I tried soup various ways with this thing and the one I liked best started with roasting the pumpkin sliced side down in something like a 375 oven (you never really know what temperature your Magic Chef will choose).
Ingredients
- pumpkin (see picture for size, that is not actual size though, so guess as best as you can)
- quart chickie stock
- loads of onions, sliced thin
- lantern pepper (or a milder pepper like a habanero), minced
- crushed black pepper & coriander seeds
bouquet garni of
- cinnamon
- peppercorns
- bay leaf
- coriander seeds
- cloves
to finish
- 1/4 c bourbon or whisky (not optional)
- 1 Tbs maple syrup (optional)
- salt
Method:
Bring stock to low boil uncovered. Once hot, turn off heat, put lid on.
In a large stock pot, sweat onions in butter and – once they have expressed half of their sweating workout – add loads of salt. After they have sweated to their fullest, add stock, minced hot pepper, roasted pumpkin, bouquet garni, crushed black pepper. Bring to a simmer over med heat then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 min.
Remove the bouquet garni. Puree soup in blender. You can use a processor, but that will result in a giant mess (according to Leslie Land) and so I have never tried that. You can make a mess out of the blender method too, this is how: fill up the blender and turn it on high. It’ll explode across the kitchen. Return soup to a pot on the stove top and heat it back up, add bourbon (not optional) and maple syrup (optional). Check for salt savoriness. Serve in bowls with good bread. Unless you’re a weirdo who does not eat bread. Then you should just give up eating soup all together.