The Soup Topic (2007–2012)

[monavano]

Pasta e fagioli. So yummy now that the temperature has finally dropped.

Mmmmm cheese.

Recipe here..

[Sony]

I made a basic lentil soup, the kind that reminds you how good simple food can be. Lentils, water, plenty of salt, carrots, onion, celery, bay leaf, and garlic. Stirred in some super fresh turnip greens from the farmers' market, fresh marjoram and some lemon juice to finish. Totally satisfying on a cool fall day.

Another find at the farmers' market this week was some fresh garlic- I think I'd like to make garlic soup for the 1st time. I've seen dozens of variations- cooking liquid (broth, water, wine), thickeners (bread, cheese, egg), etc. Any versions people can personally recommend?

[natter]

I've been on a soup kick lately. In the last week I have made korabi and mussel topped with yogurt, pumpkin with dried cherry, and a cream of tomato, garlic, and basil.

[purplewiz]

Chicken florentine soup tonight:

Marcia.

[Lindacakes]

I get organic vegetables delivered weekly. You never know what you're going to get, and I ended up with three heads of cauliflower and a ton of potatoes.

I made the potato cauliflower soup from Moosewood -- a double batch -- which also includes grated sharp cheddar from the giant block I'd gotten at Costco.

This soup is good!

I'm worried about freezing it (the cheese) but that's what I'm going to do.

Love me a freezer filled with soup.

Also made the yogurt herb bread from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest, mentioned by another eGulleter.

Deelishus.

[monavano]

Chicken florentine soup tonight:

Marcia.

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That looks soooo good! Love the cheese on top.

[foodcyclist]

My wife caught me drooling and moaning over this thread. She thought I was looking at porn. She'll be eating soup with me by tomorrow. Is that considered a threesome?

[Jamie Lee]

Made a large vat of homemade chicken stock - it's been portioned in ice cube trays and ziplocks....

I did make a "desparation dinner" one night last week, it turned out only so-so....

Chicken/white bean chili:

Chicken from stock-making, canned great northerns, canned tom w/ green chilis, cumin, chili powder. (No onions, I was out at the time...)

It was okay, but no prize winner. It's stashed in the freezer, and I'll figure out a way to improve it for next time.

And then, I made the CI Beef and Vegetable soup again - Damn, it's a keeper! Full and rich of meaty flavor. I used flank steak this time, although I liked the flat iron meat from the first better time. Picture of it plated up-

"Before"

And "After"

It really is awesome tasting, and just gets better every time it's reheated. Spectacular for breakfast, too!

More to come... (And thanks for all the wonderful posts to this thread!)

[Sony]

Spectacular for breakfast, too! 

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I LOVE soup for breakfast! At home or at work. When it's snowy outside and I'm waiting for the bus to my office, there's something so comforting about a Thermos of soup in my bag that I will enjoy shortly.

[Jamie Lee]

I LOVE soup for breakfast! At home or at work. When it's snowy outside and I'm waiting for the bus to my office, there's something so comforting about a Thermos of soup in my bag that I will enjoy shortly.

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Pictures please?

[ludja]

Made two soups the last week, one for the first time-both were great.

The new one for me was the "Silken Turnip Soup" from the Edna Lewis/Scot Peacock book, "The Gift of Southern Cooking". Great earthy flavors and wonderfully smooth creamy texture but without any dairy besides the butter. The ingredients are just butter, onions, turnips, potatoes, chicken stock, s&p. I garnished the soup with some sniipped chives. They flavor the soup with some freshly grated nutmeg as well but I forgot this in the rush to start the dinner party. One guest said that they disliked turnips as a kid but really liked this soup!

I also made the carrot-cilantro soup (again) out of the Chez Panisse Vegetable cookbook. It's very similar in execution to the turnip soup above in that you simply sweat the vegetables in butter; then add chicken stock to finish cooking and soften the vegetables before pureeing the whole lot. The garnish she suggests for the carrot soup is wonderful with it--a quick salsa of red onions, salt, serrano chiles, lime juice and chopped cilantro.

Edited October 17, 2007 by ludja (log)

[Pam R]

I've been spending all of my time in the kitchen working on non-soup recipes lately, but the cold weather has hit and I was in the mood.

Homemade chicken broth, with a little soy, chicken, vegetables, rice. Simple, and it hit the spot.

[eskay]

I got a big bunch of kale and was thinking about attempting caldo verde (first I've heard of it is this thread). Do you think it would freeze well, or would the texture go weird?

[BeeZee]

After all the rich Thanksgiving dinners (we had one Thurs, one Fri), had to come up with something lighter for dinner guests on Saturday.

Made a nice batch of pear/fennel soup, really simple and a good starter. Would also be great with grilled cheese sandwiches, I think.

