Meal of the Day: Tirisfal Pumpkin Soup

So Hallow’s End is over and there are just so many pumpkins everywhere. What do you do?! You EAT them that’s what!

Whenever I make Lordaeron Surprise, I end up with a lot of pumpkin guts left over. So what better way to use them up than with a nice warm soup! The weather is getting cold (seriously, Stormwind is so different than Silvermoon, the wind is COLD) and there is nothing nicer than something warm all the way down.

For this recipe, I used leftover pumpkin mush, bacon, a myriad of seasonings, some chicken stock, cream and some pickled lemons.

A really nice lady from Kul Tiras gave me a little log of goat cheese wrapped in the biggest fragrant leaf I think I’d ever seen. She said it was a gift for being ‘so damn cute’. Vali laughed so hard at that I thought she was going to choke. She also laughed far longer than was really necessary… And she still snickers about it some times…

But hey, super nice Kul Tiran lady, at least you think I’m adorable. And everyone knows that our friends from across the sea are correct about everything. Vali.

Anyhow! First, crisp up your bacon and chop it kinda fine.

Then, take your stock (4 cups or about a 1 liter), 15 oz (around 400g) of mushed pumpkin, half a pound (quarter kilo) of bacon, a teaspoon each of thyme, sage and garlic powder, and about half a teaspoon each of salt and ground pepper and mix them together in a pot. If you’re getting a can of pumpkin rations, which are indeed a thing, get the ones that are JUST pumpkin mush, no seasonings or sugar.

I’m a little amused at how unappetizing it looks at this point. Mix it all up, then let it come to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes so that the seasonings can get to know each other.

Oh yeah, that’s much better. At this point TASTE it. If it tastes like it needs ‘something’, add a bit more salt. If it’s salty but still needs ‘something’ add some of the juice from the pickled lemons.

That’s a really cool secret to cooking! An acid (so you could sub lemon juice or vinegar even) has a way of enhancing flavors without really imparting a lot of weird flavor onto it. Just be sparing with it, remember you can always add but you can’t remove.

Once it’s done simmering, take it off the heat and add in the cream.

Yum. Stir it up so it gets all creamy, then go ahead and serve it up warm. The bacon tends to settle at the bottom, so make sure to mix it up real good. I like it with a nice dollop of Kul Tiran goat cheese, but soured cream is also really good with it.

Vali insists that it’s “not that great” but she also finished her bowl in record time, then hid it on the floor behind the bar and claimed I never gave her any. Soooo make of that what you will.

Ingredients:

• 15 oz/400g mushed pumpkin (fresh or ration)
• 1/2 lb (250g) bacon, crisped and crumbled
• 4 cups (~1 liter) chicken stock
• 1 tsp each thyme, sage, garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt and ground pepper
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) cream
• Pickled lemon (optional)
• Goat cheese (optional, can sub sour cream)

Instructions:

1. Add stock, pumpkin mush, bacon and seasonings to pot
2. Mix well and bring to a simmer
3. Simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors
4. TASTE!! Add an acid or salt as needed
5. Bring off the heat and add the cream
6. Stir well
7. Serve with goat cheese!

(I hope I got the metrics right, please let me know if anything needs correcting. I don’t usually cook in Gnomish…)