maggiethecat

Bourdain's Mushroom Soup from the Les Halles Cookbook. He says it's easy, and it is. And I just happen to every ingredient. And I want mushroom soup!

Oh, wow -- a delightful, nostalgic blast from the past. Yes, Marlene, I think the pans would be even better prepared ahead and chilled until ready. And I love roasted garlic as an addition to mashed potatoes, but I must confess to taking the easy way out on occasion: I just throw a few peeled garlic cloves into the potaotes and boiling water and press the whole mess through the food mill into a waiting saucepan holding warmed milk, butter and salt and pepper. I have just considered the great new silicone molds for madeleines, which I believe will make every madeleine baker's life easier; it can be tough to nudge the cookies from the French tinned steel tins I bought before you were born, luckylies. But I think the old metal tins will be much better for this application, producing a crispier item.

Blovie: The standard 15 oz. can. You have them in your pantry. (As I do!)

Pepin's Pumpkin and Roasted Walnut Soup., from Fast Food My Way We have a winner. This soup is deeply, deeply pumpkin, because he calls for the same canned pumpkin you buy in November for Thanksgiving pies. The canned food folks have pureed and concentrated this stuff, so it's more powerful than the result of steaming and pureeing the real thing, to say nothing of the savings in time and aggro to the cook. The garnish I messed with, because I didn't have walnuts, I had pistachios. I caramelized them with some sugar and cayenne. But this garnish is Pepin's genious: the nuts add bite, texture and contrast with the dab of sour cream. I skipped the chives, because I grow my own, and they're nestling under a mini-snowbank. Methode? A snap. Sweat a cup apiece of chopped onions and celery with a couple of garlic cloves. Add four cups chicken broth and simmer for about ten minutes. (This smells great.) Throw in the can of pumpkin and simmer for about the same amount of time. Puree. Garnish with the sour cream and nuts. Serve it forth. It serves four, so I have another supper's worth without stressing the capacity of my freezer. This soup is really fast, really good, and Jacques all the way. Two spoons up.

Way to go, Ma'am! What a terrific way to start the New Year.

Welcome to eGullet, Mark -- I'm honored to get your first post on this thread. We hope to hear much more from you, on many subjects. 77, 501.

Alex: The RCMP can make it to Grand Rapids in about four hours, if I call my sources! 77, 474. Hey, no! 77,475 I received Bouchon this week from a friend -- that photo of the Croque Madame almost made me faint. Hey! That's 77,476. I gave Bouchon to an eGullet buddy who has yet to post it here.

I will remeber this sage advice as I proceed in my soup mission. I really love the idea of the baked garlic, and I agree that this soup needs salt --maybe those crispy curls of fleur de sel? But I am on record for bacon.

"Instant" Ramen Noodles often go on sale for ten cents apiece, and I have twenty packs in the back of the pantry from the waning years of the Clinton administration. They'll probably be just fine for ten years. I never use the broth pack--I toss it. For a quick lunch I'll heat up a tiny sautee pan with some oil, toss in the radiator-shaped noodle mass, and throw in a little water. As it simmers away, I'll look for leftover broccoli in the fridge and beat an egg. When it softens enough to stir, in go the egss, veggies and a splach of soy sauce. Two minutes, 12 cents. But my secret shame: Nibbling the noodles raw, like potato chips.

Well, I was going to crack open our Christmas copy of Pepin's Fast Food My Way and try his "Pumpkin Soup with Toasted Walnuts," beacuse I have all the ingredients, including a leftover can of pumpkin from Thanksgiving. I can't buy a pumpkin locally, I can't count the times I've almost amputated a hand trying to cut open a pumpkin or hard squash. Seriously. (The best solution seems to be to embed the cleaver in the squash and whack it with my trusty kitchen rubber mallet.) But I find myself in snowangel's situation: the headcold from hell. It feels as if people are moving furniture in my sinuses and I can't taste much, so I might go with something hot and spicy. Or then again, if I feel better tomorrow (Please, Lord!) it might be Pumpkin Soup St. Jacques. Thank you all for such a wealth of terrific ideas and inspiration. and suzilightning: Workplace Soup Daze? Do tell.

JAZ, what a haul! 77,322.

77,307. (And suzanne--- don't feel bad. I've bought myself dupilicates too.)

The lentil soup was an unqualified success. A good thing, too, because I have about a half gallon left over! (If you're in the neighborhood, give me a call!) Actually, it was a qualified success in one little detail: I should have added more vinegar with the madiera. But it worked well enough a little sweeter, and it sure was pretty. Thanks for all your ideas! I wish I had twenty heads of garlic right now--still feel punk.

