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Cream of [?] Soups


DanM

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Cream of name your vegetable soups have been at the heart of my diet for the past few weeks with this liquid diet I am on. I recently purchased a copy of James Peterson's Splendid Soups and have made some wonderful soups from there. I have a few nitpicks with the book, but that can be a discussion for another time.

I need some fresh ideas and spins on classic cream of ? soups. What are your favorites?

Edited by DanM (log)

"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

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Our favourite at home is 'cream of Sunday Lunch' which is made with all the leftover vegetables, must included mashed swede and carrots and any extra stuffing by choice, gravy of course and a good stock base.

Another one is lentil and tomato with the addition of Nigella seeds which really do transform it from bland to interesting.

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I am not that fond of the "cream of" style as I like lots of contrast in my food. The two I do on a regular basis are chicken stock based and very simple.

Onion and garlic get a quick saute in butter, spinach and watercress and a handful of peas are tossed in to soften. The lot is buzzed with an immersion blender till smooth and finished with a touch of cream and a bit of parmesan. Salted and peppered to taste.

Kabocha squash gets microwaved till soft and then finished in stock with a few slices of ginger (fish out before blending). I use a garlic heavy stock so if yours is plain you may want to add onion and garlic as above first. It gets finished with coconut milk and seasoned with a little chili oil. I usually add chopped cilantro and you could add that before you buzz it.

Super simple but comforting and they highlight the vegetable.

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There is also a CIA Book of Soups and a New Book of Soups. One take from the earlier book which I enjoyed was they didn't cringe in horror at the thought of using canned stock. While they recommended homemade stock, they recognized that in today's world homemaking stock was not always a possibility for many people.

I might imagine any vegetable which can be grilled, braised or roasted will be an excellent start to your cream soup efforts. The other weekend, I had fun and experimented in adding different types of roasted apples and pears to a butternut squash soup.

One other thought. On Martha radio on XM/Sirius they were discussing soups the other day and recommended using unsweetened condensed milk instead of heavy cream. Interesting...

Edited by JBailey (log)

"A cloud o' dust! Could be most anything. Even a whirling dervish.

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I call it Cream of Orange Soup. To your sauteed onions and garlic, add chicken stock and any combo of these: squash (orange-fleshed,)sweet potato, carrots and rutabaga. Puree with a dash of cream and season as you like it -- I like garam masala. (Note to self: Throw in a little orange juice next time.)

Margaret McArthur

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1912-2008

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Thanks for all of the ideas! Once I am back on my feet and able to cook again, I will give some of these ideas a try.

Dan

"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

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Over in the Recipes That Rock: 2011 thread, I posted a winter squash and red pepper/red chile soup that was totally stunning, and could be pureed down to complete smoothness if need be. It converted this former winter squash hater, it was that good.

--Roberta--

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There's a restaurant that I stake out waiting for them to bring back the beet and scallion soup every few weeks. Beets, scallions, lots of ginger and black pepper. It's very smooth, and I asked if they finished with cream. The cook said it's actually a vegan soup and they throw in a few potatoes and puree the whole thing really well. He wouldn't give me the recipe, but did say it had apple cider vinegar for a bite and there are enough scallions and ginger to make it kind of spicy.

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta." - Frederico Fellini

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At the end of summer last year, I cleaned out the last of the tomatoes from a friends garden, cut off the bad parts from them - they were dead ripe and beyond - cut them into chunks, and cooked them down. While they were cooking I took a few carrots and used a potato peeler to shave them into strips which I sauteed with onions, and garlic added after the carrots were soft and the onions lightly browned. I strained the seeds and skins from the tomatoes, added the sauteed stuff, and buzzed it smooth with an immersion blender. Served with black pepper ground over it.

I usually puree some of the potatoes & leeks to thicken the base for potato leek soup. It would probably be good fully creamed if you need it with no lumps.

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  • 3 months later...

Tonight I made a Carrot-Ginger-Coconut soup that was creamy but non-dairy based. Sweated out some diced spring garlic and ginger in butter and olive oil, added 2 Tbs. curry powder and a bit (about a tsp. each) of cumin, chile and white pepper then added a carton of vegetable stock and an equal portion of water and about 5 large peeled and chopped carrots. Boiled until everything was very soft and pureed in the blender in batches. I then added one can of light coconut milk and a tiny splash of fresh lime juice and called it done. It was delicious and I suspect will be just as good or better tomorrow, cold or hot.

