Meatless Monday: Pumpkin Soup with Rosemary Popovers

So, usually, my Meatless Monday’s are REALLY healthy.  Today, not so much.  BUT, before you run away, it’s not horribly unhealthy.  So, please, stick around.

Let’s talk pumpkin soup first, shall we?  This soup is creamy and velvety, and reheats really well.  The original recipe calls for Evaporated Milk, I’d tell you I had none, but that would be a lie.  What really happened is that I brought my EM out from my pantry, made the full recipe, and opened my can of EM, only to find it had completely gone bad, and in a really disgusting, foul way.  We’re talking mold on the inside of the can.  I checked the expiration date, sure that there had to be some manufacturer’s error, to find that it expired in 2006.  Things that have happened to me since I bought that can of EM:

I bought my first house, got a dog, got a teaching job, had my first son, moved to my new house, and had my second son.  Needless to say, that can has seen a lot.

So, frantically, I searched for something in my fridge that would do the job.  I had used the last of my milk for the popovers, so what I had left was plain greek yogurt.  I am happy to tell you, it worked out really well.  

And, this soup goes awesomely with these bad boys:

I had some leftover rosemary from my Sweet Potato Pierogies, so I threw it in with the popover batter.  This resulted in something beautiful.  This one was my favorite:

I love popovers.  Has anyone else gone to Afternoon Tea at the Jordan Pond House in Acadia, Maine?  Such a cool place.  If you can get there, go.Popovers are one of those things that someone must have totally messed up when they were making rolls, and came up with something even better.

Enjoy this combo!  I know I did!

Pumpkin Soup

4 Tablespoons Butter***
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 whole Onion, Diced
1-¼ teaspoon Curry Powder
½ teaspoons Salt (omit, if using greek yogurt, combine and puree, then salt to taste)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
¼ teaspoons Ground Coriander
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspince
⅛ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper 
3 cups Chicken Broth (I used Vegetable Broth, for a truly Meatless Monday)
1 15 oz can Pumpkin (Not Pumpkin Pie filling)
1 C plain greek yogurt, original calls for Evaporated Milk

Melt butter and saute onions and garlic until golden brown. Add spices and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Stir in broth and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Add pumpkin, stirring till smooth. Add yogurt. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes; do not boil.

In batches, transfer soup to a blender or food processor. Process till very smooth. Serve hot. 

**You can probably cut the butter down by half and have the same flavor and texture.

 

Rosemary Popovers

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

2 eggs

1 C Milk

1 TB melted butter, cooled

1 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

5 tsp oil (If using a muffin tin…if you are cool and have a popover pan, then it would be 3 tsp, 1/2 tsp for each popover cup)

1 Tb fresh rosemary

1 Tb parsley

In a blender, combine milk, eggs, and butter until smooth. Add flour and salt.  Blend at high speed until combined and bubbly, about 1 min.  

While you let the batter sit, move the oven rack to the lowest setting, and preheat the oven to 450.  Prepare muffin tin by placing 1/2 tsp of oil in each of the ten outer tins, leaving the inside two empty.  Put in oven for about 2 minutes (at 450).

Remove pan from the oven and quickly fill the outer tins with batter.  Return to the oven for 20 minutes.  DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!

Rotate the pan and reduce heat to 350.  Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.