Thank you, mes amis de soupe, for your well-wishes. As wonderful as my soup smells I want fifi's Beef Barley, Marlene's beef stock (wanna compare burn scars at a hundred paces?) jensen's Asian chicken noodle...I feel as if I'm drowning, but in a lovely way. Soup. Yes, I love that soup can be very lean and healthful. Or it can be More is More, as my humble lentil soup is fast becoming. As well as the Madeira/vinegar sirop, the sour cream, the "parsley" -- turns out I bought cilantro ( tant pis, that's fine) I'm sizzling up cute lardons of salt pork. And I might thin the soup with a little cream. But I was counting up cost here: I have at least ten servings, and with all the falderol, it's still less than 50 cents a serving. And delicious, nourishing soup can be made for much, much less. (And much, much more, of course, if you're including lovely large clumps of butter-poached lobster garnish.) I have a couple of ripe Anjou pears and some Stilton, so I'm doing the salad that's become cliche because it's so darn good, nestled in a bed of romaine. I'm just waiting for bread to come out of the oven. I think I might have all the food groups covered. (About freezing soup: I've never had a problem. Reheat it slowly in a pan, or nuke it -- it will still be the best lunch you ever had.)

Al: you are too kind! But how I'm enjoying everyone's stories and recipes, and I'm thinking I just might be making two soups a week. Heck a resolution not only kept, but exceeded! About microwave stock, and scum abatement: I don't know why it works-- any SSB who knows about the science of microwaves is invited to speculate or pontificate -- but it does. And I don't worry about "impurities," because everything I stash in the stock can in the freezer is wholesome, peeled and clean. I checked Kafka's Microwave Gourmet for her proportions, which are two to one water to flesh and bone. I just eyeball, and I always have mushroom stems and odd bits of celery and onion in there too. Put everything in a large microwaveable bowl (I use a huge English bread basin) cover it with wrap and spin it for twenty to thirty minutes. Remove the wrap --carefully--allow to cool, and strain strain. (I've cooked it uncovered too.) Anyway: Soup's On! And lentil it is. (Family note: My redoubtable Nonna-in-law was an Italian-American Signora Malaprop. She gave us "reddishes" for radishes, and invariably called lentils "lentans" and Lentil Soup "Lentan Soup.") I sweated about two cups of chopped aromatics (celery, onion, carrots, garlic) in some olive oil , accompamied by a 2X3X2 inch chunk of salt pork. Washed a pound of lentils, dumped them in with nine cups of water, a bay leaf, a big pinch of thyme, and a dab of rosemary. I won't salt until it's almost ready, because I don't know how much salt the pork will add. In a little while, I'm, going to add some coarsely chopped carrots, because I like the pretty orange chunks, and some diced tomatoes -- per the ineffable Priscilla. After I've pureed most of it with my immersion blender I'll stir in some smashed baked potato (medium-sized) as a binder. Presentation: I love Fat Guy's touch of sherry vinegar for an acid finish, but my store is out of it. I think I'm going to reduce a solution of Madeira and red wine vinegar until it's syrupy, swirl pretty patterns atop the soup, add a dab of sour cream, dusting of parsley, coarse pepper.

Abra: It's lentil. It's chacun a son gout. But for me, it's not today. I've got some kind of tummy flu and the only thing that sounds good to me right now is Jello;something I haven't willingly eaten in thirty years. But please, go ahead and make soup and report! I'm crawling under the covers with an empty paper bag handy.

Yes, fifi, this is Week One. Beef barley. Just amazing -- I'm panting. And another wonderful thing about soup is the infinite number of varaitions and inprovisations. For example, I think I'll scrap the whole idea of bacon and stock, and do it au maigre. I'll take a quick run up the highway to the fabulous Mexican market and get a couple of smoked pork chops. And some celery. Only three pushups, but they were Marine Corps. No Girlie Man pushups for me.

Might be making soup twice a week, with all your terrific suggestions and an afternoon in an armchair with a stack of cookbooks. I have molto inspiration. Steven: I agree with you about the affinity of lamb and lentils. Awesome. But lamb and barley are also preordained lovers, and later this winter I hope to stir up a pot of what every Canadian knows as Scotch Broth. Scots wha hae and all that. And trust me, I have already foreseen the beauty of a freezer stocked with multiple soups, just waiting to be reheated - I'm rather excited about that. (In fact I discovered a serving of last week's Onion Soup in the freezer. Whahoo! Lunch on Monday.) But remember that Smarty Boots who said she always had plenty of stock in the freezer? Hang head --she's got about a cup. But she will forge on with the lentil soup for tomorrow, thusly: A pound of lentils, with onion and garlic softened in the fat from about six slices of bacon, which will be sliced into sexy lardons. The cup of stock, and lots of water. Chunky carrots, because I love that orange accent. A few tomatoes, because I think Priscilla has it right about a few red flecks, and the body tomatoes add. (I'd use celery if I had celery, but I don't.) A bay leaf and some thyme. What would be amazing is summer savoury, but I forgot to plant some this year. And I think I'll nuke a potato and mash it, to add as a stabilizer. I have a plan, and a soup. All's right with the world.

