The Soup Topic (2007–2012)

[Carrot Top]

[Moderator note: This topic became too large for our servers to handle, so we've divided it up; the earlier part of the discussion is here: The Soup Topic (2005–2006)]

Gringa's (that's me ) Faux Mexican Lentil Soup tonight.

Soften and just start to brown the very edges of chopped onion, celery, carrots in olive oil, medium flame.

Add chicken broth. Add some fresh salsa. Add some oregano, thyme, bay, cumin.

Add lentils. Add a touch of brown sugar.

Simmer twenty minutes or so. Remove from heat and stir in the zest from a fresh lemon.

Serve in deep bowls with a dollop of sour cream for those who like it, and with an handful of grated cheese of choice for those who like that, too.

Freshly made tortilla chips are good with this.

A bonus is that children who do not "like vegetables" (not my kids heh heh but some of their friends ) do not realize that this is a vegetable soup. They just think it's a "Mexican thing" and therefore cool.

Yum. Spicy, sweet, rich and good. Great for a rainy night. Or any other time, really.

[Jensen]

I made a creamy potato-cauliflower potage for dinner tonight. It was great.

I started by peeling and quartering 3 russet potatoes. They were boiled until done, then drained, and set aside. Then I cut the florets off half a head of cauliflower and boiled them until done.

The vegetables were put through my brand-new-for-Christmas mouli using the medium disk. Once all blended, chicken broth was added until the desired consistency was achieved (not really thick but not thin either). Seasoning was salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Just before serving, I added just enough cream to make it the right colour.

It was truly fabulous.

[Rover]

The soup for this evening was Creamy Parsnip Soup from a British recipe by Tamasin Day-Lewis. I think this is probably one of the simplest soups I've ever made and I was stunned by the amazing flavours. The parsnips provided a lovely sweet note complimented by the seasonings: cumin, corriander, garam masala and a pinch of cayenne. This is a very elegant soup finished with a swirl of truffle oil. I'm already planning the next batch!

Rover

[suzilightning]

lentil soup for work. one coworker contributed the ham bone from her christmas ham, another made ham salad with most of the meat and i got the bone for soup - onion, carrot, shallots, bay leaf, regular lentils and two half bags of red and light green. fresh thyme and rosemary. served up with roasted garlic bread and a touch of vinegar.

[Anna N]

Making this this soup for lunch today to use up some leftover chicken and have onions sweating to make Julia Child's classic onion soup for next week.

I second Rover's endorsement of the Curried Parsnip Soup from the BBC website!

[Rover]

Making this this soup for lunch today to use up some leftover chicken and have onions sweating to make Julia Child's classic onion soup for next week. 

I second Rover's endorsement of the Curried Parsnip Soup from the BBC website!

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Anna - I admire your industry and wanted to mention that for many years I used the Julia Child onion soup recipe. However, I've been making the Les Halles version by Bourdain over the past while and really, really like it. No question that Julia's is the classic, but Les Halles is far less labour intensive and can be completed quickly with terrific results - even on a week night if I'm organized.

I have a batch of Bourdain's mushroom soup already portioned in the refrigerator to take for lunches to work.

I plan to make the Tomato-Fennel Soup as soon as I can find some decent looking fennel.

Bourdain's soups have become close friends of mine.

Rover

[Anna N]

. . .

No question that Julia's is the classic, but Les Halles is far less labour intensive and can be completed quickly with terrific results - even on a week night if I'm organized.

I have a batch of Bourdain's mushroom soup already portioned in the refrigerator to take for lunches to work.

. . .

Rover

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I have made Anthony's mushroom soup many times and agree that it is great. If I lived alone and had just myself to please, I am sure I would try his onion soup too. But as it stands now, I might get tarred and feathered if I did any onion soup BUT Julia's.

Edited to fix typos.

Edited January 8, 2007 by Anna N (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Tonight I made a gigantic pot of potato-leek soup for the coming week.

Diced up three ribs of celery and began to saute those in about 5 Tbs. butter over low heat. Added three washed and chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only) and let that saute until translucent. Added about 7 peeled and diced potatoes and turned to coat the potatoes with the butter. Added a large carton of vegetable broth, plus one half carton of water to cover and let it all simmer for about half an hour. 15 minutes in I added salt, white pepper and about 1 Tbs. fresh thyme. When the potatoes were quite tender I pureed in batches in the blender with some whole milk and a dollop of light sour cream. Added all back into the pot and heated through. Tasted one more time, added a bit more salt and just the tiniest pinch of Death Rain habanero powder to wake it up. That did the trick.

I had two mugs full for dinner and tomorrow will have some croutons on top too!

[orangewasabi]

< have made Anthony's mushroom soup many times and agree that it is great.<

how dependent on the quality of the chicken stock is the greatness of this recipe?

as in, should I obsess over making the perfect stock first?

or can I fudge it with some deli stock and still get a decent result?

[Anna N]

< have made Anthony's mushroom soup many times and agree that it is great.<

how dependent on the quality of the chicken stock is the greatness of this recipe?

as in, should I obsess over making the perfect stock first?

or can I fudge it with some deli stock and still get a decent result?

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I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference since the mushroom flavour is dominant here. I use low-salt store-bought stock and the soup is still very good.

