Cooking Your Pumpkin: Sunset Park Recipes
Enjoy your pumpkin first. (or buy two extra ones) After you use your pumpkin for the holiday, cut off any parts that look brown or moldy or nasty. Of course any mushy parts too. Then cut it into four or more large parts and wash it in the sink - even scrub the outside with a rough sponge. I scrape the inside with a large spoon - not too deep, just to remove the most top portion to get to the fresher parts.
Next cut the pumpkin into long one inch slices and then cut them into one inch cubes (all approximate). Then I take three average potatoes, skin & wash them and cube them as small as you can. Then one or two carrots, chop them into very small pieces too. And then an average sized onion and chop that too.
Put all the pieces in a very deep pot. If you are not a vegetarian put in about 4 cups of clear chicken stock. Whenever I make a boiled chicken I save the liquid in the freezer. I add that, if you don't have it, two cans of campbell's clear chicken soup will do.
Then I add enough water to be only half way up to the top of the pumpkin. Don't worry, the cubes will all "melt". If you put too much water it will ruin the taste of your soup.
High flame until it bubbles, then lower the flame and stir every 20 minutes or so. You will see the pieces "melting". Eventually the liquid will cover the pumpkin...you're doing good!
I like to cook for about 2 hours or until very mushy.
The last steps.... Shut the flame and ladle the mix into a blender. Use a ladle with holes in it...you don't want the liquid yet.
You will probably do about 3 or 4 blenders worth depending on the size of the pumpkin. I blend at the highest setting on and off and I bang the machine a little until it all blends.
Pour into a large container - bigger than what you see in this photo. And now comes the trick that makes your soup perfect every time ->
-> You don't season it until now. I use a lot of salt and tons of pepper. A little garlic powder. Then I hand wisk it and taste it....I change it to my taste. If you over do it don't worry, because when you blend the next one you can put much less and that will balance it...you cannot go wrong. If you want you can add some of the leftover liquid...but i don't I freeze it for a soup stock and flavoring for meatloaf and beefstews
When I make a sweet soup (and note you can do it from this same single cooking since you are flavoring at the end). I leave out the pepper and garlic and I put very little salt. But I put a lot of sugar and a real lot of cinnamon...and again...you taste test as you go. So it will be perfect.
I do all of this very hot straight from the stove. If you think it needs more blending of the flavors you can always reboil the final product - we don't. But since we freeze most of it, it does get reboiled in the future.
Later I will post how to make the pumpkin french fries, the pumpkin muffins and the pumpkin pastries. Please let me know if you like this and if you have any suggestions..