Clean out the pantry, then whip up what you find - Wichita Eagle

Clean out the pantry, then whip up what you find - Wichita Eagle

We’re about a week into this new year, and I’m loving it. I love a fresh start – whatever way it comes.

People’s jaws drop when I tell them I cook at least five nights a week, but really all it takes is a stocked pantry, some fresh ingredients and some curiosity in the kitchen. That last thing – curiosity – can be hard to come by when you’re time starved and well, starved.

Last week, I had all this energy to dig into a couple of projects around the house. One of my New Year’s inspirations is to spend less money. I figured cleaning out the pantry would occupy an afternoon, keep me at home and make me realize what I have in there so I don’t repurchase items when I go to the store.

I’ve mentioned before that I really like all things pumpkin. Well, apparently, I like it so much I have twelve cans of the stuff in my pantry. I’m a bit embarrassed about that, so I figured I should find something to do with all this pumpkin. I even made a post about it on my personal Facebook page.

Most of the posted pumpkin ideas were sweet ones, and while I do enjoy baking, the part I don’t love is that nobody can (or should) make a meal out of baked goods. We’re big curry fans at Casa de Rathbun, so my curiosity set in and I started Googling pumpkin curry soups. I stumbled upon this very simple, straightforward recipe.

If your pantry is well-stocked like mine, you should be able to make it without a trip to the store. And if you’re vegetarian, you can easily swap the chicken stock for vegetable or mushroom stock. If you don’t have homemade stock, or don’t have cartons stored, the Better than Bouillon brand makes some fabulous versions of all flavors. From my perusing, Green Acres seems to have the best selection of varieties, and Costco has the best price on a large jar of the beef version.

The same day of the great pantry clean out, I threw two turkey carcasses into the turkey roaster to make bone broth. I cooked it 36 hours with a cup of apple cider vinegar, onions, celery, carrots, parsley and a couple hefty dashes of salt. Making broth this way is the only way – the vinegar helps release the collagen from the bones and the veggies give it good flavor.

After my mouth watered for 36 hours as it cooked, I made turkey soup with it, preparing both a version for Randy because he didn’t want the artichoke hearts, asparagus and shiitake mushrooms in his version, and a version for the veggie lovers. I lied about that not entertaining in January thing because we had my mom, her boyfriend and my uncle for dinner that night. The soup was enthusiastically received. I made a lot of soup and still have 4 quarts of bone broth to freeze. This is saving me money left and right because if you’ve priced actual bone broth at the store, it’s expensive.

While making that bone broth, I accidentally dropped my iPhone 8 into the turkey roaster. I’m happy to report my call wasn’t even dropped. I was shocked and amazed because it went plunging down to the bottom of the roaster. This is not something I suggest trying, but I’m happy to share she came out alive.

With the passing of the holiday season, I had to find something other than the Michael Buble holiday station to listen to while puttering in the kitchen. I’ve started listening to French Cooking Radio on Pandora. Our friends David and Deanna introduced us to this station. It’s full of happy music, and you don’t even have to be cooking to enjoy it. So whether you make this pumpkin soup or not, try this Pandora station. It might just be what sparks you into getting back to the kitchen.

Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon yellow curry powder

2 ¼ cups pumpkin puree (store-bought or homemade)

2 ½ cups chicken stock

1, 13.5 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

Pumpkin seeds, for serving

Add the butter to a medium saute pan set over medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted, add the onions, garlic and curry powder and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. Transfer the mixture to a blender.

Add the pumpkin puree and chicken stock to the blender and blend until combined.

Pour the soup into a large stock pot set over medium heat then whisk in the coconut milk. Cook the soup, stirring occasionally, until it is warmed throughout. Taste and season it with salt and pepper. When ready to serve, divide soup into bowls and garnish with pumpkin seeds.

Recipe from JustaTaste.com