The Soup Topic (2007–2012)

[snowangel]

Bring up another soup question - how do you like to garnish your soups? I like a bit of pesto, olive oil, or yogurt, but I'd never thought of vinegar before.

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Some crispy lardons are rarely refused, IMHO!

[Chufi]

Bring up another soup question - how do you like to garnish your soups? I like a bit of pesto, olive oil, or yogurt, but I'd never thought of vinegar before.

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if I have a pureed soup, I like something crunchy as a garnish. I often fry up tiny cubes of potato in a little olive oil, and serve them in a bowl to add to the soup at the table as a kind of crouton.

[DanM]

Oy! How can I forget matzoh ball soup?? Talk about good soul food!

[Katie Meadow]

Yesterday I made Chicken and Barley Soup with Kale, using home-made chicken stock that I had frozen. It was very simple: leeks, carrots, celery, fennel, fresh thyme, barley, curly kale, chunks of light and dark meat. It's a variation on a soup I make all the time. Sometimes I make lamb stock from shanks and do Scotch Broth (in that case I omit the kale), sometimes I use a combination of carcasses and bones and make a hybrid stock, but I'm into barley big time these days.

[LindaK]

For dinner, Tuesday, I made my riff on thom kha gai. The last of the homemade chicken broth, steeped with a small mountain of chopped and bruised lemongrass, coriander seeds, chili paste, the juice of a lime, and strips of the rind, fish sauce, a pinch of brown sugar, garlic, and other seasonings which fail me right now. I heat all that up, to a bare simmer, and let it steep that way for a half hour to an hour.

Yes! yesyesyes!

I haven't made this soup in ages, thanks for putting it back on my radar. This and that New York Times article LindaK mentioned on asian chicken soups has put me in the mood for a big bowl of fragrant soup.

Are there any threads, cook-offs, etc. that would teach me (and others) how to use ingredients such as lemongrass, fish sauce, etc. and other staples of SE asian cuisine? I'm entirely comfortable improvising within the range of western cuisines, and entirely ignorant about how to do the same within those of asia. And soups, more than anything else IMO, are about improvising. Where to start??

[nakji]

Why yes, yes there are.

Asian noodle soups cook-off

Also check out the laksa topic, which appears in need of reviving.

Do we have the perfect pho broth?

Thai cooking and ingredients topic.

Thai soups topic

Plus many more! Check out the links in the cook-off topic, and frolic through the Elsewhere in Asia Pacific cooking and baking forum.

[LindaK]

Thanks Nakji. That is an impressive list.

There's more snow in the forecast for tonight/tomorrow. I see a lot of eG reading and soupmaking happening at my house.

[Hiroyuki]

Do miso soups count? How about sumashi jiru (clear soups)? And, ara jiru (soups with fish trimmings)?

HereHere is a thread on miso soups in the Japan Forum.

I usually have some kind of soup at least twice a day (for breakfast and supper), because with a Japanese rice-centered meal ("ichi-ju san-sai" or "one soup plus three side dishes"), soup is not optional but required, and is not regarded as a side dish. But, tonjiru or butajiru (pork soup), which is usually very substantial, can be a great side dish.

[prasantrin]

I'm still all phlegmy after a week of being sick, so I decided to make use of the national holiday to make soup.

I made more chicken stock yesterday. Some will be used to make chicken soup (poached some chicken breast in the stock to add more flavour to it), and some I used today to make leek and potato soup.

No leeks to be found, so I used Japanese negi. I know potato doesn't freeze too well, so I saved half the sauteed negi for a future soup. Added sliced potatoes, then covered with chicken stock and boiled until potatoes were tender. Pureed with my stick blender (only the second time I've used it in the 5 years I've been here). It's almost perfect!

More of the chicken stock will be used to make kabocha soup a little later. Hopefully it will turn out better than my last attempt.

[Chris Amirault]

Dinner tonight was potato, kale, and chourico soup, simple and delicious. Along with the usual (onions and garlic sauteed, yukon golds cooked in stock, bay, sage, thyme, black and white pepper), I tossed in a pinch of allspice, which perked things up nicely.

[localherbavore]

[quote=pedie,Jan 8 2009, 11:08 AM

So far this year I have made a simple celery root and leek pureed soup that was delightful. Any suggestions for dressing this soup for a bit of excitement?

-> Have you tried saute'ing tart apple in a light brown butter as a garnish/ enhansement to the dish?

[LizD518]

I used up all the spare chicken parts in my freezer to make stock yesterday. Now I have a few soups on my radar: Italian Wedding soup with homemade turkey meatballs, and spicy black bean and vegetable soup. I also want to do a carrot-ginger soup sometime in the next few weeks.

[hazardnc]

I made made vegetable beef soup, using left over beef ribs (for stock) and green beans leftover from Christmas dinner. Last night, I made chicken and dumplings -does that count as soup?

I have a terrible head cold - give me more soup!

[C. sapidus]

I made cream of curried pea soup tonight. Frozen peas, curry powder, chicken stock and thinly-sliced onion, carrot, celery, potato, and garlic. Simmer until tender, buzz with a stick blender, and add cream. Perfect for dosing children with extra vegetables on a weeknight.

