The Soup Topic (2005–2006)

[laniloa]

I'm jumping on the soup wagon with you guys. It makes such a fabulous lunch at the office. Last weekend was chicken tortilla very similar to recipe already posted upthread.

If anyone could post a recipe for Hot and SOur soup, I would be much obliged!

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Not exactly the classic style you may have in mind, but I just finished a hot-and-sour chicken noodle soup adapted from a Cooking Light recipe from a couple of years ago.

Soften banh pho in boiling water, drain, rinse in cold water, place in serving dishes. Top with bunch of spinach leaves and cilantro.

Sweat a large onion adding about an inch chunk of ginger and 2 cloves minced garlic. Add 6 cups chicken stock, juice of 3 limes, zest of 1 lime, 2 Tbs brown sugar, 1 Tbs fish sauce, 2 tsp green curry paste, dash of chili sauce, 14 oz light coconut milk, 1 can bamboo shoots. Bring to boil and then simmer about half an hoour or until your house smells amazing. Add a slurry of 1Tbs cornstarch and 1Tbs water. Bring to a boil. Add 1 pound chicken breast sliced into thin strips and cook through. Ladle over noodles.

[JennyUptown]

No way should this topic drop to page 2!!

Who else made soup today or will do so this weekend? I'm feeling like black bean or butternut squash on Sunday.

[ScorchedPalate]

I still haven't made this week's minestrone, but I probably will on Sunday.

[fifi]

I am working on a batch of chicken stock. I have followed the usual formula from the eGCI but I did try one thing new. In Cooks Illustrated, they advocate "sweating" the chicken in the pot prior to proceeding with the mirepoix, etc. I had gotten a couple of "whole chickens, cut up" from HEB because they were on sale for 99 cents a pound. The packages included the back portions and giblets. I put it all in except for the livers, a total of about 9 pounds of chicken for the 16 quart stock pot. I gotta tell you that this is about the best smelling batch of chicken stock I have done in a long time. It is now in the oven for an overnight sojourn and am anticipating what to do with it in the morning. After the usual straining and defatting, I will have to decide what to do with some of it before reducing the rest of it before freezing. Now I am wondering what that will be. I suppose that if it were colder here (currently 50 degrees F) I would be more inspired. I have to think of something noble for this exceptional batch of stock.

[artisan02]

I am working on a batch of chicken stock. I have followed the usual formula from the eGCI but I did try one thing new. In Cooks Illustrated, they advocate "sweating" the chicken in the pot prior to proceeding with the mirepoix, etc. I had gotten a couple of "whole chickens, cut up" from HEB because they were on sale for 99 cents a pound. The packages included the back portions and giblets. I put it all in except for the livers, a total of about 9 pounds of chicken for the 16 quart stock pot. I gotta tell you that this is about the best smelling batch of chicken stock I have done in a long time.

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This is the way I learned to make stock: from the great Edna Lewis and her books. She "sweats" the chicken along with celery, in butter until the juices almost cover the chicken. She then adds water and lets it simmer for a bit. Yes, it produces a lot of rich juice this way, and make the most fabulous, rich, flavorful stock ever. It jells wonderfully. And yes, it smells incredible.

Edited January 29, 2005 by artisan02 (log)

[M. Lucia]

Wow, I can't believe I haven't been following this thread. I guess it's because I make soup all the time, my friends call my soup queen.

Anyway, this week I made tomato and roasted garlic soup, so good and flavorful. Some of my favorites are green lentil soup, spinach soup (or any other greens), and ribollita.

I would really recommend Lee Bailey's Soup Meals, it has lots of good ideas, including a great white bean and sausage soup and a beet and orange soup.

This week I'll be making my butternut squash soup (a similar method to Thimas Keller's recipe) and I look forward to trying the mushroom soup recipe soon.

[Anna N]

...

And how about soup for dessert?  Chocolate soup and Strawberry Sambuca are two of my favorites.

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Wow! I'd like to know more about that Strawberry Sambuca dessert soup. Care to share?

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My publishers would kill me if I gave the recipe!! (don't tell!)

3 lb. / 1.5 kg fresh strawberries -- hulled and sliced into 1/4" (5 mm) slices

4 oz. / 125 mL sugar

1 cup / 250 mL water

½ tsp. / 2 mL black pepper

3 Tbsp. / 45 mL Anisette -- or Sambuca

Place the strawberries, sugar, water and black pepper in a covered soup pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the temperature and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the strawberries have softened. Use a hand blender, blender or food processor to puree the soup. Do it in small batches and be very careful. Put a towel over the top of the food processor or blender , to prevent any of the hot soup from spraying out. Chill.

