Pumpkin Chowder

SAY IT, FRENCHIE!

I’m not through demeaning you!

One of my super awesome cousins got me this pumpkin sheow-derr packet during her trip to Boston. It was my first experience with dehydrated pumpkin powder.

New England Pumpkin Chowder from Bountiful Pantry

I really appreciate the lack of salt

 

The final product with some finely chopped onion, shredded chicken, salt, pepper, and toasted chopped almonds. It was really good! Not home-made good, but really good for pre-packaged food. It had a hearty texture and smelled like a wonderful combination of cinnamon, spices, and pumpkin.

The dehydrated carrot was better on the second day. I don’t think it had fully re-hydrated, even after 30 minutes of simmering. If I could do it again, I think a little diced celery would be nice; maybe celery would have offset the sweet dried carrot taste a little bit.

The best element to this soup was the texture. Because it isn’t made from fresh or canned pumpkin it is smooth with none of the usual pumpkin graininess. I give it a 4.5/5

I just spent an exorbitant amount on dried pumpkin powder ($2/ounce. what the eff!?), so I’m excited to try it in baked goods that won’t benefit from the heaviness of canned pumpkin. I have always wanted pumpkin cookies that don’t have a cake texture. I’ve also read about people using it in coffee, which I am suspicious of.

Hearty pumpkin soup with bacon

Weeks ago the craving for pumpkin soup with bacon entered my head, and I finally couldn't yearn for it anymore. Here is worked-all-day, nothing-measured pumpkin soup with bacon.

Sort of looks like baby food, but it was delicious served with buttery toast

Ingredients (nothing was measured. I guarantee no accuracy!)

1 medium onion - finely diced (I used sweet onion)

3 strips bacon - chopped

1-1.5 ish cups pumpkin puree

1 medium sweet potato, cooked, peeled, and mashed (the microwave is easiest)

1.5 ish tablespoons honey

chicken stock (until the puree is thinned, but not runny)

sea salt

freshly cracked pepper

thyme

cinnamon

ginger

(all herbs/spices dried)

Parmesan cheese (for topping)

- Cook the bacon until it is crispy, remove the bacon pieces, but leave the drippings

- Sauté onion in the drippings until it is translucent and the edges brown

- Add mashed pumpkin and sweet potato and a little salt; cook until everything browns

- Add some stock and dried or fresh herbs, honey, and more salt

- Simmer and taste until you can't wait to eat it

- Stir in bacon, serve, and top with reserved bacon crumbles and Parmesan cheese

I used this pumpkin blossom honey. It probably won't make any significant difference over clover honey, but I like to use it with my pumpkin dishes anyway to cram as much pumpkiny-goodness as possible into every dish.