Soup Helper

[Kbear919]

As we all have enjoyed reading and assisting with burger helper. I have begun to start to think about starting a little venture. I am starting a company called Village Soups which I will begin to start out of my home with hopes to grow and expand to my own brick and mortar place someday. With fall approaching and my love of making delicious soups I have always loved the feeling of eating and cooking soups. I have always followed the success of the Soup Peddler in Austin Texas and would like to carry on this concept here in Columbus, Ohio.

I turn to my fellow E-gulleters to help, assist, provide ideas, and wonderful recipes? I would start by just giving away my first few batches of soup to get some positive energy flowing, followed by selling soup subscriptions around 10 dollars for a quart of wonderful homemade soup. I make my own stocks by boiling bones for hours and use fresh local ingredients! I would then deliver my soup once per week to peoples homes or places of work. I'm working with a few local graphic artists on logos, investing in a 2nd fridge and perfecting soups as well as reading a lot as well!

Look forward to your wonderful ideas, inspirations and overall great karma.

[Kbear919]

May I ask people....what their favorite homemade soup is?

[Dana]

Chicken noodle, chicken veg, beef veg, french onion, butternut squash, the list is endless. I haven't met a soup I didn't like.

Sausage with beans and greens.....

[PopsicleToze]

You have a good start with the homemade stocks. They're invaluable.

Favorite soup? It varies with the season.

Right now, it's hot. Very, very hot. I don't even think of soup -- except a delicious dessert soup based on watermelon.

Fall -- precisely, the FIRST cold snap after the summer heat, it's gumbo time. Chicken and andouille.

Winter - split pea soup with ham. Also, not really a soup, but chicken-n-dumplings wins smiles everytime.

Spring and first summer means tomato soup, but not the heavy cream-based version. A light and great bread-based version with lots of basis is a show-stopper.

For the watermelon soup, I just wing it. And with gumbo, I've made it so many years that I just do it by love and what feels right that day. Split pea soup -- Cooks Illustrated has a great recipe that is my guideline.

You could probably never go wrong with chicken noodle soup. However, it gives me grief to make it in advance for someone. I don't like mushy pasta in soup, so when I give it away I give them the soup in one container, and the pasta (or rice) in another container.

Good luck to you!

[Kbear919]

yummy yummy! thanks for the kind words, would love to hear from others!

[judiu]

By me, split pea soup should be thick enough that a spoon will stand up in it; ditto bean soup. Yummy!

[KarenDW]

potato soup with greens, such as kale or collards; chicken soup w/ rice or pasta (orzo works nicely); ramen with lots of vegetables.

[Susan G]

Turkey and rice soup, Chinese hot and sour soup, avolemmeno, French onion, and tortilla soup.

Good luck!

[hathor]

A perfect lentil soup.

tiny lentils.

no other discernible vegetables or other stuff

incredibly flavorful

some garlic toasted crutons lurking on the side of the bowl

not piping hot, but more than warm

Can you tell what I had for lunch yesterday??

[Kbear919]

does anyone have an incredible recipe to share?

[prasantrin]

If you're going to be operating out of your own home, I hope you're planning to get your kitchen certified before you actually start selling.

There are many many topics devoted to soups already. If you're only looking for recipes at this point, why not start with those?

For general soup topics, see

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=111737&hl=soup

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=58505&hl=weeks

But there are so many other topics devoted to specific soups, too.

[C_Ruark]

does anyone have an incredible recipe to share?

←

IMHO, maybe develop a really good French Onion Soup?

I think you'll find there a ton of ways to make it and all will taste pretty good as long as the onions are deeply caramelized (but not burnt). I can't give a recipe but how about the notes from my journal?

I. ) One of the tricks I use is how I make the bouquet garni. I follow my instructors method for this:

2 x leaf sheaths of Leek which are wrapped around...

1 x carrot sliced into long julienne

1 x celery stalk sliced as same

2 x springs of Rosemary

1 x bay leaf

Secure the lot with some cooking twine and drop into the broth. Other B.G's will work, but I found this one worked best.

II.) The broth can be made from various combinations of liquid (chicken or beef stalk, red or white wine, spirits). I prefer a 3:1 ratio of Chardonnay to Water plus a drop of cognac that end. The deep color of the soup should come mostly from the onions not the liquid.

