. Layer slices of cheese on top of of bread. Place under broiler until cheese bubbles. Serve immediately.

Serving suggestions: This can be a light meal or served as a prelude to a meal. Serve either way with glass a favorite red wine: A hearty Cabernet is a fine compliment to this soup.

©Wilma Carolyn Johnson Short

NOTES: The summer after I graduated from college, I needed a place to park myself along with my few belongings for a couple of weeks. I vagabonded in the neighborhood of my alma mater with various college friends who put me up (or put up with me) until it was time to drive to Chautauqua Institute for the summer with a friend who was Camp Director at Mission Meadows directly across the lake. (The trip from Chicago to New York is another story.) Barb, was kind enough to let me stay with her for a part of that time.

In the heat of a Chicago June, Barb made this soup. The ingredients struck me as rather unconventional, and I remember inquiring about the brown sugar as she added it to the pot. She told me that this was the way to make good French onion soup. I was certainly surprised by the outcome of the buttery sweetness melded together with the Vidalia onions in a superb soup base. I never wrote down the ingredients because I memorized the basics on the spot.

The chicken broth may be something I added later on, as well as using a blender. But regardless of the variations that take place over the years, this is one of the finest French onion soups I have ever tasted. I put it in the category of those specialties that I make once every few years mainly because of the high fat. Otherwise, I would be making it a lot more often.

Gazpacho

Serves 4

2 cups red tomatoes, peeled
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded
½ C scallions or Vidalia onion
1 cucumber, peeled
1 TLBS red wine vinegar
2 C tomato juice (V-8)
1 TLBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh cilantro leaves, diced
If using fresh tomatoes add a little salt
Add a little freshly ground black pepper
1lime, quartered

Dice tomatoes, peppers, red onion and cucumber so they are not too big, but somewhat chunky. Place in medium bowl. Add vinegar. Puree a third of the mixture with the tomato juice in a blender until smooth. Add the puree to the bowl of diced vegetables. Add olive oil and chopped cilantro leaves. Cover and refrigerate over night. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serving suggestions: Serve with a bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce or Tabasco, a wedge of lime, and corn chips. Makes an great appetizer to a main dish of Tacos or Burritos. This cold soup is excellent on a sizzling summer evening.

©Wilma Carolyn Johnson Short