Scrub outside of pumpkin well with soap and water and rinse very well. This is in case there have been sprays used.

With a very heavy knife on a heavy surface cut the pumpkin into chunks two to three inch squares (this after you have removed the seeds) Be careful, and this is a job for an adult.

Place these chucks in a large pot of water and cook until they can be tested with a fork as to being done.

Remove and allow the pumpkin to cool. After it is cool slip the skin off.

Peel potatoes as for potato soup and cook with a very large diced up onion. When potatoes and onion are done, add pumpkin. Season with butter, and salt. Serve in a large soup tureen, a special table cloth, large soup bowls, and a big deal as to, “pumpkin soup,” so the kids will remember.

And I still have the video of a very small girl carrying a very big pumpkin from the field rich with nourishing food.

Oh yes the seeds:

**

Pumpkin Seed Tea

Boil the seeds. Allow them to cool. Place along with the liquid in a blender. After you whirl them pour through a very fine sieve and maybe even a cloth to strain.

Sweeten with honey and add some spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

Serve the pumpkin seed tea with the pumpkin soup.

Related posts:

1. Roasting Pumpkin Seeds
2. How To Carve A Pumpkin
3. Pumpkin Pork Stew

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 can pinto beans
2 tablespoons chili powder
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons chile powder
2 anahime chilis, diced
1 jalenpeno pepper, diced and seeded, reserve ½ seeds for chili.
tabasco to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet saute beef, onions, peppers in oil. to a large soup pot combine sauteed ingredients, crushed tomatoes, beans. season with chili powder, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper. Stir in beans, crushed tomatoes, chili powder, and vinegar. salt and pepper to taste. heat to boiling, and reduce heat. cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

Related posts:

1. Chili
2. White Chicken Chili
3. Easy Veggie Soup

• 1 pound lean salt pork or 1 pound ham hock
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 ounces bacon, sliced in small pieces
• 4 large carrots, scraped and sliced
• 4 turnips, peeled and cubed
• bouquet garni
• 1 cabbage, thinly sliced
• 4 large potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
• 1 pound sausages (Toulouse sausage work well, but you could try others)
• 1 teaspoon black ground pepper

Blanche the salt pork to remove the salt by soaking in cold water for two hours and changing the water several times.

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat and cook the onion for several minutes. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Add 1 quart of water, then the desalinated salt pork (or ham hock), carrots, turnips, and the bouquet garni. Bring to a boil then turn heat down and let the stew simmer for 90 minutes. If the water gets very low, add a bit more, but you don’t want to end up with a lot of liquid.

Meanwhile, cook the sausage according to package directions. The Toulouse sausage is boiled for about 20 minutes to cook it through. Boiling is a great method for cooking sausage that allows it to retain all of its juice.

After the stew has simmered for 90 minutes, add the cabbage, potatoes and sausage. Another cup of water may be added as well. Cover with a lid, but stir often. At first stirring may be difficult – more like rearranging things in the pot – but as the cabbage gradually shrinks, it becomes easier. You can then stir in the pepper.

Simmer another 90 minutes and serve hot. To serve I like to slice the sausage and pork into bite sized pieces and return them to the pot.

Makes 6 servings.

Related posts:

1. Pork medallions with five-spice powder
2. Corned Beef and Cabbage
3. Corned Beef Dinner

Some other terms that you may find useful in understanding French soups are:

Le bouillon: This is the cooking liquid in which vegetables, beef, chicken, or fish have been boiled. It is a concentration of flavors that serves as a basis for consommmés and potages.

Le consommé: A consommé is a bouillon of beef, poultry or fish, that has been clarified and garnished with other ingredients that may cook for a short while in the consommé. It is served at the start of a meal, and mostly reserved for long, special occasion meals. A consommé may contain truffles, morel mushrooms, asparagus or other delicately flavored vegetables. It might be flavored with Porto or a similar wine.

Le velouté: This is a smooth and creamy soup that has been prepared with a puree of vegetables. Cream, egg yolk, and/or butter are sometimes added to give more body to a velouté. Popular veloutés include mushroom, tomato, carrot, pumpkin, and leek or combinations of these vegetables.

La crème: This is an even more creamy and smooth soup. It usually features a good amount of heavy cream. Vichyssoise is an example of a cream soup. You will find cream of asparagus, cream of mushroom, and cream of lettuce. Some even more unusual creams include cream of watercress, cream of sorrel, and to my mind the strangest, cream of thistle!

La bisque: A bisque is a velouté made from lobster, crab or shrimp. It is usually enriched with cream and blended until smooth. Bisque is surprisingly spicy for French food and recipes may include some cayenne pepper or curry powder, cognac and white wine.

