Mesa Grills Pumpkin Soup With Mexican Cinnamon Creme Fraiche Recipes

MESA GRILL'S PUMPKIN SOUP WITH MEXICAN CINNAMON CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• Heat butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat.
• Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and cook until soft.
• Add the water and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Strain the stock into a clean medium saucepan and whisk in the pumpkin puree until smooth.
• Bring to a simmer and add 1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon, spices, honey and chipotle.
• Cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add water, if the soup is too thick.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in 1/4 cup of the creme fraiche and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix together the remaining creme fraiche and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon until combined.
• Garnish with the cinnamon creme fraiche and a handful of pumpkin seeds.

CREAMY PUMPKIN SOUP WITH TOASTED HAZELNUT FRICO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
• Add the hazelnuts to a large soup pot over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the hazelnuts to a small bowl and reserve the pot.
• For the hazelnut frico: Sprinkle the cheese into 8 thin rounds, about 2-inches wide on the prepared baking sheet. Finely grind the toasted hazelnuts in a food processor, and evenly sprinkle over cheese rounds. Evenly drizzle the rounds with a small amount of olive oil. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• Add the butter to the pot the hazelnuts were toasted in over medium heat, and cook, whisking frequently, until the butter starts to brown and foam, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the onion, carrot, celery, sage, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, and cook until tender, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute.
• Stir together the half-and-half and cornstarch in a liquid measuring cup, and pour it into the pot, along with the chicken broth, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. When the soup starts to thicken reduce the heat to low. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until a smooth consistency is reached and simmer until ready to serve. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and float a frico over the top.

PUMPKIN SOUP

Steps:

• Put the pumpkin puree in a large saucepan, whisk in 3 cups of the stock, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, Mexican cinnamon, allspice, cloves, honey, and maple syrup. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Whisk in up to 1 1/2 cups more stock if the soup is too thick. Remove from the heat and whisk in the crème fraîche. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a large dollop of the cranberry-maple crème fraîche and some of the pumpkin seeds and chives.
• Bring the cranberry juice to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the maple syrup and maple extract, and let cool to room temperature.
• Put the crème fraîche into a small bowl, add the cranberry mixture, and stir to combine. Season with salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day to allow the flavors to meld.

SPICY PUMPKIN SOUP WITH MEXICAN CREAM AND TOASTED PEPITAS

Steps:

• Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Cover; chill 2 hours. (Mexican cream can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.)
• Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Mix in pumpkin, milk and crushed red pepper. Working in batches, puree mixture in processor. Return to pot. Add broth; simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool. Cover and chill. Bring to simmer before continuing.)
• Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle with cream. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.

POTATO PANCAKES WITH CHUNKY GRANNY SMITH APPLESAUCE AND CINNAMON CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• On a box grater, coarsely shred the onion and potato. Transfer to a colander or wrap in a cheesecloth sling, and squeeze as dry as possible. Let stand for 2 minutes, then squeeze dry again. Put the potatoes in a large bowl, add the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder and egg, and gently fold to combine.
• In a large cast-iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil until shimmering. Drop heaping tablespoons of the potatoes into the skillet and flatten them with the back of the spoon. Cook the pancakes over moderately high heat until the edges are golden, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.
• Serve the potato pancakes topped with Chunky Granny Smith Applesauce and a small dollop of Cinnamon Creme Fraiche.
• Cook's Note: Reheat the pancakes in a single layer on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven until they're crisp again. If you undercooked them a bit or didn't get the browning on them you'd hoped for, you can compensate for this in the oven.
• To a large pot, combine 1 cup water, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, and apples. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if desired. Coarsely mash to a chunky consistency. Let cool to room temperature.;
• Whisk together creme fraiche and cinnamon, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.;

PUMPKIN SOUP WITH CINNAMON CREMA AND ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

Steps:

• Bring 3 cups of the stock to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, the ginger, allspice, nutmeg, honey, maple syrup, and chipotle puree. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes. Add more stock if the soup is too thick.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in cup of the crema and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix together the remaining cup crema and 1 teaspoon cinnamon until combined. Ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle with the cinnamon crema and sprinkle with the roasted pumpkin seeds and a little cinnamon.
• Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Makes 1 cup).
• 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds.
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
• Kosher salt.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Toss the seeds with the oil and season with salt to taste. Spread the seeds evenly on a baking sheet and bake, tossing occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are lightly golden brown and crisp. Let cool. These can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container.

MESA VERDE SOUP

Steps:

• Bring zucchini, broth, garlic and curry powder to a boil in a 2 quart saucepan.
• Reduce heat, simmer 10min or until zucchini is tender.
• Remove zucchini from saucepan, reserving broth in saucepan.
• Place zucchini and cream cheese in blender or food processor, and process until well blended.
• Add cream cheese mixture to reserved broth in saucepan, and heat thoroughly .
• Garnish with zucchini slices, chives and curry powder.
• Variation (less recommended): Omit garnish and top with salsa and sour cream (soy for kosher).
• Enjoy!