The Soup Topic (2007–2012)

[Jamie Lee]

Marlene, the LC queen, has spoken!

Knowing how much my only LC stock pot weighs, I can only imagine what a 23 quart, or 20 quart LC pot weighs.... Motochef.. have you put that bad-boy on the scale?

Or Marlene, can you put your LC on the scale?

What would a 20 or 23 quart LC weigh filled with soup or braised short ribs... egads!

I'm such a weight weiner right now, I doubt I could lift such a beast.

[llc45]

I've got the same LC. I got it because I tend to cook in bulk a lot and then freeze. Must say I'm glad I have my husband around to lug it in and out of the oven for me. The weight of it when filled actually bends the oven shelf. I've had it for a long time now but finally thinking about breaking down and getting a small size one (especially to do the no knead bread discussed on this site).

I love soup. Can't wait to try the pepper soup discussed above since I have never found a recipe that has been quite right. Love Caldo Verde and Corn chowder. Must say that I've never yet made a mushroom soup yet that made me say wow. I make a lot of vegetable based soups. Two of my favorites are Italian Vegetable Soup and Szechwan Carrot Soup.

[potsticker]

I can't wait for it to get cooler to really appreciate a big nice hot bowl of some kind of chowder.

For now, I'll just appreciate it as much as I can.

Cooking soup for one really is difficult, even in a smaller pot/saucepan. I still wind up with like 4 days of soup. Good thing I like soup.

[Jamie Lee]

Day-um, I started this thread, all "gung-ho" to start souping, and now I'm feeling too puny to get out to shop. I hope those out there feeling less puny will continue to post and inspire!

I'm also totally seriously interested in the Le Creuset jumbo pots...

Motochef, Marlene and llc45 have all admitted to owning what is apparently the LC beast of all beasts...

PICS... I need pics! Or even better, a pic of those pots on a scale!

llc45 admitted to needing help to transport said beast when full.. Motochef and Marlene, how do you transport these behemoths when fully loaded? (Not that you can't handle them on your own!)

Details, please!

[natter]

If you are looking to make soup in smaller batches, perhaps you can whip up some concentrated bases, then freeze them in single portion bags. Then when you need them, take them out, heat them up, and thin them out.

I do this successfully with clam chowder, but I'm sure the same method would translate to some other soups as well. Maybe with a few different veg purees that you can mix and match as desired.

[Marlene]

Motochef, Marlene and llc45 have all admitted to owning what is apparently the LC beast of all beasts...

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I didn't say I owned one, just that I know that Le Crueset has a 20 qt stock pot and 15 quart pot!

[Katie Meadow]

When making a big pot of soup or stew I adore my Le Creuset. It's big enough for soup but not for stock, since I like to make a max amount of stock in order to freeze some. So when I make stock I use a really large high-sided stainless steel pot that can accomodate a whole chicken, extra feet and various types of bones, etc. It seems to me that the weight of a 20+qt. LC (or even a 15!) would be prohibitive with stock in it. I haven't noticed any substantial difference in the quality of stock made in a light-weight stainless pot vs enameled cast iron. I saute bones, if I'm using them, in basic cast iron and then transfer them to the stock pot. I would have thought that a simmer is a simmer, and all the great attributes of cast iron aren't really crucial to making a stock. I'm curious...can anyone testify to a difference? Am I making crock stock without a proper stock crock?

[Jamie Lee]

[eskay]

I love making soup, I try to have at least one meal-size container in the freezer for those days when I'm too tired/in too much of a hurry/going to be at school late. I feel that something hot like soup is so much more filling than just a sandwich or whatever else I can get in a hurry.

Right now the current batch is sweet potato that was cooked with lots of herbs, as I recall I only have one more container of that left...when it's gone I'm thinking something bean-y. Either that or leek and potato, because I've never made it. Suggestions appreciated.

A friend of mine recently made leek and pear soup, which made me go but he insisted it was good. Not to say I haven't made some questionable decisions in the soup department as well--I recall a brilliant idea of mine to make a peanut and celery soup that turned out a little odd.

[Toliver]

Here is a previous discussion on soups with a lot of inspiration and recipes:

52 1/2 Weeks, 53 Soups, A New Years Resolution I Can Keep

[jgm]

Must say that I've never yet made a mushroom soup yet that made me say wow.

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Have you tried the recipe in the Les Halles cookbook? It's excellent. We add cream at the end, and a little white wine instead of the sherry. My husband also prefers to have mushroom slices in the soup, so I use a very large teaball, and put extra (additional) mushroom slices in it. Then I pull it out, puree the rest of the soup, and add the mushrooms back in. We love it.

[suzilightning]

Must say that I've never yet made a mushroom soup yet that made me say wow.

