My Favorite Soup!

Soup is the song of the hearth

... and the home.

Louis P. De Gouy 1949

I have a habit of saving recipes from magazines and never using them. I also have several beautiful cookbooks that I look at, become very hungry, then pick up the phone and promptly order take out.

In the late 1990s I had a subscription for Food and Wine magazine, which had all sorts of lovely, appetite enhancing photographs but when the January 1999 issue showed up, I knew it was time to time to use the inside of my oven for something other than storage. (This recipe calls for baking pumpkin!)

The photo was gorgeous ... a beautiful rustic grey ceramic bowl that looked almost like old metal ... broth with bits of cilantro, avocado and a thin slice of lime, floating over pumpkin, black beans and corn ... mmmmmmmm!

It is now my hearty, go-to soup for fall and winter. You can substitute pumpkin for butternut or another sweet squash. It is also hearty enough to skip the chicken (I usually do) or even make it vegan/vegetarian soup with vegetable stock.

So, here goes ...

Chipotle-Lime Broth with

Chicken and Pumpkin

Sally Schneider

for Food and Wine

Mexico's lighter side January 1999

My version ...

1 small sugar pumpkin or butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds) halved and seed and sliced 1 1/4 inches thick

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 quarts chicken stock

2 canned chipotle chiles in adobe- rinsed, seeded and thinly sliced (careful not to touch your eyes or inhale deeply. They used to carry them at my supermarket and stopped so I had to go to the little latin market)

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn

1 1/2 cups cooked black or pink beans

2 cups shredded roasted chicken breast meat

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus 1 lime, cut into wedges

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

salt

1 ripe Hass avocado, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven 400 degrees. Brush the pumpkin with 1/2 teaspoon of the oil and bake on a nontick baking sheet for about 20 minute or until just tender. Let cool, then remove and discard the skin. Cut pumpkin to 1/2 inch dice. (I do it a little bigger since I rarely do meat)

Heat the remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add the onion, cover and cook over moderate low heat until soft, about 5 mins. Uncover, increase heat and cook stirring until golden. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant about 3 minutes.

In large saucepan bring the chicken stock to simmer. Add chipotles and cook 2 mins. Add pumpkin, onlin, corn and beans and simmer over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken and cook just until warmed through. Add the lime juice and cilantro and season with salt. Serve soup in large bowls and pass the avocado and lime wedges alongside. (I float massive amounts of avocado because I love them.)

Chipotle chiles give the broth a smoky, spicy flavor.. A hefty squeeze of fresh lime juice just before serving is essential.

serves 6

Thanks Sally for such a wonderful recipe!

As you can see, I go a little nuts with the avocado and cilantro. As with every recipe, I double the garlic, try to use organic ingredients as much as possible and I use red onion because it has more anti-cancer properties than white onions. (I've heard that 3 times now, so I am going with it!) My market stopped carrying chipotles in adobo so I find it at a little latin market.

You all should check out Sally's beautiful cooking website and the articles in her archives, as well as her fabulous blog!

Beautiful soup!

Who cares for fish,

or game

or any other dish?

Who would not give all else for two pennyworth of beautiful soup?

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I can't believe it's almost December (my favorite month!) and that my Italian final is Monday night! I put up my mini tinsel Christmas tree and have made my holiday iTunes playlist, so I am ready to roll! Well, except that I haven't gotten started on Christmas shopping. Maybe I will just make everyone soup!

Blessings and light and good soup!