What happened to my redpepper soup?

[Susanwusan]

I was surprised how bitter my roasted red pepper soup was.  It had roasted red peppers, not particularly charred, with most skin and most seeds removed.  I'd made it before successfully.  What could be used if it happens again to reduce the bitterness?

[weinoo]

2 minutes ago, Susanwusan said:

What could be used if it happens again to reduce the bitterness?

 

Something sweet?

What else is in your red pepper soup?

[Susanwusan]

roasted red peppers, water, cooked potato for a bit of thickening, I really wanted a nice flavour of peppers and good red colour, so not too much water or potato. 

[weinoo]

1 minute ago, Susanwusan said:

roasted red peppers, water, cooked potato for a bit of thickening, I really wanted a nice flavour of peppers and good red colour, so not too much water or potato. 

 

I'll go back to a bit of sugar, or maybe a little cream...

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, Susanwusan said:

I was surprised how bitter my roasted red pepper soup was.  It had roasted red peppers, not particularly charred, with most skin and most seeds removed.  I'd made it before successfully.  What could be used if it happens again to reduce the bitterness?

I've often seen red bell peppers combined with tomatoes for a soup. A little tomato might reduce the bitterness and also support good color. I'm surprised your roasted peppers were bitter. Usually I find roasted red pepper dressed with salt and olive oil (when done by myself) to be pretty sweet. I've roasted tomatoes with a sprinkle of brown sugar, so as suggested above, sugar might help, and cream too.

[KennethT]

I would add some onion/shallot first, which would add sweetness, then sugar at the very end if it still needs it.  Rather than using cooked potato for thickening, you might consider using a potato starch slurry - that would thicken better with less of it than cooked potato.  In general, pepper seeds can be very bitter so I think it's important to be vigilant when eliminating them before pureeing.

 

Edit - plus one for the tomato....  if you want to double down on the roasted flavor, you can char the onion/shallot, then rinse as much of the char off as you can...  or just use some canned "fire roasted tomato"

Edited Sunday at 09:16 PM by KennethT (log)

[Susanwusan]

I was in a hurry anddecided to put the peppers in whole, previously I'd prepped them and cooked them sans seeds etc, then removed skin when cooled.  I'll try next time to do it like that again and see what difference it makes, they were good nice red peppers - from Waitrose!  I think leaving them whole might have been the problem.

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, Susanwusan said:

I think leaving them whole might have been the problem.

 

I would think so. As @KennethTsaid the seeds are bitter as is the pith. Definitely needs removing.

Edited yesterday at 09:42 AM by liuzhou (log)

[weinoo]

Sometimes even tomato seeds can be bitter, though I've never found them to be as bitter as pepper seeds.

[KennethT]

45 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Sometimes even tomato seeds can be bitter, though I've never found them to be as bitter as pepper seeds.

+1 - definitely tomato seeds can be bitter.  Whenever I used to make tomato sauce, I always strained the seeds first and it made a big difference.

[weinoo]

23 minutes ago, KennethT said:

+1 - definitely tomato seeds can be bitter.  Whenever I used to make tomato sauce, I always strained the seeds first and it made a big difference.

 

Exactly...and it's why a lot of recipes for tomato sauce call for that (removing seeds (and skin)), which I usually accomplish by using my food mill.

[Susanwusan]

Somebody gave me a goose egg today - how best to use it, and do they taste the same as chicken eggs?

[liuzhou]

6 minutes ago, Susanwusan said:

Somebody gave me a goose egg today - how best to use it, and do they taste the same as chicken eggs?

 

Yes. They taste the same. You can use them in the same way as other eggs like chicken or duck.

 

One goose egg is the equivalent of two chicken eggs.

Edited yesterday at 04:10 PM by liuzhou (log)

[Katie Meadow]

I have one of these tomato presses. They are not well designed, but they do work and they are relatively cheap. And best of all it's great looking and a fabulous color. 

 

Tomato Strainer, Tomato Juicer Sauce Maker Machine Suction Cup Base Hand Crank Food Mill Press with Stainless Steel Filter for Fruit Vegetables (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)