Other French Seafood Soups: You will find a variety of French seafood soups. Several regions have their own special version. Two well known examples are bouillabaisse, which features a variety of fish and is flavored with fennel and dried orange peel, and its cousin, bourride, which is commonly made from monkfish and includes lots of garlic. I couldn’t say exactly what region this yummy seafood soup featuring cream and scallops comes from, but it sure is good.

Rouille: French soups are sometimes accompanied by rouille sauce, which is made from garlic, peppers, bread, egg yolk and olive oil. This sauce gets its name from its color – rouille means rust. It is commonly spread on toasted slices of bread which you than float in the soup.

Pistou: This is another soup accompaniment found in Provence. It is made from basil, garlic and olive oil and is typically served with a vegetable and bean soup.

Related posts:

1. Coulis
2. Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
3. French Onion Soup

* T butter
* 3 c onion, chopped
* 1 t salt
* 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
* 4 c water
* 2 c milk
* white pepper
* 1 c heavy cream (optional)
* several T chives, chopped

Directions Sauté the butter, onions, and salt until onions begin to brown, about 15 minutes.

Add potatoes and water, bring to boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer until potatoes are cooked, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer to blender and purée until very smooth. Pour into bowl and add milk, pepper, and optional cream.

Chill and serve topped with chives.

Related posts:

1. Roasted Garlic Potato Soup
2. Pumpkin Mushroom Stuffing
3. American Potato Salad

Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons Butter
* 1 cup Onion, minced
* 1 cup Carrots, minced
* 4 cups Lobster Stock*
* 4 tablespoons Flour
* 4 tablespoons Butter
* 1 cup Heavy Cream
* 1/4 cup Dry Sherry
* 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
* 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
* 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (or to taste)
* Salt, to taste
* 1/2 lb. Raw Lobster Meat, chopped
* Fresh Chives, minced

Preparation:

Place the 2 tablespoons butter, onion and carrot in a sauté pan on medium high heat and sauté until soft. Reserve.

In a soup or stock pot on medium high heat, add the 4 tablespoons butter and begin to melt. Add the flour and whisk to form a roux. Turn heat down to medium and continue to whisk until roux becomes light brown (about 3 to 5 minutes).

Slowly add the hot lobster stock to the roux mixture, whisking constantly to insure that the mixture remains smooth. Add the sautéed vegetable mixture and allow mixture to simmer covered for about 1/2 hour.

Add the cream, sherry, lemon juice, Worcestershire Sauce, cayenne pepper, salt and lobster meat and simmer an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh minced chives if desired.

Related posts:

1. Lobster Stock
2. Lobster Au Gratin
3. Lobster Gram, The Lobster Lovers Dream!

Lobster stock is a special item. It isn’t every day you get a chance to enjoy the richness of lobster meat, and with the critters being so expensive, every cook should have a recipe to make use of the leftover bodies and shells. This recipe is for lobster stock, but you can concentrate it and add a bit more salt to make a rich lobster broth, too. Use this as a soup base, or for a fantastic lobster risotto — or just have a cup of it on a cold day! This recipe make about a gallon of stock. It freezes well for up to 6 months.

Ingredients:

# Bodies and shells from 2-4 lobsters
# 4 T. olive oil
# 2 chopped medium onions
# 2 chopped garlic cloves
# 4 chopped celery stalks
# The tops from a fennel bulb, chopped
# 4-5 chopped plum tomatoes
# 1/2 lb chopped mushrooms
# 3 chopped carrots
# 1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry
# 4 T. chopped parsley
# 4 bay leaves
# Salt
# Water
# Cheesecloth for straining

Preparation:

Break the lobster shells into small pieces. Open the bodies and remove the gray, feathery gills. Remove the sand sac from between the eyes. Crush the bodies so they fit in a large stewpot.

Heat the olive oil in the stewpot and saute the onions, celery and carrots over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the lobster and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the garlic, fennel and mushrooms, mix well and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the parsley, bay leaves and tomatoes, then the wine or dry sherry.

Mix well and cook until the alcohol largely burns off the wine, about 3-4 minutes. Add enough water to cover everything by 2-3 inches.

Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Simmer gently for at least 90 minutes. Add some salt and taste.

Cook until it tastes full-flavored, and then strain. Do this by turning off the heat, then grabbing all the big chunks with tongs and tossing them in the trash. Strain the rest through a fine-meshed sieve with a piece of cheesecloth set inside it.

Pour into quart-sized Mason jars or some other container. This will keep for up to 10 days in the fridge, or 6 months in the freezer.

