Favorite Soups

[ruthcooks]

My all time favorite is Corn and Celery Chowder, especially when served with little "cracklings" of salt pork on top. I like cream soups and think many brothy ones are made better by thickening with a bit of buerre manie.

Other favorites:

Potato soups for comfort: the simple potatoes-onion-milk-butter version of my maternal grandmother or the browned pork-potatoes-onion of my paternal grandfather.

Vermont Cheese: no beer in this one

Hungarian Gulyas: a hearty beef paprika soup-stew, served with cornbread

French Onion with a twist: No stringy cheese and soggy bread for me, I serve mine with buttery homemade croutons and freshly grated Parmesan.

Lamb and Barley: since hardly anyone I know eats lamb, I make this often to get my lamb fix. It's posted on my website--you'll find it under the recipe archives here

Edited October 22, 2003 by ruthcooks (log)

[marie-louise]

Favorite soups are homemade

Goes without saying, I should think?

Or does it?

Nah, I think there's a place for your favorite childhood canned soup. Just now and then-like when you're home alone with a cold and there's nothing to eat in the house.

[Basilgirl]

Hot and sour from the cheap Chinese place down the street. The only decent thing on the menu. It's hard to find a good hot & sour soup. Why is that? Most of them taste like dishwater and wind up going down the sink.

White cheddar and ale soup from an OLD Bon Appetit. Not available on Epicurious, for some reason. Excellent. A ton of shallots.

French onion with gobs of goopy stringy cheese

Corn and crab chowder with sherry

Italian wedding

Lentil with smoked sausage or ham

Italian sausage/tortellini/spinach

[babyluck]

My personal favorite is my signature dish inspired by a recipe from Bon Appetit in the early 90s -- celery root bisque. Not on epicurious, but you can find it in the forums there if you do a search.

Then there's my dad's fish chowder and the potato soup from the original Vegetarian Epicure. (Sautéed onions, potatoes, dill, water, milk.)

Recently have gotten into carroty soups inspired by Potage Crecy. Have done the original plus a carrot-ginger soup with spinach. Yum. Very versatile as a first course. Have tried many other new recipes this season but no others have made it into the rotation. Always on the lookout for new ideas!

I like to serve the celery root bisque with a smoked fish spread and sparkling wine. That is the suggestion I've heard the most often for avoiding the dullness of liquid + liquid. I have read that soup coats the palate and sticks around longer than solid foods so the wine gets lost. I guess the bubbles scrub the palate & also provide a textural contrast. (I feel like I'm regurgitating that sentence directly from Taste -- could be, I've reread it so often...) But I will also often drink whatever wine I want that complements the flavors best. The wine may be better served with a solid dish of the same ingredients, but who cares? It's hardly unpleasant. Now, if I could find more good sparkling reds, I'd be all set.

[SobaAddict70]

Along the lines of listing your favorite soup, what do you like to garnish them with? Croutons? Chives? Cilantro? Bruschetta? Roasted cauliflower? Scallops? Oyster tempura? Creme fraiche? Foie gras wontons? Or nothing at all...?

Mine depends on the soup.

As for croutons, I prefer homemade anyday.

Soba

[howard88]

I make a lot of my own soups. I store them in the freezer in pint and quart containers to pull out when the need arises.

Rich turkey broth turned into a thick creamy soup with chunks of turkey, rice and heavy cream.

Split pea soup with ham, enhanced with turnip and heavy cream.

Beef barley with mushrooms and heavy cream.

New England clam chowder with lots of clams and heavy cream.

Lobster bisque with heavy ...

Chicken soup with matzo balls or kreplach; no heavy cream

[Toliver]

Hot and sour from the cheap Chinese place down the street. The only decent thing on the menu. It's hard to find a good hot & sour soup. Why is that? Most of them taste like dishwater and wind up going down the sink.

Amen to that, sister!

When Hot & Sour soup is good, it's fantastic. And when it's bad, it's horrific. Unfortunately, there's very little middle ground when it comes to Hot & Sour soup.

White cheddar and ale soup from an OLD Bon Appetit. Not available on Epicurious, for some reason. Excellent. A ton of shallots.

French onion with gobs of goopy stringy cheese

Corn and crab chowder with sherry

[DROOL] Nummers! Three of my favorites. [/DROOL]

The Cheddar & Ale soup sounds great. I couldn't find it either using Google.

[HungryChris]

I make a lot of my own soups. I store them in the freezer in pint and quart containers to pull out when the need arises.

I do this too. Isn't it interesting and at times dissapointing how some things just don't have that same eye opening kick after they have been frozen. I like to make frozen lunches that I can just grab from the freezer in the AM and take to work to throw in the mike. Some things do way better than others.

