Promises

I have been thinking about all the times and occasions when I have promised one thing or another to friends, family or acquaintances. These promises range in scope, from my promise to post a picture in my school uniform (no really, I will) to promises to pick up a coffee for my dear wife on the way home from grocery shopping. I have to admit, I have not kept track of how well I do at keeping promises; sometimes I am better at it than others. One of my challenges comes when I promise something that I either make, or plan to make. Be it a recipe or a birthday card or in a prior life, a software component, I tend to be a perfectionist, and will hold off, and hold off and hold off until it is perfect. The reality is, nothing is ever perfect, and coming as close to perfection as possible can be futile. But recently, I finally delivered on a promise that I had not delivered on for at least 4 weeks. I struck up a conversation at the local farmers market with one of my favorite farmers there talking about pumpkin soup and how to make it good. I immediately went home and started making one, writing down the recipe as I went along. I tried to capture as much detail as possible – but making it only half-way through to completion. After tasting the soup I decided I would revise and fiddle, and so there it went over the course of 4+ weeks maybe. But this weekend, I finally did it, will pumpkin and various squash are still in season. I took my scrawl (which I intended to type into the computer) and presented it. My friend did not care about my script, she said she could read it, and if she had questions contact me. Now that I have delivered it to her, I am sharing it here as well.




Spicy Pumpkin/Squash soup

8 cups diced pumpkin or squash
2 Tbls olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 c celery, diced
2 c carrots, diced
¾ c minced shallot
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbls Madras Curry powder (or other curry powder for milder heat)
4 c Chicken Stock (or vegetable stock)
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
2 c buttermilk, kefir, goat milk or heavy cream

1) Heat olive oil over medium low heat.
2) Sweat onion, carrots, and celery until softened. Make sure they are not sautéed.
3) Add shallots and garlic, and sweat until softened but not browned.
4) Add diced pumpkin or squash and mix in with other ingredients. Cook over low heat until softened, about 30-40 minutes.
5) Sprinkle with Madras Curry powder and stir into to release fragrance.
6) Add stock and simmer for another 10 minutes.
7) Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
8) Transfer to a food processor, blender or use and immersion blender to puree the soup. At this point, the soup can be chilled for later serving, or freezing.
9) Move back to soup pot and add dairy (buttermilk, kefir, goat milk or heavy cream), mixing in over low heat for 5 minutes more until completely warmed.
10) Serve in bowls with croutons or fried shallots as garnish.