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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My favorite strange soup to make is "Cream of X boil". Originally being from south louisiana we are always boiling some kind of seafood, and making a soup out of the onions, garlic, leftover corn and potatoes, usually some kind of sausage, and shrimp/crab/crawfish that were all in the boiling pot with all that seasoning makes an absolutely unbelievable soup.

You can simulate it without the giant seafood boil by boiling all the aforementioned ingredients minus the seafood with a little

liquid crab boil and some salt, then making a standard cream soup with the stuff you boiled.

zatarains%20crab%20boil%20liq.jpg

is what you need. DO NOT ADD IT DIRECTLY TO YOUR SOUP.

Edited by Twyst (log)
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A couple of nights ago I made a delicious jerusalem artichoke (sunchoke) soup. Sweet, nutty and earthy - I love the flavour, despite their reputation for..err..physiological after-effects. It was just finely chopped onions and jerusalem artichokes sauteed in butter till golden, thickened cream and milk stirred in, blended, and seasoned.

It tasted beautiful, though it was indeed a little windy in Sydney that night.. :smile:

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The best one I've had in my life was a simple cream of garlic soup at a sadly long-departed little French place in Detroit near the Ambassador Bridge, Aliette's Bakery and Restaurant. Aliette was in the kitchen while her husband took care of the front of the house.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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I also like chestnut soup. Make it around the holidays, but why not anytime?

Because I only have a houseful of nieces and nephews during the holidays to peel those pesky chestnuts! :wink:

Or you can buy these frozen peeled chestnuts directly from Michigan Chestnut Growers, Inc.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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Last week at a local Italian restaurant we were given an amuse-bouche of minted pea soup with truffle oil. The peas were the 'normal' green garden variety, not the dried type you usually associate with pea soup. It was very simple, very creamy, and delicious. It may not have been much more than a puree of peas with some mint in them, and the flavour was so strong it may not have even had any cream in it. And the truffle oil worked really well... it was the best dish of the night and I wish it was on the menu!

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I don't know what kind of diet you are on but if it is to count calories, skip this one. You must cook this in a double boiler type arrangement because you want to thicken the soup, not cook the eggs. You add any cooked vegetable you want and/or chicken. You may add whole or chopped vegetables and serve then as is or puree them when the mood hits you. Warning,,, if you try this cream of soup with sauteed mushrooms and onions, it will spoil you forever. You will never want to open a cream of mushroom soup can again.

BASIC CREAM SOUP

2 C. Chicken broth

1 C. finely cut vegetables (such as mushrooms)

1 onion, minced or grated

1/4 C. chopped parsley

salt and pepper

1 cup cream

2 egg yolks

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I'm very fond of Ecuador's signature cream soup, Locro de Queso. This is a thick cream of potato, white squash, and crumbled Queso Fresco flavoured with green onions and achiote - done right it's a warm gold colour.

Another fun one is Repe Blanco, a thick cream of plantain, potato, and white bean with heavy cream, garlic, and rosemary. Both of these soups are served with half an avocado floating in 'em.

Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011)My eG Foodblog (2012)

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I don't know what kind of diet you are on but if it is to count calories, skip this one...

This thread was started 4 months ago when I had a bowel obstruction, so I had to stay liquid until the surgery was possible. Life is back to normal now, but with a better appreciation for creamed soups.

Thanks anyways!

Dan

Edited by DanM (log)

"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

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Tonight I took advantage of the gorgeous spring garlic I found at the Farmer's Market and made a creamy Spring Garlic soup. Sweated out the bulbs and light green parts of five large stalks in herbed butter then added two peeled and diced red bliss potatoes and two cans of vegetable broth + equal amount of water. Let that simmer covered for about 15 minutes then added the finely sliced green parts, salt, white pepper and some thyme. Another 15 minute simmer then buzzed through the blender in batches and added about a cup of fat free half and half. Served piping hot with garlic/cheese croutons and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top. Delicious!!

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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