[purplewiz]

I agree - homemade stock will make it better (what doesn't it make better?), but the mushrooms dominate the flavor profile.

Marcia.

[suzilightning]

made some stock sunday from veg scraps and the bones from the venison roast.

after skimming fat and clarifying added some carmelized onions, carrots, leftover rice, leftover squashes and chopped beef. dinner for john- whose only complaint was there weren't enough carbs in it for him- and lunch today for me

[Carrot Top]

dinner for john- whose only complaint was there weren't enough carbs in it for him-

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There's a recipe in one of Arthur Schwartz' books that has both rice *and* potatoes in it. Wonder if that would be enough carbs for him. (Armenian Meatball Soup, and it's very good, too! )

[suzilightning]

dinner for john- whose only complaint was there weren't enough carbs in it for him-

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There's a recipe in one of Arthur Schwartz' books that has both rice *and* potatoes in it. Wonder if that would be enough carbs for him. (Armenian Meatball Soup, and it's very good, too! )

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might JUST be enough for him. will take a look at that one. thanks carrot top!

[Lindacakes]

Help . . . on the BBC Web site, I do not see the particular parsnip soup mentioned. I do like the potato, carrot and parsnip soup on epicurious. Also just tried the minestrone, which is delicious and uses a great amount of very healthy vegetables.

[Anna N]

Help . . . on the BBC Web site, I do not see the particular parsnip soup mentioned.  I do like the potato, carrot and parsnip soup on epicurious.  Also just tried the minestrone, which is delicious and uses a great amount of very healthy vegetables.

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Try this link.

[Rover]

Parsnip soup posted on RecipeGullet - Sorry, I should have come back and mentioned it. Enjoy!

Rover

[Lori in PA]

I made a Tomato Fennel soup -- recipe is on my blog listed below my signature. Perfect and warming for winter.

[lovebenton0]

i made the les halles mushroom soup on friday night, first time. started it in the afternoon for an early dinner because grandson was coming for a popcorn/movie evening. they dropped him off an hour earlier than planned, so the mushrooms slowly simmered for about three hours in my homemade chicken stock instead of one hour. also, i had no fresh parsley and the walk to the store and back with a bunch would have resulted in frozen parsley, so i used a leafy celery heart instead. i ended up putting it in the fridge that evening before pureeing the mushrooms. finished it yesterday, had mushroom soup for lunch. it was wonderful... intense mushroom flavor, thick, dark and rich.

but i couldn't resist messing with it. kept thinking what a great base it would make for mushroom barley soup, something with more vegs and more substantial for dinner. i cooked about a half pound of sliced carrots, another small, thin-sliced onion and 1/3 cup barley in more chicken stock and added that to the mushroom soup while it was reheating. served up with panini grilled fontinella cheese sandwiches on my own mixed grain sourdough bread. yep, it was more than substantial. a delicious variation and i'll enjoy more today.

[Anna N]

Yesterday I made this Baked Potato, Leek, Cheddar and Bacon Soup. I baked a couple of extra potatoes and we enjoyed the soup with a side of potato skins for a light but satisfying dinner. Tonight the extra baked potato flesh will extend some canned salmon for salmon patties!

[Jensen]

Tonight's dinner was the Curried Parsnip Soup. In the midst of cooking it, the Spawn commandeered my computer so I had to wing it on the spices. I came pretty close though...a little more cayenne in mine and I completely missed the flour. I garnished it with some croutons made from some bread I made this morning.

It was pretty darn good. Thanks for the recipe, Rover!

[Rover]

Tonight's dinner was the Curried Parsnip Soup. In the midst of cooking it, the Spawn commandeered my computer so I had to wing it on the spices. I came pretty close though...a little more cayenne in mine and I completely missed the flour. I garnished it with some croutons made from some bread I made this morning.

It was pretty darn good. Thanks for the recipe, Rover!

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Love your picture, Jensen - it's responsible for a fresh onslaught of my parsnip soup lust! I spotted a soup I'm dying to try on Chocolate & Zucchini http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2...imple_soupe.php which is beckoning "Une Simple Soup" - I even like the name! There may have to be a substitiution for black radish, turnips I suspect.

Rover

[Jensen]

There may have to be a substitiution for black radish, turnips I suspect.

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What about using daikon?

[TarteTatin]

We have lots of goose stock from Thanksgiving.

Would like to make a French onion soup with that.

Any ideas, recipes? Do you think it will work?

Hard to find time to go back and read all the pages in this thread to see if that was already covered.

[suzilightning]

We have lots of goose stock from Thanksgiving.

Would like to make a French onion soup with that.

Any ideas, recipes? Do you think it will work?

Hard to find time to go back and read all the pages in this thread to see if that was already covered.

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i don't think it was covered but it seems it is somewhere between the beef and chicken stock that usually goes into onion soup. since it may be a bit richer instead of using an onion confit saute the onions(yellow, sweet and leeks?) then add flour and salt and pepper, maybe a few stalks of thyme(ok - i'm a thmyeofile), the stock and simmer for about 45 minutes. maybe do an interesting crouton - ciabatta or a rye bread? a sprinkling of gruyere to finish

damn...... now i want onion soup