Excellent Pumpkin Soup

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3 garlic cloves, minced or chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 1/4 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
3 cups chicken broth
16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin (or squash)
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
Melt butter in a large saucepan, and sauté garlic and onions till golden brown. Add curry powder, salt, coriander, and cayenne pepper; simmer gently for 2 minutes. Stir in broth and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.

Add pumpkin, stirring till smooth. Add evaporated milk. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes; don't allow soup to boil (but a simmer is OK).

In batches, transfer soup to blender or food processor. Process till very smooth. Serve hot. Yield: about 8 servings.

NOTES: I love to use shallots instead of onion in cream of vegetable soups. You can try both and decide which you like better.
If you don’t have evaporated milk, use 8 or 9 oz of milk and 3 of 4 oz of cream.
I like this better with roasted squash instead of canned pumpkin. I roasted an Uchiki squash the night before and used the cooled squash in the soup the next day. Everybody loved it. Look for Uchiki; it’s very smooth and quite flavorful.