october orange: carrot soup and pumpkin ice cream

inspired by lisa's love for pumpkin pie i decided i should try to make some pumpkin pie ice cream because everything tastes better as an ice cream.

but first let's talk about pumpkin pie spice. this handy spice is totally worth the $6. it is allspice, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg - all the spices you need for pumpkin pie. i have nutmeg and cinnamon but i don't use the other two enough to have them. so pumpkin pie spice is perfect. plus you can sprinkle it in your kitchen to make it spell like pumpkin pie. ok, probably only i will do that.

you can do this with or without an ice cream maker. of course, with the maker it's creamier and a little better (i'm biased!). but you can also follow the recipe and put it in the freezer.

pumpkin pie ice cream

3/4 cup of cooked pumpkin puree or 1 small pumpkin - scooped and chopped into 1in pieces
1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 light brown sugar
pumpkin pie spice - to taste (or smell if you don't want to taste this), two good dashes is probably it

if you're doing this pumpkin puree from scratch, boil some water and put your pumpkin pieces in there and let them boil for a while like potatoes. in a short bit they're be super tender. drain and let them cool for a second. the rind will just come off. make sure all of it is off then put in a food processor and puree it. this can be store for a few days to be used later.
heat cream and both sugars in a small sauce pan until small bubbles form around the edges. don't boil it though. remove and whisk to make sure all sugar is dissolved. cool to room temperature.
if you have a hand mixer or better yet a stand up mixer, give yourself a high five. congrats, your life is great and your kitchen is clean. i don't have either so i use a whisk. whatever your level of appliance, beat pumpkin puree, cream mixture and pumpkin spice until it's whipped.
pour mixture into ice cream machine and let it do it's thing.

depending on what kind of ice cream maker you have it can take longer or shorter but it should look like soft serve. it will thicken up in the freezer.

another thing i did was add fixins to the ice cream. i baked a graham cracker crust and broke up pieces and added them to the ice cream just as it was almost done thickening. i was influenced by nice cream that always has pieces of food in the flavors (ie. blueberry pie flavor had piece of crust) but you can also just eat it the way it is.


so today we had chris and tricia over for dinner and i made carrot soup and wilted kale and leeks. for the last few weeks we have received so many carrots in our csa that to be honest, i had become overwhelmed. several stews and cole slaws later, we still had our weight in carrots. (don't worry a carrot cake is coming!) but it's soup weather so carrot soup it is.

a word on carrots. this may sound predictable on my part, but seriously, organic carrots taste the best. i have made this soup with carrots from the store and it's still good but the organic carrots add something extra. the only thing i would do is make sure that you peel your carrots if they're not organic. i'm not completely convinced that organic is always the most important factor but i do make sure i buy organic for a few things. carrots and potatoes being two. these grow in the ground and soak up the nutrients in the soil. if the "nutrients" are actually chemical fertilizers they soak those up too and store them in their skin which you should not eat. but if it's organic then there are no chemicals, just dirt, which isn't bad for you. (not to be gross, but i rarely wash my vegetables- dirt isn't bad!)

ok, on to the cream of carrot soup

1/4 cup butter
5 medium carrots, chopped finely
1 medium onion, chopped finely
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup rice
1 cup heavy cream

in a large pot, melt butter.
add veg and cook until tender-ish about 15 minutes.
add stock and rice and cook until completely tender.
drain, save the liquid and put all the chunks in a food processor.
add puree back to the stock.
whisk in cream, season and heat up again.

can be kept on low heat and saved until your friends get there, in case they are running late.

the kale and leek is easy. chop them up and pile them high in saute pan. pour olive oil over them and cook on high and watch them wilt! season with salt and pepper and cook them until they're the right crunchiness for you.


hope you're enjoying the fall.

love,
keighty