A Pumpkin Tale Part 10: A Knife To The Heart

Fairytale pumpkin fully mature and ready for......

"El corazon de la auyama solo lo conoce el cuchillo.
The heart (inside) of a pumpkin or edible squash is only known by the knife." ~ Unknown

(If you've missed the first seven installments, you might want to read them first, here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 and Chapter 9.)


.....the knife! Inside so thick and orange....


....and juicy! And look at those seeds for next year!!!

But, you didn't come back just for the

melodrama... did you?

So! The lady cut the first pumpkin, weighing in at 7 pounds. Because it is a Fairytale pumpkin, the meat is thick and bright orange. It gives a lot of pumpkin for the size. This pumpkin had the privilege of becoming part of my brother, Stephen's "Pumpkin Bisque". So.... here goes... the recipe... along with all the illustrations. Click "Read More" below... and let the cooking begin!! If you skip this part, you'll never forgive yourself!!

Pumpkin Bisque

6 – 8 cups Fresh pumpkin, cooked
2 Large leeks
1 cup Yellow onion, diced
3 – 4 Garlic cloves
Fresh ginger, 1-inch piece ground
1 cup Fresh carrots
1 pint Half-n-half or cream
Low-sodium chicken stock
1 ½ sticks Unsalted butter
3 – 4 Bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste (at the very end)
1 teaspoon Nutmeg (or more)
Dash cayenne pepper or chili powder
½ to 1 cup Cooking sherry
1/8 to ¼ cup Flour (used to make a roux)
Crème fresh or low-fat sour cream
Parsley

Directions:

Scrape inside of pumpkin and peel. Cut pumpkin into cubes no more than 1 inch in size.


Pumpkin, cubed

Chop carrots in ½ inch cubes.


Carrots, chopped

Chop onions and leeks, making sure to thoroughly clean the leeks.


Chopped onion and leeks

Melt butter. Saute leeks and onions on high heat. (about 2 min.)


Washed onion and leeks, ready to saute

Add sauteed onions to heated large soup pot.
Add carrots and toss 1 minute.
Add flour mixed as a roux. (Stephen didn't tell me how he did this, but any cookbook should tell you)
Toss in pumpkin.
Add chopped garlic
Cooking sherry: pour over mixture in pot.
Add chicken stock just until it covers pumpkin.


Low sodium chicken stock....

Bring the mixture to just barely a boil and then turn heat down to simmer.
Add bay leaves and cook uncovered about 35 minutes.


Simmering mixture.....

At the end of 35 minutes, take out the bay leaves. Puree the mixture in a blender. This will have to be done in small batches, probably three or four. Return to pot and on low heat add the cream slowly while stirring.


Pumpkin bisque after puree

Grate the ginger and add to the mixture.
Add salt and pepper to taste.


Fresh ginger.... ahhhh.... aromatic..

Serve with a dollop of crème fresh or low-fat sour cream.
Garnish with parsley.


Serve up hot.....with crackers, cheese wedges and sliced apple on the side!

Stephen tells me this is even better after refrigerating overnight... but we just couldn't wait!


Pumpkin bisque......Enjoy!!!

(end of post)
PS: I forgot to tell you.... I still have a couple of posts up my sleeve. We have eight pumpkins resting and curing. That's 90 more pounds of pumpkin!