Spiced Pumpkin Bisque

I got this recipe from Midwest Living, and I had to try it thanks to my obsession with all things pumpkin in the fall.   I'm not going to copy the whole thing here, as it is presented nicely on their website, complete with nutritional values.

Midwest Living Spiced Pumpkin Bisque Recipe

It is not what we expected in terms of spicy.  It is pepper spicy (note the Cayenne) rather than the typical nutmeg and cinnamon based spice that goes with pumpkin.  It was, however, delicious, especially with some french bread toasted up with some garlic olive oil, and shredded chicken we had from the freezer mixed in.  After mixing in the chicken, it became more of a stew than a bisque, but was more filling than the soup alone. 

The creme fraiche, however, is worth a describing here.  When reading this recipe in the magazine, I was a little confused, as part of the process is basically a fermentation with buttermilk.  However, it says that it can be done in a matter of an hour, whereas we needed to leave ours on the counter for almost 24 before it became the consistency that we wanted.  

It was DELICIOUS! I was prepared to be unimpressed by this, and to think it was not worth the effort, but it was like everything we loved about sour cream, but richer and creamier.  Yumm!!!