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Have you tried the recipe in the Les Halles cookbook? It's excellent. We add cream at the end, and a little white wine instead of the sherry. My husband also prefers to have mushroom slices in the soup, so I use a very large teaball, and put extra (additional) mushroom slices in it. Then I pull it out, puree the rest of the soup, and add the mushrooms back in. We love it.

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ditto on this recipe llc45. i made it with creminis instead of white buttons. neither johnnybird nor i are big mushroom fans but loved this recipe.

[ludja]

Must say that I've never yet made a mushroom soup yet that made me say wow.

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Have you tried the recipe in the Les Halles cookbook? It's excellent. We add cream at the end, and a little white wine instead of the sherry. My husband also prefers to have mushroom slices in the soup, so I use a very large teaball, and put extra (additional) mushroom slices in it. Then I pull it out, puree the rest of the soup, and add the mushrooms back in. We love it.

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ditto on this recipe llc45. i made it with creminis instead of white buttons. neither johnnybird nor i are big mushroom fans but loved this recipe.

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Another excellent recipe for a creamless mushroom soup that I was just referring to in another thread is the wild mushroom soup in Rosso and Lukins "New Basics Cookbook". It is mostly button mushrooms but a small amount of dried wild mushrooms. Other ingredients are leeks, chicken and beef stock and Madeira. Creme fraiche and chopped chives for a garnish. I *always* get requests for this recipe when I make it and it is now the soup I make almost every Thanksgiving although I like to switch it up now and then although I think my family and friends are disappointed when I don't make it. It's worth going to the library to get a copy of the recipe!

[ludja]

This week I made chicken soup for my ailing husband and daughter. I make it in the traditional way, but when it's for sick folks, I add a knob of ginger and almost a whole head of garlic to it. Makes it warming and aromatic. I squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the bowl before serving.

Husband is much better today!

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Glad they're feeling better. The addition of ginger, garlic and lemon juice is a wonderful idea I'll need to remember when the next cold strikes our house. Thanks!

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ludja and foodies 52 -

have you ever added fresh tarragon to the pot?

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I love tarragon in chicken salad so I can definately picture this. Do you add the tarragon to chicken soups with the ginger, garlic and lemon juice or more on its own, maybe with the garlic? I guess as it is somewhat delicate you add it in just at the end?

[Marlene]

Oops, sorry. I still wish for a pic of that monster on a scale! 

I just thought you had every LC container known to man (or WOman!) in your collection.  My bad!

Braise in Peace.

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Almost. In fact, I picked up a Le Creuset butter bell this summer. Little Ms. Foodie's pic of Bouchon's French onion soup, in the dinner! thread, is inspiring me to go make that next week. French Onion is my favourite soup. Ever.

Edited September 29, 2007 by Marlene (log)

[NimaCooks]

Soup/Chili season and football are why I start looking forward to colder weather in mid-august. (well that and the blistering chicago humidity) But I am so inspired by the suggestions in this post, I think I may need to take a weekend off from chili and make that Caldo Verde soup for the games this weekend. I wonder if chorizo would work....

The pictures look wonderful. It looks very similar to the "zuppa toscana" from the olive garden. Does it taste anything like it

jgm, I've been eyeing that les halles mushroom soup for a little while now and I think that would be next. I love the idea of cooking the mushrooms with the soup in the teaball. I'm definitely going to try that. Thanks.

[llc45]

Must say that I've never yet made a mushroom soup yet that made me say wow.

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Have you tried the recipe in the Les Halles cookbook? It's excellent. We add cream at the end, and a little white wine instead of the sherry. My husband also prefers to have mushroom slices in the soup, so I use a very large teaball, and put extra (additional) mushroom slices in it. Then I pull it out, puree the rest of the soup, and add the mushrooms back in. We love it.

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ditto on this recipe llc45. i made it with creminis instead of white buttons. neither johnnybird nor i are big mushroom fans but loved this recipe.

←

Another excellent recipe for a creamless mushroom soup that I was just referring to in another thread is the wild mushroom soup in Rosso and Lukins "New Basics Cookbook". It is mostly button mushrooms but a small amount of dried wild mushrooms. Other ingredients are leeks, chicken and beef stock and Madeira. Creme fraiche and chopped chives for a garnish. I *always* get requests for this recipe when I make it and it is now the soup I make almost every Thanksgiving although I like to switch it up now and then although I think my family and friends are disappointed when I don't make it. It's worth going to the library to get a copy of the recipe!

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Thank you all so much for the recommendations. I love mushroom soup and have tried many recipes over the years with no wow factor. I checked out Les Halles and it seems well worth buying. Especially since I have a major crush on Anthony Bourdain . Sshhh - Don't tell my husband. Plus, as luck would have it, I pulled out my Silver Palate Cookbook and found the wild mushroom soup recipe. Will let you know how I make out.