Stuffed Cabbage, for example is a winner, while Chili seems to be a looser. Go figure.

O.K, O.K, topic police, cuff me!

[marie-louise]

Along the lines of listing your favorite soup, what do you like to garnish them with?  Croutons?  Chives?  Cilantro?  Bruschetta?  Roasted cauliflower?  Scallops?  Oyster tempura?  Creme fraiche?  Foie gras wontons?  Or nothing at all...?

Mine depends on the soup. 

As for croutons, I prefer homemade anyday.

Soba

Sometimes homemade croutons and/or cheese (Gruyere goes nicely with many creamy root vegetable soups); sometimes a nice big drizzle of creme fraiche. Maybe a little sprinkle of chopped chives or fresh herbs-they are right outside my kitchen door. Rouille and a crouton or two if I've made a nice fish soup/stew.

Oyster tempura sounds fabulous-what would you serve that with?

[Pan]

Favorite soups....Well, these are off the top of my head, and in no particular order:

Laksa

Tom Yom Gung

Tom Ka Gai

My father's beef/vegetable soup with all sorts of vegetables and wine

Soupe de poisson

Minestrone

Zuppa di verdure

Mulligatawny

Cold cherry soup

Cold borscht

(The last two for summertime)

A really great chicken soup

Some kind of Chinese noodle soup belongs here, too, and does congee count as a soup? It's really a porridge.

I noticed someone mentioned goulash. I agree; Gulyasleves is also a great soup.

[SobaAddict70]

Sometimes homemade croutons and/or cheese (Gruyere goes nicely with many creamy root vegetable soups); sometimes a nice big drizzle of creme fraiche. Maybe a little sprinkle of chopped chives or fresh herbs-they are right outside my kitchen door. Rouille and a crouton or two if I've made a nice fish soup/stew.

Oyster tempura sounds fabulous-what would you serve that with?

Mmmm, gruyere. One of my favorite cheeses, along with Jarlsberg and Brie.

Oyster tempura as a garnish or as an accompaniament is something that I came up with the last time I made a variation on a roasted red pepper, tomato and onion soup that usually pops up around this time of year. Roast red peppers, peel, julienne and set aside. Roast plum tomatoes, onions, carrots and garlic cloves (squeeze out garlic), set aside. Saute some onions in a little unsalted butter. Add vegetables, cook for a few minutes, deglaze with white wine. Add shrimp or fish stock, simmer for a few minutes and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Working in batches, puree soup in a food processor or blender. Return to pot, add light cream, simmer until heated through. Adjust seasoning and serve. For service, top with oyster tempura, pan-seared scallops or sauteed shrimp.

Soba

[Ling]

Mmmm, gruyere.  One of my favorite cheeses, along with Jarlsberg and Brie.

Oyster tempura as a garnish or as an accompaniament is something that I came up with the last time I made a variation on a roasted red pepper, tomato and onion soup that usually pops up around this time of year.  Roast red peppers, peel, julienne and set aside.  Roast plum tomatoes, onions, carrots and garlic cloves (squeeze out garlic), set aside.  Saute some onions in a little unsalted butter.  Add vegetables, cook for a few minutes, deglaze with white wine.  Add shrimp or fish stock, simmer for a few minutes and adjust seasoning.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Working in batches, puree soup in a food processor or blender.  Return to pot, add light cream, simmer until heated through.  Adjust seasoning and serve.  For service, top with oyster tempura, pan-seared scallops or sauteed shrimp.

Soba

That veggie soup with the oyster tempura sounds delicious!

Brie and gruyere are two of my favorites too. I don't remember ever having Jarlsberg.

[Basilgirl]

A new one for my list: Tyler Florence's Tortilla Soup. Made it last night and it was awesome. Had to keep shooing The Boyfriend away from the fried tortilla strips sprinkled with sea salt. I kept screaming that they were FOR GARNISH!! I knew I'd have to do that, so I made extra!

Toliver: Here's the white cheddar & ale recipe in a nutshell: Saute a mess of chopped shallots and some garlic in a lot of butter. Add a little flour and make a light roux. Add 12 oz. of ale/beer and let simmer for a little while. Drink the rest of the beer and then drink another one. Add some chicken broth. Let simmer for awhile. Gradually stir in grated white cheddar - 2 cups or so. Add a little cream if you want to be really decadent. Top with country ham crunchies or proscuitto crunchies. I also usually put in a little lemon juice and some hot sauce.

