The Soup Topic (2007–2012)

[meicjos41]

Here is some sweet potato soup with some of the best cheese in the U.S. (Carr Valley Snow White Cheddar), a little bit of Hawaiian pink salt, and some ok truffle oil.

Edited January 26, 2009 by meicjos41 (log)

[jgarner53]

I've pulled the turkey stock from Christmas out of the freezer, along with the last of the leftover turkey, for turkey noodle tonight (with wonderfully chewy frozen noodles from a company called "Grandma's"). Divine. Hopefully my loaf of sourdough will come out to round out the meal.

[chezcherie]

Chezcherie, I was inspired by your cream of poblano soup recipe. I made a terrific soup tonight, being lucky enough to have all the ingredients on hand--and not much else!

I used your proportions with the following substitutions: New Mexico green chiles that had been roasted and frozen, red boiling potatoes instead of a russet, and for stock I used a rich turkey stock that I had frozen after the holidays. I used the blender and didn't strain the soup. For the finish I used half and half and milk. No cheese. If I had cilantro I might have garnished with that.

The chiles turned out to be hotter than I expected (they were Big Jim's which are relatively mild for NM green) so the soup was pretty hot; next time I will use a bit less. A great and very simply soup--thanx!

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awww, thanks! so glad you reported back. i'm delighted that it worked out well, and your amendments sound great. in fact, i've got frozen hatch chiles and turkey stock in my freezer too, so when the poblanos aren't as beautiful as they've been of late, i'll try yours. i bet a little bit of cheese would take a bit of the sting out of those big jim's! so glad you enjoyed it!

[abooja]

In the past month, I've made matzoh ball soup, beefy vegetable soup -- termed "peasant soup" by DH, Moroccan chickpea (and lentil) soup twice, French onion soup and tortilla soup. On deck is my grandmother's recipe for what we always called meatball and orzo soup, and more closely resembles chickarina than it does Italian wedding soup in that it contains no green, leafy vegetables other than parsley. I'm going to make beef stock with the meaty short rib bones from my second burger making session in nine months. I saved them from the last time and have been waiting to gather enough to make stock with ever since. It totally brings this soup to a new level, which is awesome to begin with.

[purplewiz]

It's 3 degrees out, so for dinner I made Beef Barely Soup.

No, that's not a typo. It was supposed to be Beef Barley Soup, but I had barely any barley (oops, it's on the list), so it was dubbed Beef Barely Soup. Beef, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, thyme, beef stock, sherry, and the little barley I had. It was delicious.

[MelissaH]

Carrot soup with orange and ginger. Good stuff.

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Have you ever tried this soup with blood orange juice? I'm thinking strictly from a color viewpoint.

MelissaH

[SobaAddict70]

a vegetable soup of sorts for friday's noonish meal:

homemade chicken vegetable stock

onion, garlic, carrots, butternut squash, a few sprigs of thyme.  cook until the carrot and squash are just soft.  add some tiny pasta.

served with a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.

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Please excuse me if I'm wrong, BUT 1) You're in the cold North East. 2) It's January. So, please tell me WHERE you're getting tomatoes decent enough for a grill cheese and tomato? I'm in Florida, for heavens sake, and even here I can't find a decent tomato!

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Believe it or not, the farmer's market at Union Square had hydroponic-grown tomatoes and basil a week ago. No, I didn't buy any.

They were selling for $4.50/lb.

Even if cost were not a factor, there's something wrong imho about having access to tomatoes in the middle of winter.

[C. sapidus]

Carrot soup with orange and ginger. Good stuff.

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Have you ever tried this soup with blood orange juice? I'm thinking strictly from a color viewpoint.

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I have not tried blood oranges, but they would probably suit this soup nicely. I will make a note for next time, whenever that might be . . .

Tonight I made pumpkin soup (click) from Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago. This is a savory soup with chicken stock, coconut milk, onions, garlic, lots of green herbs, and a shot of hot sauce. Instead of using cilantro, we made a batch of "green seasoning" (clicky) a paste of garlic and fresh chives, thyme, oregano, parsley, and “shado beni” (culantro or sawtooth coriander).

This takes me closer to my goal: reproducing a hauntingly delicious pumpkin soup that we enjoyed in Barbados. Not there yet, but closer.