Related posts:

1. Lobster Gram, The Lobster Lovers Dream!
2. Lobster Bisque, A Classic Le Cordon Bleu Soup
3. Lobster Au Gratin

Makes 3 Quarts

* 5 pounds chicken backs, necks, wings, or carcasses
* 2 large yellow onions, roughly chopped
* 3 celery ribs, roughly sliced
* 3 carrots, roughly sliced
* small bunch fresh thyme sprigs (7 to 10)
* small bunch parsley stems (12 to 15)
* 1 bay leaf, fresh if possible
* 12 black peppercorns
* 2 whole cloves or 4 whole allspice berries
* water to cover

Place the chicken pieces in a large stock pot. Fill pot with enough cold water to cover the chicken. Place on high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 10 minutes. Pour chicken and water through a colander. Rinse chicken under running water to remove any clinging scum. Rinse out the pot!

Place chicken back into the pot along with all of the other ingredients. Fill with about 6 quarts of water. Bring back to a boil over high heat. Once pot begins to boil, reduce heat to low and allow to gently simmer for 4 hours. There should barely be any movement in the stock. Adjust heat to maintain the gentlest simmer. This will ensure that the stock will be crystal clear.

Skim off any scum that rises to the surface of the stock. If the stock seems to be evaporating too quickly, add enough water to just barely cover the ingredients.

After 4 hours, remove the stock pot from the heat and strain out the solids. Strain the stock through a fine sieve to remove any little particles. Cool the stock and then refrigerate overnight. The next day, you can remove the fat that has risen and solidified on top of the stock. Do not throw this fat away, you can use it to fry potatoes! Return stock to the stove and reduce it to concentrate the flavors. I recommend reducing it until you are left with about 3 quarts of stock. This will give you optimal flavor and cut your reduction time in any sauces that you make with the stock. Cool the stock and refrigerate.

Stock may now be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.

Related posts:

1. Lobster Stock
2. Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
3. Slow Cooker Spanish Chicken

A roux is simply a cooked mixture of flour and fat (butter). It is used as a thickening agent for many French mother sauces. The fat is heated in a pot or pan, melting it if necessary, then the flour is added. The mixture is stirred until the flour is incorporated and then cooked until at least the point where a raw flour taste is no longer apparent and until desired color has been reached. The final results can range from the nearly white to the nearly black, depending on the length of time it is over the heat, and its intended use. The end result is a thickening and flavoring agent.

Light (or “white”) roux provides little flavor other than a characteristic richness to a dish, and is used in French cooking and some gravies or pastries throughout the world. Darker roux, sometimes referred to as “blond”, “peanut-butter”, or “chocolate” roux depending on the color achieved, add a distinct nutty flavor to a dish.

As an alternative to roux, which is high in fat and very energy-dense, some Creole chefs have experimented with toasting flour without oil in a hot pan as an addition to gumbo.

How to Make a Roux:

1.

Pour about ¼ c. of the oil in a small sturdy pan and place it over medium-low heat.

2.

When the oil is warm but not too hot, start stirring in flour with the wooden spoon until the mixture is thick – about the texture of wet concrete or plaster of Paris. Add more oil or flour until it’s right.

3.

Stir continually with the wooden spoon over the heat so the roux cooks. The flour will gradually begin to brown. The roux can be used when the flour is light golden in color. The darker you cook the roux, the more flavor it will add to the sauce. Don’t cook it past a mahogany color, though.
4.

Transfer the roux to another container to cool.
5.

Store roux in the refrigerator for a week, or freeze it in tablespoon-size wafers.

6.

To thicken a sauce with roux, let it cool so it won’t splatter and whisk it in to your boiling sauce base, like broth or pan drippings.

7.
Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to whisk until all the roux has been absorbed.

8.
Simmer for at least 20 minutes to allow it the sauce to thicken and become smooth.

Related posts:

1. Lobster Bisque, A Classic Le Cordon Bleu Soup
2. The Petite French School- Lesson 3
3. The Petite French School- Lesson 4

Ingredients:

3 Qts Water
1 cup diced white onion
2 Pounds smoked ham hocks
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 pound dried split peas
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
½ cup diced bacon
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin powder

Directions:

To water add; Onion, carrots, celery, hocks, bacon, curry powder, Tabasco, salt and pepper, cumin. Simmer for 2 ½ hours. Remove ham hocks and cut up usable meat and place back into soup. Add peas and simmer for 3 hours, or until peas are semi soft. Season with salt and pepper right before soup is done.

Related posts:

1. Easy Veggie Soup
2. Roasted Garlic Potato Soup
3. Veggie Soup