So simple, but so good. I like simple but good.

You can sub frozen berries if you can't get good fresh ones - but not the ones in syrop. If your strawberries are really ripe and sweet, you can leave out some of the sugar.

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Many, many thanks. I promise not to tell!

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I made this soup for dessert last night. Even though the strawberries were far from ideal, the soup was excellent. This is so simple and results in such a lovely tasting (and for me, unusual) dessert that it will become a regular. Can't wait to try it when local strawberries arrive (many months away!).

Thank you.

[zilla369]

Thursday the lunch sous at work was minus a prep cook, so he begged me to come up with a soup of the day (pastry chef here). It was one hour until service. I went down to the walk-in to see what i could see.

Well. The purveyor's truck was late, and we had no cream in the restaurant. We were out of chicken stock. We were down to our last two carrots. There was a case of leeks, a case of baby spinach. A couple handful of new red potatoes. No fresh peppers, either green or red. No mushrooms except portobella caps that are were reserved for filet plating. No wonder he tapped me for soup duty.

Ten minutes of panicked foraging later, i was armed with one pint of cream and about 8 oz of chicken base i found in a hot-line lowboy. I started a gallon and a half of "chicken broth" made out of the base (i know, yuck - but far superior to plain water, and it was crunch time) and started chopping leeks. Gee, it's so much fun trying to rinse the grit out of leeks when you're in a hurry. I commandeered the (2) carrots, diced them and sauteed them quickly in some butter and olive oil with chopped garlic. I added the leeks, salt and pepper, sweated briefly, and de-glazed with some white wine. I added the hot chicken broth, turned the heat way up, and added some diced red potatoes. I let this cook for about 10 minutes whlie i made one last pass through the place to see if i'd missed anything. Yes! Andouille sausage, and the most beautiful, soft-stemmed fresh thyme i've ever seen. I chopped the sausage and tossed it in, glubbed in a little Pernod, threw in the baby spinach leaves, and turned the heat off. Stirred in the cream, threw in the thyme, adjusted seasonings, and poured the whole thing into the soup warmer just as the doors opened.

When Chef came in an hour later, he walked up to the soup warmer, grabbed a spoon and tasted. "Now that's a beautiful soup!" he says. "Who made this soup?"

Brownie points for the brownie maker.

[maggiethecat]

Thanks for the report, Anna. This recipe has been a tickle in the back of my brain all week, but I decided I could'nt make it because the strawberries in my market are far from stellar. You've given me the green light.

And zilla: Brava, Pastry Lady! Your soup sounds stupendous, and reminds me again of one of the greatnesses of soup -- versatilty.

And I'd better keep a bottle of anise flavoured booze around at all times, it seems. Soupe a la Zilla, Strawberry Soup, Tomato and Fennel...

[fifi]

Zilla, I can't help but stand up and applaud your effort. Seeing the "deal with what you got" tradition that is common in the home kitchen translated to a professional setting was really a lot of fun to read.

I had never thought about it but having that bottle of Pernod in the pantry isn't a bad idea. Finding good fennel is often a challenge and I love that flavor. I used to keep a fennel plant or three in the garden primarily to provide a home for pipevine swallowtail butterflies. But when I could snatch some of the fresh seeds before the caterpillars got to them, they made wonderful additions to soups and other dishes. Pernod is a lot handier than fighting off caterpillars.

[Pam R]

Many, many thanks.  I promise not to tell!

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I made this soup for dessert last night.  Even though the strawberries were far from ideal, the soup was excellent.  This is so simple and results in such a lovely tasting (and for me, unusual) dessert that it will become a regular.  Can't wait to try it when local strawberries arrive (many months away!).

Thank you.

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I'm glad you liked it .... next you should try my blueberry soup with rosemary

[ludja]

White bean soups....mmmm....

I don't normally find much use for soup recipes, but Georges Lang's "The Cuisine of Hungary" is an exception. My copy falls open at the recipe for Serbian Bean Soup...just a hint of tomato and garlic, with plenty of paprika, and finished with yogurt and vinegar.