[abooja]

Tonight, I made a creamy carrot soup of my own design from the Create Your Own Recipe software on FineCooking.com. It contained leeks, ginger, chicken broth, sherry, cumin and cider vinegar. When that wasn't enough, I dumped in more cumin and a bit of cinnamon. When that and a bit more salt didn't do the trick, I added a lot more cider vinegar. That made it edible. I topped it with chopped, toasted, salted and buttered pecans. Lardons, if I had them, would have made much more sense, but I was staying true to my stupid little recipe. I didn't even get through half a bowl, but DH, the carrot nut, actually liked this soup. Good. He's eating it for lunch tomorrow.

[KendallCollege]

"chicken noodle soup"...

braised/pulled chicken thighs w/ carrot.potato.rutabega.turnip.tagliatelle.parsley.

i poured a hot chicken jus around the pile of "good eats" and snuggled closer to my wife. my dad and his girlfriend were there, too.

we were watching (while the fireplace flickered), "Hot Shots. Part Deux"!!!

((that last bit was poetic, eh?!))

i was visiting my hometown a few weeks ago and had rented a massive condo. ::FYI two people don't need 4 bedrooms. how could i resist?! what if a party would've broken out?!!! where would the bodies fall?!:: my dad was perplexed because he figured that we'd crash at "the homestead"...

he had no problem making a mess out of the place, though!!!

i cooked dinner for our last night and he couldn't have been happier with my humble "chicken noodle stew" and fresh, buttery rolls.

everything was perfect.

=)

-tw-

[Lilija]

"chicken noodle soup"...

braised/pulled chicken thighs w/ carrot.potato.rutabega.turnip.tagliatelle.parsley.

i poured a hot chicken jus around the pile of "good eats" and snuggled closer to my wife.  my dad and his girlfriend were there, too.

we were watching (while the fireplace flickered), "Hot Shots. Part Deux"!!!

((that last bit was poetic, eh?!))

i was visiting my hometown a few weeks ago and had rented a massive condo. ::FYI two people don't need 4 bedrooms.  how could i resist?!  what if a party would've broken out?!!!  where would the bodies fall?!:: my dad was perplexed because he figured that we'd crash at "the homestead"...

he had no problem making a mess out of the place, though!!!

i cooked dinner for our last night and he couldn't have been happier with my humble "chicken noodle stew" and fresh, buttery rolls.

everything was perfect.

=)

-tw-

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That sounds like my kind of comfort food, right there. I think chicken and noodles might be my "desert island" food.

Tonight, we had soup, kale, onions, potatoes, sausage, in chicken broth with lots of red pepper flakes and garlic, finished with enough heavy cream to make it pale. The only potatoes we had were big fluffy Idaho jobbers, so they dissolved in the soup, and it was perfect. I, for one, despise hard waxy cubes of potato lumbering around in my soup bowl.

[jess mebane]

totally awesome. doing just that tonight, with the deer ssg that threatens to overtake my freezers, ergo, life.

[Priscilla]

The other night I thawed some roasted beet puree I'd socked away in the freezer when faced with an overage of roasted beets and made a cream of beet soup that was really good. Just the seasoned puree and heavy cream simmered to the correct consistency.

[KendallCollege]

mmm...beet soup. w/ "oyster crackers"...and a tall glass of cold milk.

[KendallCollege]

sounds perfect.

-tw-

Edited January 28, 2009 by KendallCollege (log)

[scubadoo97]

I made a CSA vegetable soup.

I had some dried cannellini beans that I cooked in the pressure cooker. From there I decided to do a soup even though temperatures were near 80 today. Cold fronts coming though.

The soup consisted of diced onions, carrots, celery, a couple of plum tomatoes, white turnips and their greens, radishes, the cannellinis and their liquid, chicken stock, a little pancheta and garlic.

[LizD518]

Has anyone used quinoa in a soup? I am trying to use some of the various grains, legumes and starches in my pantry and one of the things I don't know what to do much with is the quinoa. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[C. sapidus]

. . . Beef Barely Soup.

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On merstar’s recommendation I made curried cauliflower soup with coriander chutney (with lime juice instead of lemon juice because that's what we had on hand). The roasted cauliflower tasted delicious but the finished soup seemed a little bland, so I added cayenne, garam masala, and more curry powder. The coriander chutney (subbing coconut milk for yogurt) pulled things together nicely.

[DanM]

Moosewood's squash and bean soup. A good balance between sweet and savory.

Dan

[jdtofbna]

I made a comforting Cannelini and Broccoli Rabe Soup last night from a friend's blog Feeding Groom. Well, shoot. I was going to post a photo but can't seem to see the button to let me do that. Loaded with flavor from herbs, shallots, garlic, fennel and broccoli rabe, it was a lovely soup for a cold gloomy evening.