[Toliver]

Toliver: Here's the white cheddar & ale recipe in a nutshell: Saute a mess of chopped shallots and some garlic in a lot of butter. Add a little flour and make a light roux. Add 12 oz. of ale/beer and let simmer for a little while. Drink the rest of the beer and then drink another one. Add some chicken broth. Let simmer for awhile. Gradually stir in grated white cheddar - 2 cups or so. Add a little cream if you want to be really decadent. Top with country ham crunchies or proscuitto crunchies. I also usually put in a little lemon juice and some hot sauce.

Thanks for posting this...it sounds delicious!

Now I just have to wait until "soup weather" arrives (it's still around 90 degrees here Where's Autumn?).

[Basilgirl]

You're welcome, Toliver.

It's definitely soup weather in D.C. today. About 55 degrees, breezy & cloudy. I hope it gets cooler soon where you are so you can have some soup!

[Mabelline]

Other than wanting to try every single one listed (being a total souphead is cool), all I can think of not mentioned are albondigas, not just posole but anything with hominy,avgolemono, and the turkey soup I make with smoked turkey carcass from Texas-I horde turkey legs for this. My favorite at our Chinese joint is their hot and sour,too, and velvet chicken anything is absolutely fabulous (sweety, honey, darling)!

[Rachel Perlow]

About the only soup I don't like is lentil. I just don't like the grainy texture. However, one of my favorite soups is split pea. I grew up with vegetarian split pea, since, although not kosher, my mom didn't use the ham bone. Now I can accept it hammy, as long as it's good ham. I hate it when you order it in a diner or something and it's got slices of deli ham in it. Really! I'd rather it be vegetarian and have good croutons on top. Thursday night seems to be mandatory split pea soup night at all diners in NJ. (Note: for those who are not pork inclined a smoked turkey leg adds a nice flavor to split pea soup almost as well.)

Last Thanksgiving I made a minestrone soup as a starter. After hors'doeuvres including various gyoza, I thought a lighter soup would be just the ticket. Usually after Thanksgiving a make Turkey soup from the carcass and leftover meat.

Hmm, there's a quart of the Creamless Mushroom Soup I made at least 6 months ago in the freezer. I also have some heels of Italian bread getting stale -- prime crouton material. I think I know what's for dinner tonight.

[badthings]

last night I made butternut squash and chile poblano. It was a keeper.

[Rachel Perlow]

That reminds me, butternut squash soup is my other Thanksgiving go to soup. Basically, you just simmer peeled, seeded and diced squash and one peeled and diced potato in good chicken broth/stock and puree. A dash of nutmeg, a pinch of salt and it's perfect (splash of cream is optional).

[bloviatrix]

That reminds me, butternut squash soup is my other Thanksgiving go to soup. Basically, you just simmer peeled, seeded and diced squash and one peeled and diced potato in good chicken broth/stock and puree. A dash of nutmeg, a pinch of salt and it's perfect (splash of cream is optional).

Rachel, try roasting the butternut squash and putting the pulp into your soup. The roasting intensifies the flavors. I find it makes for a more flavorful soup.

[APPS411]

What about potato leak soup. Love that stuff. I do it w/ a little bit of cream and finish w/ a drizzle of white truffle oil.

And a fish stock based watercrest soup w/ a few oysters thrown in at the end.

[babyluck]

Take a gander at this baby.

Pumpkin. Cream. Butter. Ginger. Cayenne. Figs. Dark Rum. Cream.

And even a sprinkle of pork.

(Where's the ecstacy smiley?)

Tonight I'm going to do something with the duxelles I made last week in the slow cooker. Hmmm...

[mighty quinn]

new fav- roasted tomato soup-labor intensive at first and a hell of a lot of fresh basil for this time of year, but yummee!

old fav-15 bean with ham chunks

quickie fav-chicken with wild mushroom tortellini and baby spinach (stock/barrlla tortellini/throw in spinach right before serving)

local fav-hatteras clam chowder (gotta have hush puppies with this)

[jat]

Homemade Soups I make: Colorado chile verde, lobster bisque, goat cheese,

roasted corn (posted), butternut squash, gazpacho, egg drop, cioppino, tortilla,

french onion, potato/celery root, tortilla, fruit soups. etc.

I think I will post the colorado chile verde. (no beans) It is really an

entire meal when you serve it with tortillas, tillamook cheddar cheese, onions,

sour cream. Enjoy.. I'll post it in a couple of days.

[SobaAddict70]

Re clam chowder:

Which do you prefer, Manhattan or New England style?

Is there a "correct" way to make either?

I love both, but Manhattan wins hands down. The problem for me is that very few places make an appropriately clammy Manhattan clam chowder. It always seems to me a very watered down tomato soup with clams in it.

Soba