Pumpkin Soup

Here are the ingredients I used:

Yellow onion, diced
a whole bunch of pumpkin (I used canned because I am lazy, but it would have been better if I made puree)
Heavy cream
brown sugar
Garam Masala (a special Indian spice blend. It's delicious)
Curry powder
two bay leaves
a cinnamon stick
allspice
Salt
White pepper
chicken broth
a splash of orange juice - this really helps bring it all together
and one finely diced Death Pepper. I'm not sure what the Death Pepper is actually called, but I gave it that name because it got into my hangnail and ruined my life for about two hours. Nikki got us a pepper plant from Trader Joe's as a housewarming gift, and I chopped one of the little fuckers up to stick in the soup.

Note that the soup filled most of my Dutch oven, and one death pepper was enough to make it pretty hot. Adjust as you like. I liked the spicy to help brighten the sweetness and heaviness of the pumpkin. I also would have used worcestershire sauce if I had it, but I didn't, so there you go.

Sautee the onions first in olive oil, then add all the spices. You'll want more of the curry and garam masala than anything else. Note that when I made it, it really sucked up salt, so I had to keep adding it. Toss in the pumpkin (I think I used a big can and a small can), a pint of cream, and enough chicken broth to thin it out to a sufficiently soupy consistency. Add in the death pepper. Let this simmer for a while (like 3-4 hours) and then fish out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. With a hand blender, blend the soup for a nice smooth consistency. If you want to give your guests a real challenge, I suppose you could leave the cinnamon stick in there, but it's a bitch to get out of your teeth. When I made it, I only found one of my two bay leaves, and blended it anyway. No one complained about biting into it, so I assume it must have gone home with whoever took home leftovers.

My rule is, if you got the bay leaf, you make the soup next time. So far no one has admitted to getting the leaf.

The real trick is letting it cook all day long, so that the flavors have time to marry up. It was even better a few days later. I wish I had cooked this a day or two before the dinner, but alas.

For toppings, I had sour cream, bacon bits, sauteed shallots and a garam masala Parmesan chip. To make a Parmesan chip, I grated the cheese and crumbled it as fine as I could get it with my fingers. Then I added garam masala and brown sugar and combined it all thoroughly. Take a non-stick pan, and sprinkle in enough of the cheese to make a silver dollar-sized circle. Turn up the heat and let the cheese melt until it bubbles. Then turn off the heat, and CAREFULLY with a THIN spatula, pry the little bastards up and stick them CAREFULLY on some parchment paper so that you don't ruin the nice circle shape, and they can harden. Then they'll be crispy and delicious. You can also do this with just plain cheese, and it's a really nice topper for a salad.