III.) Cheeses that I like: Gruyère (the traditional choice), Parmesan and Provolone, Comté, Beaufort. Really any mild cheese can be worked in although it will change what you need to do when seasoning the broth at the end.

IV.) Add a bit of flour after caramelizing onions in butter. Your aim is to soup up the fat and make a roux to slightly thicken the stock.

V.) To finish. Don't worry about how you combine the soup bread and cheese. I've had many a F.O.S. in France and there is no one "model" way to serve it.

Hope that helps.

~C

[Toliver]

Old School favorite: Cream of Tomato soup. Yes, the Campbell's condensed soup version.

There's a local restuarant that serves up this soup with a twist. I think they use half and half (or cream) which gives it an incredible mouth feel. They also toss in some basil and lemon pepper. It's decadent and nostalgic all in one bowl.

[Kbear919]

If you're going to be operating out of your own home, I hope you're planning to get your kitchen certified before you actually start selling. 

There are many many topics devoted to soups already.  If you're only looking for recipes at this point, why not start with those?

For general soup topics, see

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=111737&hl=soup

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=58505&hl=weeks

But there are so many other topics devoted to specific soups, too.

←

do you have any information on getting my kitchen certified? how would I go about doing so?

[DTBarton]

I love the minestrone from Marcella Hazan's Classic italian cookbook.

Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.culinate.com/recipes/collection...te+Kitchen/2128

[prasantrin]

do you have any information on getting my kitchen certified? how would I go about doing so?

←

In your own words

look mom my feet are behind my head...

Do your research before you start. There have also been topics on eGullet covering the use of home kitchens for business purposes, but they all start with the same advice--check with your local authorities. Surely you have better access to information about what to do in your own town than I.

Edited July 28, 2008 by prasantrin (log)

[chellie]

do you have any information on getting my kitchen certified? how would I go about doing so?

←

In your first post I noticed you said you were in Ohio. That's probably the best state to be in for a home-based food business!

The first thing you need to do is contact officials in your city/town. Local regulations can overrule state regs so make sure your locale allows for a home-based food business.

Ohio allows for cottage food industries due to the large Amish populations. In Ohio, what this means is that you can produce food in your home for sale without being licensed as long as it meets certain regulations, including: the food must not require refrigeration or it has to be properly packaged for long term storage (examples being cookies or cakes for the first, properly canned jams for the second), anything produced must be labeled with ingredients listed, and you can only sell the food within the state of Ohio. This link gives more detail.

Since you're talking about doing complete soups rather than dry soup mixes or the like, you would need to get licensed. The big two rules for getting licensed in Ohio are not having carpet in the kitchen and no indoor pets, though there may be additional rules for the specific type of food you're producing.

The Department of Food Safety would be able to answer the specifics

[Catriona]

Re summer soups - yogurt, cucumber and mint... Gazpacho (possibly with the garnishes sold separately? Slightly gimmicky but cute.)

[Tangelo]

This is a great hot-n-sour soup here: Chinese Spicy Hot and Sour Soup

And I have a great recipe from Cuisine@Home for chicken and homemade flat dumplings that has milk, cream, white wine and lemon juice in the broth. Mmmmmm.

[prasantrin]

Just out of curiousity, kbear919, do you already have some soups in mind? It seems your "passion" would come through more if you had some signature soups that stemmed from your own ideas. As it is, from the information you've given us, it seems you haven't really thought very seriously about the products other than the soup stocks. I would think that coming up with a product line would have come before working with graphic artists on a logo...

Also, you say your soups are going to made using "fresh local ingredients". What, then, are you planning to do during winter when "fresh local ingredients" are more difficult to source?

[Kbear919]

When fresh local ingredients are not available I will do what anyone else would do! Find the best alternative! It doesn't have to be 100% out of my backyard per se. Also I have tons of great recipes and have cooked them many times! So far i've got:

Tomato Mushroom Bisque

Red Lentil Soup With Lemon

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Sweet Corn and Truffle Chowder

Mac N Cheese Soup

Ginger Carrot Soup

Crab Chowder

French Onion Soup

to name a few!