Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran-apple Relish

Yesterday, I hosted a little book swap party. It was a little bit of a fail since only my mother-in-law showed up, but that just meant more food for us! This is a plus because the food was delightful! Here's the menu:

Menu

Pumpkin Soup

with chili cran-apple relish

Mozzarella Grilled Cheese

with sliced roma tomatoes and basil pesto

Dessert:

Pumpkin Fluff

with cinnamon graham crackers

Beverages:

Diet Cranberry Soda

Apple Cider

Bottled Water

The spread of goodies!

And here's *one of* the recipes!

The Pumpkin Soup is something I've made once before, for a family Thanksgiving. By itself, it's slightly bland, but the relish is what really brings out the Wow! factor. I stole this one from Rachael Ray.

Ingredients:

(For Soup)

-1 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

-2 tablespoons butter

-1 bay leaf

-2 ribs celery, finely chopped

-1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

-Salt and Pepper

-3 tbs. all-purpose flour

-2 tsp. poultry seasoning (smells like Thanksgiving!)

-2 tsp. hot sause, or to taste (I used the 2 tsp. and it added a nice heat, but not spicy)

-6 cups chicken stock

-1 can pumpkin (28 oz.)

-2 cups heavy cream

-1/2 tsp. nutmeg

-1/2 tsp. cinnamon (because I can't have pumpkin without cinnamon)

(For Relish)

-1 Granny Smith apple, finely chopped

-1/4 red onion, finely chopped

-2 tbs. lemon juice

-1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries, chopped

-1 tsp. chili powder

-2 tsp. honey

-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

-Heat a medium soup pot over medium to medium high heat. Add the oil and melt the butter.

-Add bay leaf, celery and onion. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook for 6 or 7 minutes, until tender.

-Add flour, poultry seasoning and hot sauce, then cook flour 1 minute.

-Whisk in chicken stock and bring to a bubble.

-Whisk in pumpkin in large spoonfuls to incorporate into the broth. Simmer soup 10 minutes to thicken a bit.

-Add in cream, nutmeg and cinnamon.

-Reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to serve.

-While soup cooks, assemble the relish: combine apple, onion, lemon juice, cranberries, chili powder, honey and cinnamon.

Serve soup with a few spoonfuls of relish!

5 star recipe for me!

3 from Studdly Hubby...so hard to please!

Coming soon: Mozzarella Grilled Cheese!

Pumpkin Bread

Today I needed to bake something for our bake sale at work to benefit the Alzheimer's Association Walk To End Alzheimer's. Because one of the best parts of fall is pumpkin and apples, I decided to bake pumpkin bread! Beth, my supervisor, told me about a recipe from the American Heart Association. I gave it a try and let  me tell you, a nice warm slice slathered in butter really hits the spot! It was ridiculously easy to make, although it does take an hour to bake. Give it a try!

If you're interested in making a donation towards the Walk To End Alzheimer's, click here.

Ingredients:
-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp baking soda
-1 1/2 tsps salt
-1 1/2 tsps cinnamon
-1 tsp nutmeg
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup oil
-4 eggs or egg substitutes (or 8 egg whites)
-2/3 cup water
-2 cups canned pumpkin
-1 cup chopped pecans (I'm not a big fan of pecans, so I omitted them and it was still great!)


Directions:
-Sift together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 
-Add sugar to flour mixture and mix thoroughly. 
-Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all at once the following ingredients: oil, eggs, water and pumpkin. Mix well then add in the pecans. 
-Pour batter into 4 8x4-inch loaf pans*, filling each pan about half full. 
-Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Yield: 4 loaves 1/16 of a loaf equals approximately 85 calories
*I used 2 larger loaf pans for 2 loaves of bread.


I give this recipe 4 stars.
3 Stars from Studdly Hubby!

Crockpot Chicken and Corn Chowder

The temperature here in Indiana has dropped 30 degrees since the weekend, and has everyone fantasizing about football, hoodies, snuggling with someone special under a blanket on a lazy weekend. That being said, this meal was perfect for a cool fall day. It was hot, filling, nutritious (had veggies anyway), and all around comforting. I predict we will be having this many times in the cold months ahead! I may even make it for the book swap party I'm planning!

*Directions intended to throw in the crockpot in the morning before running out the door to work!

southerncooking.about.com

Ingredients:
-1 can Cream of Potato Soup
-1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
-1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast OR 1 cup diced chicken
-1 can whole kernel corn, drained
-1 can chicken broth
-1/4 cup+ diced red bell pepper
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/8 teaspoon pepper
-1/4 teaspoon thyme
-1 cup milk

Directions:
-The night before, chop up your red bell pepper. This is one less step you'll have to worry about in the AM.

-In the AM, combine all ingredients *except milk* in the crockpot. I just tossed in a whole frozen chicken breast. I used a whisk to stir it all so that I could break up all that "cream of" soup.

-Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. At some point, remove the chicken and shred it. Once it's been cooking awhile, it will just fall apart. If you use diced chicken, you can obviously skip this step all together!

-Add milk and cook for 30 minutes on high, or until hot.

-Served in bowls with bread of your choice. Drizzle with some extra-virgin olive oil. Devour.

Note: Adapted from recipe found on About.com. I accidentally used a whole can of chicken broth rather than a cup, so I added about a tablespoon of corn starch at the end to thicken it up.

I gave this recipe 4 stars.
Studdly Hubby Rating: "Pretty Good"