[jess mebane]

something in the air! Made mine with ssg, spinach, potato and parm, with enough cream to convince the nonbelievers. Oh! and a soupcon of sherry, since we were watching The Aristocats. Remember the marinated/drunken uncle goose?

[azurite]

Has anyone used quinoa in a soup?  I am trying to use some of the various grains, legumes and starches in my pantry and one of the things I don't know what to do much with is the quinoa.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Deborah Madison (Vegetable Soups) has a "comfort food" soup that uses quinoa (1 cup uncooked). Other ingredients are: two potatoes, a bunch of spinach, 1/4 lb or so of feta cheese, corn (a cup or so, the recipe calls for 2 ears of corn) and a jalapeno pepper. Some salt & pepper to taste.

I really like the soup. It's fairly fast to make & not complicated. You can vary the ingredient proportions somewhat depending on what you've got on hand & still get a tasty soup. She includes an earlier version of this soup in "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone." Ms. Madison suggests rinsing the quinoa before you cook it, to rinse off any remaining saponins (bitter).

Probably there are other recipes around, maybe a search of epicurious.com would yield some interesting recipes? I'd guess you could substitute quinoa for rice or tiny pastas in some soup recipes, particularly the tiny pastas as quinoa cooks fairly rapidly.

azurite

[weinoo]

We're big fans of potato and leek soup....not Vichyssoise (which is cold cream-based leek and potato soup), but hot potato/leek soup, made with nothing but leeks, potatoes, garlic, olive oil, water, salt and pepper.

Start with a pound of leeks and clean them really well - but you knew that, otherwise you'll be eating sand. Cut up the leeks and start sweating them in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (sweating means just what it sounds like - let 'em wilt, but without any color). Add a few cloves of thinly sliced garlic. While this is going on, peel and cube (1" cubes are good) a pound of russet or yukon gold potatoes. Throw them in the pot, cover with water, add salt and pepper, and boil gently till the potatoes fall apart. You can help them along with the side of a wooden spoon. Back to the salt - taste and add more - it'll need it. Potatoes absorb salt like that Star Trek villain that sucked the salt out of people in the episode called The Man Trap. So add more. Don't worry - it still won't be as much salt as is in that bag of chips. Ladle into warm soup bowls - (by the way, if you're serving hot soup, warm up the bowls - it's the little things that count). Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and serve with that crusty bread.

Simple and delicious - and you can see some pix by clicking here.

[nakji]

Recently I've gotten into a bit of a gifting spiral with my local allotment man. It started when I introduced one of my co-workers to the idea of buying his produce at the allotment stand. Turns out, he's an early riser, and he now regularly beats me to the stand and snags all the best bits daily. Whenever I run into him in our neighborhood, we now play "I got a broccoli - what did you get?" one-upmanship. Okay, so the other week, he wins with "cauliflower". Cauliflower! They're 400 yen at the shops! Unacceptable. Bribery is an important weapon in ingredient sourcing, so I hit the stand with my secret weapon - daikon yuzu pickles made with daikon and yuzu I'd bought at the stand. Boom. I have a friend for life in the allotment man (cue evil laugh) - and this week I got my own cauliflower, a bag of citrons, and I giant bunch of leeks! A result, as the British say.

I don't have an oven for roasting, so I decided on second best - soup! I took a leek, sauteed it in some butter, threw in a spoon of Japanese curry powder, a tablespoon each of chopped garlic and ginger, then a chopped potato and cauliflower. A few minutes in the seasoning bath, then I topped it up with some chicken stock and a bit of apple juice, and let it stew over night in the fridge. Never underestimate the power of time for a good soup.

The next night I added a bit of cream, pureed it, and dinner was on the table in ten minutes.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the citrons.

[JAZ]

We're big fans of potato and leek soup....not Vichyssoise (which is cold cream-based leek and potato soup), but hot potato/leek soup, made with nothing but leeks, potatoes, garlic, olive oil, water, salt and pepper.

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I made potato-leek soup recently as well, but I use butter and chicken stock; I like the flavor and body they add to the soup. And I finish with a drizzle of cream.

Strictly speaking, by the way, the potatoes don't absorb salt, but you're right that this soup does need quite a bit, especially when you start with water instead of stock. I also add a pinch of ground mustard and some nutmeg.

More recently I made the coconut seafood soup from Kasma Loha-Unchit's It Rains Fishes. Really easy if you have the aromatics on hand, but it does require lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal (I used ginger) and fish sauce. I used all shrimp instead of the combination she calls for, but it was great.