Cookbook Challenge: Week 25, Silky

Recipe: Pumpkin soup with a twist
From: Neil Perry's Good Food

The theme for week 25 of the Cookbook Challenge is "silky". I had a number of things in mind for this week.

I ended up doing a lot of cooking this weekend - egg fu yung, chicken stock, waffles with poached pears, ox cheek stew, and two different types of dumplings (which will be unveiled on Wednesday) so unfortunately I didn't have a lot of energy to devote to the Cookbook Challenge. I had intended to make a tart with a curd filling, but couldn't be bothered going up the road to get cream! Also I hate buying cream because I tend to only use half the container and the rest is wasted.



And then last night it hit me. Soup! A nice pureed soup can be smooth and silky. I had a large pumpkin that I needed to cook so pumpkin soup it was.

I have made pumpkin soup a zillion times before, and I never follow a recipe. But for the purposes of the Cookbook Challenge, I found a recipe and followed the directions exactly. Wow! That is rather rare for me, unless I'm baking. The recipe I selected was called pumpkin soup with a twist - with the twist being the addition of ginger, ground coriander and ground turmeric.



When I make pumpkin soup, I normally add a touch of curry powder because I love the slight spiciness with the sweetness of the pumpkin. So this version was okay, the spices give a touch of difference from normal pumpkin soup - but I prefer my usual version! Still, it was relatively quick to whip up for this week's Challenge and worth a shot if you don't already have a favourite recipe for pumpkin soup.

See previous Cookbook Challenge posts here.

Update: see the round up at My Food Trail.



Pumpkin soup with a twist

From Neil Perry's Good Food

Serves 4

1kg peeled butternut pumpkin, cut into 2cm thick pieces
30g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
sea salt
1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 litre chicken stock
freshly ground pepper
creme fraiche to serve (optional)

In a large heavy based pot, heat the butter and oil over a medium heat.

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and a bit of sea salt and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Don't let it colour.

Stir in the coriander and turmeric and cook for another minute.

Add the stock and pumpkin to the pot and bring to the boil. Turn it down to a simmer and let it cook gently for about 25 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft.

Remove from the heat and puree the soup until smooth - I use a stick blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the soup with a dollop of creme fraiche, some freshly ground pepper and a splash of oil. I just laid on a parsley leaf for garnish.

French onion muffins (and pumpkin soup)

Cold weather always makes me crave soup. I have a couple of soups on rotation during the cold months and one of those is an easy, peasy pumpkin soup.

It basically involves softening some diced onion and garlic in a bit of oil. Then I add peeled and diced pumpkin to the pot, add just enough water to cover the pumpkin, plus a couple of teaspoons of vegetable stock powder. This gets simmered until the pumpkin is soft. Then I mush everything up with a stick blender, season with salt and pepper and add a teaspoon of curry powder (just enough to give it a slight flavour - not too much). We normally eat the soup with a bit of sour cream on top.

The hardest thing about making this soup is peeling the skin off the pumpkin. It's such a tedious job but made easier with a sharp knife.

To go with the soup, I usually make French onion muffins. The recipe that I use comes from a little muffin book that I bought from a discount shop a few years ago (back when it wasn't as easy to find recipes online). The book cost me $1! Onion muffins are the only muffins I've ever made from the book, but it's still been $1 well spent!



French Onion Muffins

From Marvellous Muffins by Robyn Martin

Makes 10

2 medium onions
2 tablespoons oil
50g butter
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup grated gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Peel onions and cut into thin rings. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry onions over medium heat until golden. Add butter to pan and melt. Remove from heat and set aside.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients. Lightly beat eggs and milk. Add onion and egg mixtures to dry ingredients. Add the grated cheese, reserving some for sprinkling on top of the muffins. Mix quickly until just combined.

Three quarters fill greased muffin pans with mixture. Sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked. Eat warm.