[Tom Gengo]

This weekend I made 2 soups. The first is a Beef Barley Soup. Used 2 Beef Shanks, browned them and simmered w/ 8 cups water for about 1 hour with 2 bay leaves and 4 cloves to flavor the stock. Added the Barley for another hour and 1/2. Took the meat and shredded it while 2 celery, 2 carrots, 2 onions (all chopped) and 2 minced garlic simmered in the soup for about 1/2 hour. After adding the meat it was a bit insipid, so I added about 1/4 cup of concentrated beef stock which gave it the unctuous flavorful soup that I was seeking.

The other is a Creamed Butternut Squash Soup which is very easy and very flavorful. I cut the BS into 1/4's, seeding (reserved) and rubbing w/ olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper and kosher salt and roasted them in a 350 F, cut side down, for 90 min's. Meanwhile, I sauteed the pulp from the BS in 1/4 cup of butter with 2 minced shallots for about 10 min's, added 8 cups of water, a large pinch of saffron and a bunch of thyme and simmered for 2 hours. Strained the stock, added the BS pulp into the stock and simmered for about 2 hours. Added freshly cracked black pepper and hit it w/ the immersion blender. Voila, a silky smooth, robust and a nice mouthfeel without any cream.

Chicken stock is simmering on the stove right now- not sure what is next.

[cbread]

My first soup of the year started as a gratin - the Swiss potato gratin from Silver Palate Cookbook. OK but not special, possibly I got the parsley wrong - perhaps too much - I think in grams and so few cookbooks lay out quantities in a dependable way - anyway it was a bit strong on the parsley flavor.

Part of it happily transmogrified into on one night into a country mashed potato, and the rest was changed the next night into a much more satisfactory rustic potato onion cheese soup. The soup was much the best.

Edited January 13, 2009 by cbread (log)

[Elizabeth Clauser]

I made a celery root soup - it's pretty much potato leek, except instead of potatoes, you use, well, celery root. Also added some chile powder to add a little heat in the back and subtle kick. It had a nice, bright flavor, but was still a comforting, satisfying dish.

[MattyC]

Always love making soup, yesterday I made a butternut squash soup. garnished with some curried pumpkin seeds and a little bit of cider vinegar, came out really well.

And the other week I made a simple but good one, some simple corn chowder, but with a little bit of crispy pancetta. Very nice, although I will take any excuse to put pancetta on something or put it with something.

Hmm.... now I feel like making another one today

[KingLear]

Peanut butter chicken.

[OnigiriFB]

Peanut butter chicken.

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That sounds interesting. Is it an African recipe? I'd love to see it. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter but I love unique flavors and different foods. I've never heard of a peanut butter soup before.

[KingLear]

Peanut butter chicken.

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That sounds interesting. Is it an African recipe? I'd love to see it. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter but I love unique flavors and different foods. I've never heard of a peanut butter soup before.

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I believe that it is of African origin. My wife made it a couple of days ago using chicken stock that I made on the weekend. It's a friend's recipe, so I'm not 100% certain of the cultural provenance.

It does, however, have a flavor also somewhat reminiscent of Thai. Our friend is neither African nor Thai, but she does have good taste.

I'll post the recipe soon.

[KingLear]

Here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Chicken Soup

Serves 6

1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup chopped onion

1 red pepper, chopped

1 teaspoons chopped garlic

1/4 cup long grain rice

4 cups chicken stock

1 28 ounce can chopped tomatoes, with juice

1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes, or to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

In a medium skillet, preferably cast-iron, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken on both sides and then reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook, turning frequently, until the juices run clear, but do not overcook. It is actually preferable to slightly undercook the chicken as it will be added to the soup and cooked further in the liquid. Once cooked, remove the chicken to a large bowl to cool. Reserve any liquid that may pool in the bowl.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot set over medium heat. Add the onions and red pepper and sauté until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.

Add the rice, stock, tomatoes with juice, pepper flakes, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is tender.

Whisk in the peanut butter until well blended. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the bowl, discard the skin and, using either your fingers or two forks, PULL the chicken from the bone and apart along the fibers. DO NOT cut, chop, mince or otherwise use a knife or other sharp instrument. Once all the chicken has been pulled into small pieces, add to the soup, along with any liquid remaining in the bowl. Simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Serve with a sprinkle of thyme on top.

[C. sapidus]

Carrot soup with orange and ginger. Good stuff.

[Lilija]

Yesterday, I had some Italian sausage to use up, that went into a pan, followed by onions, fennel, 3 times more garlic than looks prudent, cannelini, and 2 bunches of Swiss chard, diced up. Sage, lemon juice and rind, Parmesan, a ton of red pepper flakes, and a slosh or two of vermouth.

That was dinner yesterday, and it was amazingly good. Today will be those leftovers, turned into soup. I'm going to reheat the mess in chicken broth, with more cheese, pepper flakes, and garlic, with a potato or two, cubed in it, to stretch. So, a white bean sausage and potato soup.

[snowangel]

Peanut butter chicken.

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That sounds interesting. Is it an African recipe? I'd love to see it. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter but I love unique flavors and different foods. I've never heard of a peanut butter soup before.

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There is a whole Cook-Off devoted to Mafe -- Peanut Stew.