Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Seasonal recipe

Remember when I mentioned my brilliant idea a while back - a seasonal recipe each month. Well believe it or not - I actually got around to doing it! The recipe this month, while not exotic or mind blowingly original, is yummy! It is also so easy and spot on season wise here.


It's my Mum's Pumpkin Soup! My sister reminded me about it when she put together a whole lot of recipes for me because I was running out of ideas for food for Yashar (what a good sister I have - and Yashar loves it!).

The thing that used to put me off making pumpkin soup was chopping the damn thing up! But here at the Pazar (our weekly fruit and vegie market where I took the photo above) and even at the supermarket they have a guy whose sole job is to chop up the pumpkin for you on the spot - yay!

1 diced onion
1 peeled and cubed pumpkin
Chicken stock
Bay leaf
Nutmeg (I didn't have any, but added some paprika instead)
1 tablespoon of butter

Fry onion in butter. When soft add pumpkin and enough water with stock to cover and add bay leaf. Simmer until pumpkin is soft, take out bay leaf and vitamise with a pinch of nutmeg. Return to saucepan until ready to serve. Serve with a dollop of cream, a sprinkle of nutmeg and bread.

There are few variations with this recipe - I know my Mum sometimes adds curry powder and I think coconut cream (?). Sweet potatoes are also nice to use instead of pumpkin but at $20 a kilo here...

Do you know of any other yummy variations for me to try out? I am going pumpkin soup crazy!

7 comments:

renai said...

Thanks for the recipe - looks delish. Last year when I started to notice all these pumpkins everywhere, I just assumed that people were making pumpkin soup. When I told Kenan I would make some from a pumpkin his mum left us, he looked at me like "what?". Pumpkin is used mostly to make that kabak tatlısı. Unconvinced about pumpkin soup after I raved on and on about it, he told me to make it. He hated it. He said that because it's usually served sweet, to have it as soup as a savoury thing just didn't work and because of the texture. I was sad as I made heaps, the whole damn pumpkin. Maybe he's too Turkish for it? I might try again with a smaller pumpkin this time!!

Anonymous said...

Butternut pumpkins are lovely to use too and are much easier to cut. Mum's other variation is to add a bought curry paste - I'm don't remember if it is red or green curry but it works well with the coconut cream. We are having a bake-off next week - she is parting with her secret tomato relish recipe. Yum yum I'll send you some more secret notes soon. xx

Kirsty said...

love the picture of Yashar lying in the sunshine
xx

Anonymous said...

Fresh coriander, curry powder and coconut cream, or my favourite combo; chicken stock, pumpkin, onion, small potato, clove of garlic and yummy cumin...
Looking forward to seeing you all in December. R xxx

Deb G said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. :)

I made pumpkin soup this year. I liked it best when I served it more as a "sauce" on pasta. I want to try it that way on polenta too.

Anonymous said...

delicious! pumpkin soup is the best.

i like the trad way, finished with cream, but am also partial to frying up some ginger, a little chilli and some curry powder (make it in to a paste with some water before you fry it) along with the onion and finish it with coconut cream. adding some puy or green lentils is also good for a heartier soup. mmm.

Emily ohhhsweetturkey said...

It does look so delicious on this rainy day. It is great how a man will chp it up for you! I am an American living in Didim with my husband and I also wish I had access to that private jet for the family and friends far away. Your son is adorable.
Take care.

Happy holidays!

emily