[monavano]

Must say that I've never yet made a mushroom soup yet that made me say wow.

←

Have you tried the recipe in the Les Halles cookbook? It's excellent. We add cream at the end, and a little white wine instead of the sherry. My husband also prefers to have mushroom slices in the soup, so I use a very large teaball, and put extra (additional) mushroom slices in it. Then I pull it out, puree the rest of the soup, and add the mushrooms back in. We love it.

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ditto on this recipe llc45. i made it with creminis instead of white buttons. neither johnnybird nor i are big mushroom fans but loved this recipe.

←

Another excellent recipe for a creamless mushroom soup that I was just referring to in another thread is the wild mushroom soup in Rosso and Lukins "New Basics Cookbook". It is mostly button mushrooms but a small amount of dried wild mushrooms. Other ingredients are leeks, chicken and beef stock and Madeira. Creme fraiche and chopped chives for a garnish. I *always* get requests for this recipe when I make it and it is now the soup I make almost every Thanksgiving although I like to switch it up now and then although I think my family and friends are disappointed when I don't make it. It's worth going to the library to get a copy of the recipe!

←

Thank you all so much for the recommendations. I love mushroom soup and have tried many recipes over the years with no wow factor. I checked out Les Halles and it seems well worth buying. Especially since I have a major crush on Anthony Bourdain . Sshhh - Don't tell my husband. Plus, as luck would have it, I pulled out my Silver Palate Cookbook and found the wild mushroom soup recipe. Will let you know how I make out.

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3rd. 4th and 5th Tony Bourdain's simple and delicious mushroom soup. BTW, for his French onion soup, the addition of balsamic vinegar in lieu of wine is brilliant.

[Bella S.F.]

As far as the "Chicken Soup Remedy Soup" is concerned... I call mine Jewish/Chinese Penicillin. I like to use homemade stock but of course there are times when I run out. Everything I add does make canned stock taste much better.

Like many of you, I do add garlic and fresh ginger (which I marinate in sherry). I also add hot chili oil, some sesame oil, and hot chili paste. I add carrots sometime along the way. (shredded or thin diagonal slices) I like to add some cans of creamed corn, but I do that at the very end. If it cooks too much the creaminess just disappears. Then I usually also add a package of chicken gyoza which I get at Trader Joes. I like them in the soup better than potstickers because they are lighter, although if you cannot get gyoza, potstickers would probably work also. Right before serving I add chopped scallions/green onions. This is wonderful with or without adding any chicken.

Edited September 29, 2007 by Bella S.F. (log)

[janeer]

I have been making a lot of soups lately, to use up stocks and take advantage of great farm stand bargains, like $5 heirloom tomatoes. Here is authentic gazpacho, pasta e fagioli made with turkey stock and fresh cranberry beans, and spiced tomato soup made from a base I make and freeze every year. My Webpage

[Jamie Lee]

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

(There are tortilla chips and cheese underneath... I added more crushed chips on top... Plan was to fry strips of corn tortillas, but I ran out of steam.)

[Pille]

Great topic! Now that the autumn is here and the days are getting colder and darker, we're eating much more soup around here. My two recent favourites are both very, very 'regional'. Both are vegetarian:

Borscht (recipe here on my blog):

Sauerkraut soup (recipe here on RecipeGullet):

[monavano]

Sweet potato soup with pancetta lardons and spiced pecans.

[Pebs]

Wonderful soup pictures. I want them all. I made a batch of Chicken Soup last week with liver dumplings. I almost had a soup catastophe. Being frugal (ok cheap) someone had given me a bag full of habanero peppers. Since I didn't want to waste them, I attempted to turn them into hotsauce by chopping them up and cooking them down with vinegar and sugar in my LC dutch oven. Halfway through I had to put box fans in my windows blowing the air out of my house so we could breath. And you can etch metal with the final product.

I swear I really scrubbed that pot before I made my stock. But what I must not have done was scrub the pot lid, especially along the edges. When I went to taste my stock for seasoning...wooooh baby did I have seasoning. :shock:I almost fell on my _ss. Fortunately it was early enough in the process that I was able to replace enough water that the end product just had a slight after burn that no one noticed unless I pointed it out.

Cindy

[Lisa1349]

I always order french onion in a restaurant as a gauge of their overall worthiness. I make sweet potato onion soup by caramelizing 4 large onions, roasting 2 sweet potatoes, pureeing it all together and adding just enough hot stock until it's the consistency I want. Always a big hit, great served with honey mustard chicken saute.

I also love making white bean and escarole soup, so quick. For chicken soup when I'm in a hurry I use a store bought rotisserie chicken and boxed stock. Simmer veggies with a parmesan rind, add chicken and some tortellini, wilt in some arugula at the end. Yumm!