It's here, menu for tonight

Election Day has finally, mercifully, scarily? arrived. Though many folks I know voted last week, I was heartened to see long lines at every polling station I passed this morning. Way to honor your civic rights and duties, peeps! I am feeling guardedly optimistic that President Obama will soon be ushered into a second term and that complete idiot, bigot morons like Akin and Mourdock will be sent out to the back 40, left to wander with their own bizarre and offensive thoughts about rape and women's bodies. Fingers crossed Dems! In the foodie spheres, there's been much musing about what to make and eat tonight. As it's gotten quite cold here in DC and watching election returns basically begs one to eat comfort food and imbibe something with a punch, I've decided to make Chili Verde, hopped-up cornbread and chill some beers for T and go the Bourbon cocktail route for moi. Readers?

[polldaddy poll=6668515]

Yummy pumpkin soup, cooking method needed work

Dear me, this was almost an abject failure. I did not take into account the insulatory effect of such a thick pumpkin and after nearly two hours, the pumpkin flesh was perfectly done while the broccoli had hardly softened. Good grief.

I ladled out all the soup and put it in a saucepan, covered it and went to town on the stove-top. In the meantime, I made some garlic-sage croutons and removed the most done pumpkin to stir into the rapidly heating soup. All in all, things came together and honestly, this was really yummy. In the future, however, I will thin the pumpkin wall dramatically and add hot liquid at the outset of cooking. Live and learn!

Romanesco broccoli, pumpkin soup

Romanesco broccoli has got to be one of the coolest vegetables ever. It's shape resembles a fractal with each bud a confluence of smaller buds arranged in a logarithmic way. It originated in Italy and can be used interchangeably with regular broccoli though its taste is a bit more muted. I tried to grow some this year and the initial bud was perfectly formed but I just don't get enough sun to sustain the growth of an entire plant. Sigh. But, our farmers markets always have it this time of year, and I think it's both beautiful and a pleasure to eat.

Tonight, I decided to let go of one of my gorgeous heirloom pumpkins and turn it into a soup pot, serving tureen and meal all in one. Into this cleaned out gourd went the romanesco broccoli, a leek, some Gruyère, vegetable stock, salt, pepper, cream and thyme. I put the top back on and the whole thing is roasting away in the oven now. Pretty, huh?