The challenge with cooking for Thanksgiving ahead of time isn’t the cooking part, it’s the storage. Just ask the spouse.
The refrigerator (She still grumbles that it’s too big) gets full. Coolers in the garage are overloaded and one must make sure the garage stays at 40 degrees or below. You don’t want this meal just hanging around on the counter or the only thing your guests will be thankful for is having 911 on speed dial and an emergency room that knows how to treat salmonella, campylobacter and clostridium perfringens.
This is where the soup comes in. Once you’ve made it, transfer it to appropriate-sized freezer containers and let them be soup-sicles, for weeks if necessary.
My favorites for the big day are carrot soup and pumpkin soup. They’re both creamy and decadent, yet really simple. The pumpkin soup, in particular, features a lot of spices you’d normally find in pumpkin pie, but savory instead of sweet. And a soup course adds a touch of elegance to a meal.
By the way, if you don’t have pumpkin, butternut squash is a good substitute. In fact, much of the canned pumpkin you find in the store is actually butternut squash; they’re virtually impossible to distinguish from one another.
You can freeze either at two points. I prefer to cook all the ingredients, then add the cream at the end, so I would freeze the soup before I add the cream, then simply add the cream when I’m re-heating it. (The fat in the cream will pick up whatever flavors are lingering inside your freezer.) But if it’s not going to be in the freezer too long, you can freeze the finished soup, too.
PUMPKIN SOUP
2 Tbs. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
4 cups chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup apple cider
2 cups roasted pumpkin
1 large, starchy potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. crushed hot pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1/2 cup half-and-half or whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Heat oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger; sauté until tender. Add the pumpkin and potato and sauté until they caramelize slightly.
Add the chicken broth, cider and spices; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes. Add maple syrup, and re-season to taste. Continue simmering 20 minutes.
Pour soup into a food processor. Remove bay leaves, add cream and vanilla and puree until smooth.
Play with it: Instead of the maple syrup, add a bit of apple sauce. A couple of tablespoons of yogurt instead of some of the cream will give it some tang, and of course you can use whatever spices you like. Rosemary and sage are popular variants.
CARROT SOUP
2 pounds carrots, washed and diced
1 large potato, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. coriander, ground
1 tsp. white pepper
Salt to taste
2 Tbs. butter
Melt butter in a Dutch oven. Saute carrots until sugars begin to caramelize. Add garlic and potato and sauté 1 minute longer.
Add broth, bay leaf and coriander. Simmer 40 minutes to an hour, until carrots are soft. Remove bay.
Puree the mixture. Return to pot. Add cream, white pepper and salt and re-season.
Play with it: Turmeric and cardamom both play well with carrots. In fact, any number of Indian of southern Asian spices, such as a masala blend, would go well with carrots.