Pepsi and poutine for breakfast.

My sisters and brothers in soup: Happy New Year! Big old pot, check. Mouli, check. Immersion blender, check. A request to all my friends and relatives to donate their hambones, check. 2005 will be my Seasons of Soup, and I'm so tickled to find so many buddies to stir along with. Though, duh! this is eGullet. The eGullet Society of Soup. Abra: I love the idea of a virtual soup kitchen, and I also like your idea of choosing a soup-of-the-week, and all of us reporting our theme and variations. I'm going to choose the soup o' the week, post my method and ingredients, and hope to hear about your tips and the results of your versions. Damn, I'll have to find out what's wrong with my camera and get it fixed. It looks as if there will be no death of receipes or suggestions--if I count upthread we've probably got half a year of recipes right there. But Steven's mighty powers must extend to mindreading. I peered into the pantry this morning and found two bags of Jack Rabbit lentils, practically crying out to be transmogrified into potage. So this week, it will be lentil soup. (By the way, the recipe on the back of the bag, tarted up, is a family standard.) Steven, your recipe sounds spot-on, but in our household the chances of having leftover brisket or short ribs are slim to none. I think I'm going to go with a leaner version, unhappily sans brisket or even the golden hambone. I do have some bacon, which I'll sub to achieve the lovely smoked pork undercurrent that I love with legumes. Hmmm, maybe I have some leftover gravy in the freezer from the Christmas standing rib. And I love your idea of the acid finish - I usually do a rich finish, like sour cream. Maybe I'll do both. I'm thinking that January will shape up something like this: Lentil, squash, mushroom, leek and potato. I'm excited that so many of you are interested in coming along for the ride.

Wow. I'm interested! Please hook me up with that recipe. And purplewiz What a great list. Methinks I may be making soup twice a week -- and that's all good. And, dear purple, I was thinking about carrot soup about five minutes ago -- I love carrots.

Priscilla and Miss Manners: What a winning ticket that would be in four years! "You don't catch steak hanging around when you're poor and sick, do you?" My new sig line.

fifi: I love mushroom soup, and I love your recipe. I also love soups that can be made with plain old button mushrooms, not cepes or dried porcini. In other words, mushrooms I can buy anywhere. I think the button mushroom is seriously underrated, but that's another thread! Jaymes: I love the "Round the World with Soup" idea, and it could be the subtext here. In the half hour since I posted this topic I've been thinking soup --the simplicity, the complexity, the whole World Order of soup. What a lovely, impossible idea: World peace and understanding through soup.

Jaymes -- and Suzy--awesome. I especially love soups that are good hot and cold. Thanks for handing me my first interesting recipe, tested by Jaymes and Suzy, no less. I'm really excited about this project.

My rough list of resolutions is a screed of the usual guilt and fears: Stop smoking. Make more time for friends. A thousand words a day, day in and day out. Start shopping around the six pieces I've finished this year, that are sitting in a neat stack on the bookshelf. Regain my lifetime record of fifty military pushups. Never let unfolded laundry stack up on the dryer. Pedicures every two weeks. A fine list, but I can cross off half: it ain't gonna happen. But I've been thinking about soup. I don't make it often enough -- maybe once a month. Soup, in its infinite variety (52 varieties in this exercise,) is the perfect stroll through history, geography, gastromomy, botany and biology. It has the added value of being cheap, nutritious and seasonal. I usually have stock in my freezer, thanks to Barbara Kafka and Jacques Pepin. Jacques for telling us that he puts his meat and veg scraps in a washed out milk carton in the freezer, to be transformed into a delicious and essentially free Bastard Broth. (My name.) And Kafka for urging us to make stock in the microwave ---a third the time and no scum. Did onion soup last week, split pea in November. I am perhaps the only person on earth who hasn't made squash/pumpkin soup, so that will be this week's soupe de semaine. I'm liking Mark Bittman's recipe from The Minimalist Cooks at Home but I'd love your suggestions, and your experience. And if you add your favorite suggestions -- Asian, Latin American, Lithuanian or Hungarian, vegan or carnivore -- I'll try to make them all. Just nothing that requires reading the date on a dime in the depths of the stockpot, caviar garnish or liver. Off to do pushups. Please tell me if my spine isn't straight.