 

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Thanks for the inspiration helenjp... I'll probably try some soups out of there as well.

I made this hearty soup a few days ago and it is very good. I also added in some diced carrot and some slice smoked sausage. It's a very nice combination--it would be great w/o the sausage as well. Served it up with buttered rye bread.

edited to add: and per my earlier post, I didn't make the dumpllngs; maybe next time.

Edited January 30, 2005 by ludja (log)

[maggiethecat]

It was fate! I found respectable strawberries at three bucks for two pounds, so I'll be making the strawberry soup that has haunted my dreams. And Pam, don't make us grovel: bring on the recipe for blueberry/rosemary soup. That's going to haunt me until you divulge the recipe.

Ain't too proud to beg.

[lmarshal1]

Zilla369: I'm impressed! Sounds very tasty. lkm

[NeroW]

Hi Maggie!

Try this one:

One of Each Soup

1 Idaho potato, peeled

1 white onion

1 celery heart (with its leaves)

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled

1 ripe banana

1 pt. chicken stock

1 c. heavy cream

1 Tbsp. butter

1 big teaspoon curry powder

salt, pepper, fresh chives

Rough-chop all fruits and vegetables and simmer in the broth, covered, until tender.

Stir in the cream, butter, and curry. Season. Heat to the simmer but don't boil.

Puree soup. Thin if desired, and snip some fresh chives over.

It's very fresh-tasting in the wintertime. It's an old family recipe.

Miss you!

PS Can you PM me the recipe for Chimay-braised pork? I can't get it off my mind!

[maggiethecat]

Nero: This is a fascinating recipe, and it's officilally On The List. I need only to pick up a banana. (Of course it's fascinating--it's a family recipe from your family!)

(I'll PM you the Chimay Pork recipe. It's in that stack of Pleasures of Cooking.)

So, two fruit-based soups this week:sounds like a refreshing wintertime break .

[memesuze]

To get back to the many lentil variations, this is my favorite from the original Moosewood cookbook, so it's completely vegetarian:

Start 3 cups of plain ole lentils in 7 cups of water with 1 tsp. salt and lotsa black pepper.

After they've simmered a half hour, add these which have been sauteed/steamed to tenderize: 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 c. chopped onion, 1 c. chopped celery, and 1 c. chopped carrots.

Simmer for another half hour, then add: 1.5 c. chopped tomatoes [since it's winter, canned is fine - I just drain one of those small 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes], 2 Tbs. red wine, 2 Tbs. lemon juice, 1.5 Tbs. molasses or brown sugar, 1 Tbs. red wine vinegar. Add fresh herbs - my favorite is thyme.

Continue simmering about 15 minutes and serve.

[Pam R]

It was fate!  I found respectable strawberries at three bucks for two pounds, so I'll be making the strawberry soup that has haunted my dreams. And Pam, don't make us grovel: bring on the recipe for blueberry/rosemary soup.  That's going to haunt me until you divulge the recipe.

Ain't too proud to beg.

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Blueberry Soup

You don't get a strong rosemary taste in the soup, but it does add a certain 'je ne sais quoi'.

2 lb. / 1 kg fresh blueberries -- picked through and well rinsed

1 ½ tsp. / 7 mL fresh rosemary -- finely chopped

5 cups / 1.25 L water

5 Tbsp. / 70 mL sugar

¼ tsp. / 1 mL salt

1/3 cup / 75 mL sour cream

Place everything but the sour cream in a pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the blueberries are soft and have started to split.

Use either a hand blender, a blender or a food processor to puree the soup.

After the soup is pureed, pour through a fine-mesh strainer and use a wooden spoon to work as much liquid and flesh through, while leaving the skin and rosemary behind.

Chill before serving.

Top each bowl of chilled soup with a heaping tsp. of sour cream, or if you prefer, you can substitute yoghurt for the sour cream.

Again, for my book launch I made vats of this and used frozen blueberries instead of fresh. I prefer the 'wild' frozen blueberries - but either will work.

When I was on tour, my publicist kept telling people that this was a dessert soup - but I don't think of it that way. I like to think of it as a blueberry borscht. Serve it with some Cheese Blintzes and you have a great meal.

I just want to add... that there are non-fruit soups in my book as well

[fifi]

OH my goodness. I am not normally a fan of cold or dessert soups. But I think that you may have just converted me with that blueberry business. "Pick your own" blueberry season isn't far off here. I can't wait.

