Comments on: Dinner With My Family #10: Curry Pumpkin Soup and Sandwiches

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:18:21 +0000

This is the same Amanda as in #15. Just wanted to say I made the soup last night (with a BIG 28-oz can of pumpkin and a 14-oz can of coconut milk) and liked it. My husband also gave it a thumbs up.
For next time, I think I would use light coconut milk (the full-fat version is, well, incredibly fatty) and 1/2 to 3/4 tsp ground ginger instead of fresh. I used 1 tbsp fresh and the flavor didn’t come through, so I added about 1/4 tsp ground to boost it. In addition to everything listed in the recipe, I added a tiny whiff of nutmeg and about two pinches of sugar to balance out the “hot” flavors.
Thank you for the recipe!

By: Nina

Nina — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:10:29 +0000

When it comes to onion, garlic or ginger, I would recommend everybody to try how much of it is their individual taste. Use half of it, try it, add more, if needed.
I consider a recipe a recommendation not something edged in stone for centuries -> so I can tweak it to my liking.
I like the first two ingredients, but refuse raw ginger, I just take a tiny amount of it as powder. When reading “1 1/2 tbsp. curry powder and
cayenne pepper to taste”, I would take a liberal amount more than that. (I have three different types of Cayenne/Chili powder in my kitchen cupboard…)
I’ve been to India and LOVED the food and spice level :-)

By: Kat

Kat — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:58:47 +0000

I made this soup today and it was delicious and easy. I also added a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas to boost the protein content. (I used the larger 28oz can of pumpkin and a 14oz can of coconut milk.)Thanks Trent!

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:04:50 +0000

Adam P.

It was the last sentence of your comment that appeared to be very condescending.

And as far as documentaries…most are made with an agenda and look for extreme cases to prove their point.

By: Adam P

Adam P — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:17:07 +0000

I don’t think my post was snarky at all, but whatever it’s the internet. You’re all gonna have different opinions. Trent neither reads nor responds to the comments here, so don’t worry about his hurt feelings. As I posted previously, there is a subset of visitors that only comes here for the snarky comments lately (the quality of posting has gone down in my opinion but the quality of snarky comments is inversely related to the quality of posts). Trent gets traffic from constructive criticism comments and that makes him happy.

And yes, it is a bit weird for a vegan self proclaimed foodie to think pumpkin soup would be “awful” before ever tasting it, to me. That’s why I commented. Why you think this makes me snarky or condescending is beyond me. But whatever, everyone’s got an opinion. Please keep the banter going.

By: Joyce

Joyce — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:14:30 +0000

I can’t believe how critical you food snob commenters are! For shame & how rude! Many of us average people have to overcome our notion of “normal food” when we try something that uses an ingredient (or combination of ingredients) in a way that we don’t expect. Average people view pumpkin as a pie ingredient, and pumpkin bars as novel. We “white bread” people (living far from big cities) have to take baby steps to expand our culinary experiences. For example, I like to eat a particular friend’s house, who serves us food I would never imagine cooking.

By: Kandace@pantrydiva

Kandace@pantrydiva — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:49:02 +0000

A kitchen can’t beging to smell “wonderfully.” It has no nose.

A kitchen can smell wonderful to a person when garlic, ginger, and onions are cooking.

By: Kate

Kate — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 11:31:53 +0000

HA! You do realize, Bren, that you painted the eating habits of American families with the same prejudicial brush? Not all American children eat that way, just as I am sure that not all Italian children snack on olives and sun-dried tomatoes (you are right about the olives…terribly high in sodium in large amounts). Not all American families eat a steady diet of cheeseburgers just as I’m sure that not all Italian children snack on olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Prejudice can go both ways…you seem to have a healthy dose of your own, so perhaps that is why you reacted so strongly to Trent’s “thought”?

By: Bren

Bren — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 09:05:29 +0000

I see. It appears there is a bit of a cultural issue going on here. See, in my family (I’m Italian) and indeed my wider social circle it would be unthinkable for anyone to dismiss outright any basic food item. Everyone loves food. It’s an experience to be cherished and shared with others, be it classic dishes that everybody knows or things that you might not have liked or even tried before. I can’t imagine anyone even thinking something as absurd as “are you kidding?”.

This whole discussion brings up memories of a documentary I watched once on an American family. The couple’s children would only eat french fries and chicken nuggets and go “ewww at everything that even had the possibility of being a vegetable. Can you believe it?? My children snack on olives and sun-dried tomatoes and I thought -that’s- probably not too healthy, but the American children in the documentary left my absolutely stunned.

But you can has cheezburgers. I rest my case.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 02:44:34 +0000

#34 Bren…

That post takes the cake. I am stunned. Do you really think Trent doesn’t know the difference between writing his honest thoughts in a blog and expressing a rude comment to a hostess? Maybe you should go find a blog written by a perfect person….

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 02:14:51 +0000

Add in some glugs of fish sauce and this recipe is fantastic

By: Vickie

Vickie — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:31:21 +0000

Thanks for another nice meal idea. ☺

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:50:39 +0000

#30 Mary W.
I often chop up any leftover onion and freeze it for times that I am in a hurry or when I am making soup. I do the same with celery. I am sure that purists would frown but it definitely saves time and prevents waste.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:45:28 +0000

#34 Bren
I’m thinking that Trent probably would not voice his opinion out loud, just as he may have “thought” how dreadful to himself. Last I heard, thinking something rude and not giving voice to it isn’t rude. That he acknowledged he was wrong is called honesty?

By: Bren

Bren — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:18:12 +0000

Graytham, how would you feel if you invited Trent over for dinner, you announced that you were making pumpkin soup and for a reply you’d get “Pumpkin soup? Are you kidding?”. Wouldn’t you think that incredibly rude, and probably think (albeit not necessarily say out loud) something along the lines of “well excuse me; you’ve never even tried my pumpkin soup; you have no idea what goes in it; how can you possibly have an opinion before even giving it a try?”.

Everybody is entitled to different preferences but being rude and ignorant is a completely different matter.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:51:40 +0000

OOPS! forgot to say I also add fresh ginger to that sweet potato soup! Vital ingredient!

By: jennifer

jennifer — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:48:01 +0000

This recipe sounds yummy, and so easy! I think I have all that at home, I may try it tonight. I make a sweet potato soup with coconut milk, curry, and cayenne, broth, garlic, onion, but also add the juice and grated peel of a lime at the end. KILLER!! everyone loves it!

By: graytham

graytham — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:16:45 +0000

#17 Bren- the way Trent expressed that he expected to dislike the soup was “pure prejudice”?

Good grief.

I agree with those who think the snarky comments are getting more and more ridiculous- and that one takes the cake. Get a life, people.

By: Inq

Inq — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:11:44 +0000

Interesting. You can mix some curry powder as Mary said to give it an Indian spice. Some pepper might prove handy as well.
Garlic and ginger make give a spicy look as well.

By: Mary W.

Mary W. — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:04:07 +0000

At my house, we often cook pumpkin ahead of time (usually in the oven), scrape it out of its shell and then freeze it in ziplock bags. We do the same thing with chopped onion when we have lots of it (ie we’ve chopped more than we need.) Very likely the flavour isn’t as good as it is with a fresh-chopped onion or freshly-roasted squash but the difference is too subtle for me to get.

I also often use Patel’s curry paste rather than curry powder. It comes in a wide range of types of curry — the mild is really nice. I think it has more cumin in it than most curry powders do, so it has that really warm flavour that goes well with squash.