[purplewiz]

Another squash soup variant. trying to recreate a butternut squash bisque we had in Sheridan, WY: started with cubes of squash, pieces of carrot, and onion, all roasted for about an hour in the oven. Garlic sauteed in some butter and olive oil, then added chicken stock and the vegetables and 5 crushed amaretti cookies for both flavor and simmering. Blended and then finished with cream and milk. Served with some truffled olive oil and chopped hazelnuts.

It was very good, but 5 amaretti was way too much for this amount of soup - the flavor is supposed to be subtle, and even with the cream and milk it was way too much. I'd cut back to 3 cookies next time. I'll definitely make it again with some tweaks.

Marcia.

[OliverN]

Another squash soup variant. trying to recreate a butternut squash bisque we had in Sheridan, WY: started with cubes of squash, pieces of carrot, and onion, all roasted for about an hour in the oven. Garlic sauteed in some butter and olive oil, then added chicken stock and the vegetables and 5 crushed amaretti cookies for both flavor and simmering. Blended and then finished with cream and milk. Served with some truffled olive oil and chopped hazelnuts.

<p>

Amaretti cookies.... in butternut squash soup?!? Wow, what a crazy idea! And somehow it could work! Here is my latest incarnation of butternut squash soup from a couple days ago. I lifted it from a Jamie Oliver recipe and, although I used to just simmer the squash, I far prefer roasting it now... This time, I roasted it up with some coriander, simmered it in some chicken broth with garlic, shallots and roasted chestnuts, and pureed the bunch and topped it with some yogurt and roasted squash seeds. Full recipe on my blog, <a href="http://chocolateshavings.ca/?p=113"> chocolateshavings.ca </a>. For some reason, though, I didn't get the vivid orange colour I was expecting... it came out more of a light beige.... maybe it was the chestnuts?

</p>

<p align=center>

<img src="http://chocolateshavings.ca/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/bq-bsquashsoup.jpg" width=250>

</p>

Cheers,

Oliver

Edited November 28, 2007 by OliverN (log)

[purplewiz]

I like the idea of using chestnuts - I'm going to have a lot leftover from a can I had to buy for a recipe I want to make that only calls for a few!

The amaretti cookies added this wonderful subtle flavor in the bisque at the restaurant - sadly, I was guessing at what the ratio would be (the restaurant was generous in telling us what all was in the soup, but not the measurements) and overdid it a bit. I am also thinking ginger snaps would work well.

(and it's supposed to be "...for flavor and thickening" in my post above. Sigh.)

Marcia.

[purplewiz]

The Mushroom Barley Meatball soup from November's "Food and Wine". I want to make a few tweaks, but it's definitely a keeper.

Marcia.

[sygyzy]

Bouchon butternut squash soup with nutmeg creme fraiche, brown butter, and fried sage.

(I didn't whip the creme long enough).

[monavano]

Beef borscht with a sweet/sour note. De-lish! Recipe here.

[Jamie Lee]

Cream of Tomato Soup:

This soup began life as a disaster. I tried to "wing" a regular tomato soup using San Marzano (canned) tomatoes, peppered bacon ends and lots of thyme. It was dreadful. Too chunky, too much thyme, bacon chunks weren't working.

Since I have a hard time throwing out quantities of food, I did what every self-respecting tightwad would do: I froze it.

Inspired by some words from a poster on another site, I thawed it out, fished out the bacon pieces (they'd given their all), made sure there were no thyme stems. I then added a copious amount of fresh, organic basil, and then used my brand-new immersion blender to puree, and finished with some leftover cream.

The result: It's delicious!

Now I just have to learn to use my new immersion blender without spraying pureed soup all over the walls!

J

[Jamie Lee]

With a ton of homemade stock in the freezer, and a new immersion blender, I made this:

Peeled and chopped buternut squash, peeled and "hunked up" carrots, a large yellow onion in chunks, some whole garlic cloves and a hand-full of parsley. Steeped in homemade, defrosted chicken broth.

After a meeting with my new immersion blender, and after a pathetic attempt at at "nice" creme fraiche - drizzled presentation, voila!

I know, I know.. the edge of the bowl at least needed to be wiped... so many other presentation gaffes need to be addressed... but it tastes GREAT!

J.

[monavano]

Potato Leek Soup. Recipe here.

Edited December 9, 2007 by monavano (log)

[dockhl]

No picture since I can't find my USB cable for the camera but last night I made a Scotch Broth soup with lamb shanks and some venison that I had (I think venison and lamb have similar flavor profiles....)

It was simple and delicious. The broth is lamb and onion simmered, S&P.....that's it !

The carrots and celery are sweated and the lamb broth is added to them along with the meat (off the bone) and some barley. Sprinkle with parsley....and serve with biscuits !

So good

[docsconz]

I made a cream of celeriac soup tonight with celeriac, chicken broth, creme fraiche, smoked salmon, celery,poppy and sesame seeds and salt and pepper. I pureed it with a stick blender. It wasn't half bad.