[ScorchedPalate]

I made my minestrone tonight, combining two recipes: One from The Romagnoli's Table, that was too convoluted for weeknight use, and one from Cook's Illustrated that was simplified past the point of reason. Here's what I came up with:

Just-Right Minestrone

1 large onion (divided use)

2 medium carrots (divided use)

2 stalks celery (divided use)

2 oz. salt pork

2T olive oil

1 white potato, peeled

3 c. spinach (or other hearty greens), cut into strips

1 can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped

8 cups hot water

2 tsp salt

1 parmesan cheese rind (2 x 5")

1.5 c drained, rinsed garbanzo beans (canned or precooked)

scant 1/2 cup small elbow macaroni

Roughly chop 1/2 of the onion, 1 carrot, and 1 celery stalk; dice the salt pork. Put all 4 ingredients in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and process to a paste, scraping down as needed. Saute the paste in the olive oil over medium heat until golden. While the batutto is sauteeing, cut the remaining celery and carrot into 1/4-inch dice, along with the peeled potato. Once the batutto is golden, add the water, salt, and parmesan rind to the pot, and bring to a simmer. Add the diced vegetables to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Slice the remaining onion into slivers. Add this to the pot, along with the spinach, chopped tomatoes, and macaroni; simmer 15 minutes more. At the end of 15 minutes, or when all veggies are done, mash half of the garbanzo beans. Add the mashed beans and remaining whole beans to the pot, and cook an additional 5 to 15 minutes, to desired thickness. Remove from heat, adjust seasonings, and serve.

(Serves 4 to 6)

Edited January 31, 2005 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[maggiethecat]

one from Cook's Illustrated that was simplified past the point of reason.

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I laughed out loud. I cruised some old CIs this weekend and found some interesting stuff, but the folks apply Occam's Razor a little too liberally. (Your minestrone recipe is uncannily like mine.)

Last night I made Pam's Strawberry Soup, and a bright red splash on the palate it was on a dour January Sunday night. I think I got a little too happy with the pepper, and Sambuca would have been better than the Pernod I used. But we slurped it up joyfully, and yes, the off season strawberries worked just fine.

The other two cups will become the base for one hell of a strawberry sorbet.

[ScorchedPalate]

I finally finished the last bowl of minestrone yesterday for lunch. It's a good soup, but I am going to turn into a chickpea if I so much as think about it anytime soon.

How's this week's soup going? Nobody's posted yet other than Maggie. I'm not a fan of fruit soups, so I myself am sitting this one out, but am anxiously awaiting next week's selection.

Edited February 3, 2005 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[Priscilla]

I'm going to be making NeroW's intriguing One of Each soup today ... for likely serving on Saturday.

[Rachel Perlow]

I finally finished the last bowl of minestrone yesterday for lunch. It's a good soup, but I am going to turn into a chickpea if I so much as think about it anytime soon.

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Did you make a big batch, keep it in the fridge and eat it all week? Instead, get some pint containers that are microwavable. Fill them with 8-14 oz of soup (whatever is your typical soup serving) and freeze them (clearly labeled).

If you know in advance you will want soup for lunch, like if you bring a bag lunch to work, take one out in the morning. It will be about half-defrosted by lunchtime -- and meanwhile keep the rest of your bag lunch cool. Reheating instructions: Remove lid, place back on top without sealing. Microwave for 1 minute, stir, then 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time. You don't want to over-microwave plastic containters.

If you don't think to have the soup until the last minute, then defrost at a lower power level for about 2 minutes, then check progress. It may need another minute or more and then 30 seconds at a time.

If there are beans in the soup, the freezing & reheating gives them that final push towards creaminess. Some people don't like to freeze pasta, but as long as you don't mind it softer than al dente, we don't mind, so pasta fagiole is good, as is chicken noodle.

Today I made Minestrone and Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls.

Here are 8 portions of each, cooling on the "outdoor fridge."

They are ready for the freezer, primarily for Jason's lunches.

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Making different soups regularly and freezing them in portions allow you to quickly have a variety of selection available at anytime.

[suzilightning]

neither john nor i particularly like mushrooms but in the pathmark i saw 10 oz of cremini for $1.00. why not? did everything as maggie said but had to add some fresh thyme from the counter pot and some nutmeg(maybe 1/2 tsp. the house smelled wonderful and it tasted divine!!!