Pumpkin Chipotle Soup

I was surfing around on blogs that I read from time to time and found this soup on this blog. This woman does it all but most importantly she makes a wonderful soup. Seriously, don't be scared of the pumpkin in the title. I'm not a fan of squash/pumpkin soups typically but this soup didn't taste like your "typical" soup. It was almost buttery in flavor and I called it Chicken Chipotle until people tried and liked it.

I only changed a couple of things and my recipe reflects that. If you want her orginal, click on the link above.

2 T Butter
2 T. Olive Oil
1 Onion chopped
Hanful baby Carrots, chopped
3 stalks Celery
3 cloves Garlic
2 boxes Chicken Stock~Aldi was having a sale or it would have been 8 cups water/8 bouillon cubes
14 oz can Pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix~I don't know what that means but thought I better leave it, we only have cans of Pumpkin in MN as far as I can tell, no pie mix? Just make sure the ingredients on the can is just pumpkin and you'll be good to go)
3 c. cooked Chicken ~ I actually used leftover crockpot Turkey
2 large diced Potatoes~I cut them about as thick as my finger so they didn't fall apart while cooking
1/2 c Barley
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
2-3 T honey
2 Chipotles chopped very fine (it comes in a small can in the mexican section of the store and is packed in a heavy sauce)—I like spicy food, if you don't start with maybe a half of a pepper first.

1 C light Sour Cream
1/4 C Heavy Cream~I used Whipping Cream that wasn't whipped, you buy it by the milk
salt and pepper to taste

To begin, saute the celery, onions, carrots and garlic in the oil and butter until carrots are almost tender. Always salt as you go along and then adjust the salt at the end. Don’t wait til the very end to add salt or your dish will lack a depth of flavor.

Then add chicken stock, pumpkin, chicken, potatoes, barley and all the spices. Cook at medium to high heat for about 45 minutes to an hour or until barley is tender. Turn heat down to simmer. Add sour cream or yogurt and whisk so that no lumps remain and then add cream. Taste and reseason.