Blog infatuations

I haven't had a blog crush in some time...in a VERY long time but as soon as J.Go introduced me to Bloghungry, I knew I was hooked. A cute guy who cooks and likes to put a lot of pictures up of himself cooking. Holy SHIT! Why didn't anyone else think about doing this YEARS ago when blogs were new and shiny. Yet his is very shiny and it just so happens to coincidently coincide with my current manic phase of wanting to cook the shit out of things (to be followed in the next month or so with All Things Gardening) and watching Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals incessantly on the TiVo. Sometimes the world does give us exactly what we need.

To that end, I pulled out a recipe from RR's "30-Minute Meal Comfort Food" that used only things I already had in the house. I came up with her Pumpkin and Black Bean soup recipe on page 77. I'm a soup-whore so I doubled the recipe for long-term consumption and made my first-ever batch of guacamole (not as hard as one would believe) while the onions were sautéing. Seriously, seriously good with a little extra cayenne pepper for some heat. Give it a whirl:

Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup
1 tbls veg/canola oil
1 tbls butter
1 med onion, finely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken or veg stock
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and washed
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
3 pinches cayenne pepper
Coarse salt to taste

Heat a deep pot over med heat. Add oil and butter. When butter melts, add onion and sauté, 5 minutes, until tender. Add broth, tomatoes, black beans, and pumpkin. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and stir in cream, curry, cumin, cayenne, and a few pinches salt. Simmer 5 minutes and adjust seasonings. Serve with chunky guacamole and tortilla chips.

Me, I'm thinking beer would be good with this hearty soup