Now some food.

I haven't posted anything about food for a long time. Apart from the Christmas gingerbread house, I guess. So just a quick one today then, to warm you Northern Hemisphere residents up.

I've been baking bread like crazy of late

So why not use it to save dishes

Add some delicious cheddar cheese

Pile in the pumpkin soup

A sprinkle of basil

Chief taste tester.

She seemed pleased.

Pumpkins aren't so popular in Poland even if they grow quite well here. It just hasn't been a traditional food source, I guess with them originating somewhere in the Americas maybe it was thought of being too exotic. In the last 3 years I have noticed an increase in Pumpkin availability in the markets which is a great thing. As a kid growing up, there was little more that I hated more than pumpkin. But, I found out why. It tastes horrific if steamed with other vegetables. We make soups, breads and roast it here and it is great. We are also thinking about adding it to pierogi as well, maybe curried.

For a decent soup recipe:
1-1.5kg pumpkin
.5-1kg potatoes
A good pinch of ground white pepper
A tablespoon of salt
a pinch of nutmeg
a couple of bay leaves
Enough chicken stock to be about 2cm below the level of vegetables.

Cut up the pumpkin and potatoes (skinless creates a smoother soup). I tend to cut the potatoes smaller as they take longer to cook so cubes of pumpkin should be about double the size of the potatoes. Add stock, bring to the boil then turn back to simmer until the potatoes are soft. Then mash to your hearts content. If you like a thick soup use a blender and maybe reduce a little if it appears too watery for you. We like to leave ours a little chucky, so we just use a hand masher and that is it. Ready to serve. We find it is best to cook, and then sit outside (in the minus temperatures) then reheat as the flavour is better. I have no idea if this is passible in food hygiene courses. Someone with knowledge would have to let me know, either way, it tastes great!