Favorite Soups

[Pan]

Sounds lovely. What's the cheese that they use in the soup like?

[jat]

Lovebenton0, Hi I'm making your chowder this week. I've never had cheddar

with fish, so this is unusual for me. (see my Colorado Chile Verde recipe posted), I

do love cheddar. A new soup to try, thanks.

[bigbear]

Sounds lovely. What's the cheese that they use in the soup like?

There are as many recipes for Fanesca as there are people who make it. Generally, a young or fresh cheese. My sister-in-law uses mozarella.

[lovebenton0]

Judith -- the Tomato, Eggplant & Sausage soup sounds great. Would you be willing to add it and the Chowder to the eGullet recipe archive?

Thanks for posting.

Sure thing, RK. We never did get around to taming the Recipes Wizard other the holidays, did we? Still no luck with that. So, I'll slip it in here.

Tomato, Eggplant, and Italian Sausage Soup

This is a nice garden soup anytime, great for end of the season harvest.

Serves 4-5 as a main course; 6-8 as a soup course

Ingredients

3 links Italian Sausage (I prefer the soy, or use meat)

1 T olive oil

1 large sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups Ichiban eggplant, halved and sliced 1/4 inch, OR Italian eggplant, chopped

8 oz sliced mushrooms

2-4 sweet banana peppers, sliced in 1/4 inch rings, OR sweet red pepper rings, chopped

2 cups vegetable OR chicken stock

8 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced, or 2 lbs canned, diced

1 T each fresh oregano and basil, OR 1 tsp each if crushed dried

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste

1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

6-8 ounces red wine

2 cups or more water

1/2 cup cooked pasta per serving; pick a nice shape

Method

Heat skillet over medium heat for a few minutes; spray with non-stick olive oil. Brown the sausages in whole links until nicely deep golden. Remove sausages, add minced garlic, sliced peppers, and chopped onion, with more non-stick olive oil spray, or 1 T of olive oil. Stir to coat while slicing sausage.

Slice sausages in 1/4 inch rounds, return to skillet with onion mixture, add sliced eggplant and mushrooms. Stir and cook until onions and eggplant are slightly tender, about five minutes.

Place all in your soup pot on medium heat. Add 2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth and 2 cups water. Add tomatoes and 2 bay leaves. Cook just to a beginning boil, lower heat, add 2 T each fresh oregano and basil, 2 tsp each if dried and crushed. Simmer, covered, at least 30 minutes. Soup can simmer on low for hours, and is a good choice for your crock pot; may need to replace 1 cup or so water.

Add 1/4 tsp each crushed red pepper and salt, adjust to your taste. Now add 6-8 ounces red wine, and have some yourself.

Let soup simmer on low heat, covered, for another 30 minutes or so.

Shortly before you want to serve cook some interesting pasta al dente; pick a shape, the pennes, rotinis, and small "horns" do well with this soup. 1/2 serving pasta per person (1/2 cup). Ladle the soup generously over pasta in the bowl. (The pasta is prettier, and will not lose its shape and if you keep it separate until serving soup.)

Serve with fresh grated parmesan and or romano cheese, and garlic toast.

Lovebenton0, Hi I'm making your chowder this week. I've never had cheddar

with fish, so this is unusual for me. (see my Colorado Chile Verde recipe posted), I

do love cheddar. A new soup to try, thanks.

Hope you had the chance to try this. Your Colorado Chile Verde is on my list to try soon. It will be the perfect break once I get past my turkey fix. Turkey soup and t/sour cream enchiladas first.

Edited November 30, 2003 by lovebenton0 (log)

[ludja]

Great thread; when I first joined (~ a week ago), I started a post re: 'Thanksgiving Soups' under 'Special Occasions'--got some good responses from many of you, and learned how to use the search function a bit....

Some of my favorites are already listed above but here are some others:

1. Cream of Green Chile Soup

(had this for the first time at Duarte's in Pescardero, CA; it may be my all time favorite soup; you use roasted anaheim chiles--or if you're lucky enough to live in N.M.-- N.M. green chiles). Duartes is a cool old tavern/restaurant. 1 mile from the ocean which dates from Santa Cruz Mountain logging days at the turn of the century; they also have an awesome Cream of Artichoke Soup)

2. Leberknodel Suppe (Austrian Liver Dumpling Soup)

My grandmother (in Austria) makes a great beef stock based soup into which you shave bits of calves liver into at the end until they are just cooked. Lots of grandmothers in Austria make this soup it's traditional. Unless you are an absolute confirmed liver hater in any form--you're probably like this soup!

3. Styrian Weinsuppe (Styrian Wine Soup)

Also from the home of my grandparents in Graz, Austria (and of our recently elected Governator, Arnold) this is a really tasty soup that I haven't had elsewhere tho I suspect it is in other places also. (dry white wine, lemon, egg yolks, a little cinnamon and sugar, garnished w/sour cream) Despite mention of sugar, it is not sweet; I guess is balances w/wine.

Other top choices:

4. Creamless wild mushroom soup garnished w/creme fraiche and croutons

(mixi of dried porcini and cremeni shrooms, lots of leeks, chicken and beef stock, madeira or port)

5. Tom Ka Gai (Thai Chicken Coconut Galanga Soup).

mentioned lots of times already but this soup was a complete revelation the first time I tasted it. I've made it w/great success at home also. Have to have the galanga!

6. PROPERLY prepared Oyster stew, good clam chowder (New England, Manhattan or Rhode Island), Shrimp Bisque, Maryland Cream of Crab soup

7. Cream of Cauliflower soup w/caviar croutons

8. Mexican Chicken Soup (garnished w/avocados, tortillas, fresh tomatos, lime juice, cilantro, etc)

9. Genoese Style Ciuppin

Italian precursor of San Francisco Cioppino; I like this much better-- everything is pushed through a food mill--so you have smooth rich fish-shellfish soup in a tomato base---yummm)

10. Mussel Soup w/Creme Fraiche and Green Beans

11. Butternut Squash Soup w/fresh Sage and Croutons

love that combo of butternut squash, sage and butter---soup is an easier route for the times you need a fix and don't have time to make butternut squash ravioli w/sage butter.

Well, I could go on....

[lovebenton0]

Judith -- the Tomato, Eggplant & Sausage soup sounds great. Would you be willing to add it and the Chowder to the eGullet recipe archive?

Thanks for posting.

Sure thing, RK. We never did get around to taming the Recipes Wizard other the holidays, did we? Still no luck with that. So, I'll slip it in here.

Tomato, Eggplant, and Italian Sausage Soup

This is a nice garden soup anytime, great for end of the season harvest.

Recipe is posted in the egullet Recipe archive now. Glad the software glitches are smoothed.

[mags]

My very boring picks:

Split pea with pork products

Carrot and rice

Fresh tomato

My gazpacho ( finally perfected -- trick for me is sweating the garlic in the olive oil)

Really great chicken broth with dill

Curried parsnip

Don't like fruit soups, don't like cold soups except gazpacho, and don't really like soups I have to eat with a spoon -- I like drinking the stuff, and bits get in the way.

[Larry]

Just the plainest yet most satisfying soups are my favourite:

carrot, sweet potato ginger

homemade chicken soup with carrots, celery, and peas and lots of black pepper

borscht

gazpacho