re: Post your favorite soup recipe

Made this one a few weeks ago as a starter soup and the folks didn't leave a drop. I doubled it.

Gingered Carrot Soup


Serving Size : 4

FOR THE SOUP
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup leeks -- sliced and rinsed
1 tablespoon ginger -- minced
1 teaspoon garlic -- minced
1 pound carrots, peeled -- thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
FOR THE TANGY CREAM
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
salt -- to taste

Saute leeks in butter in a large pot over medium-high heat about 3 minutes, or until soft. Add ginger and garlic, and cook 1 minute.

Stir in carrots, sugar, salt, and cayenne; saute 1 minute.

Deglaze with wine and reduce until nearly evaporated, then stir in the broth and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, or until carrots are soft. Puree with a hand blender.

Finish soup with lemon juice.

Whip cream to soft peeks in a bowl, then fold in the sour cream and salt. Dollop onto servings of soup.

Red Bell Pepper Soup

¼ c olive oil

1 c chopped onion
1 T dried fennel seed
½ t dried thyme or 1 T fresh
½ bay leaf crumbled
½ t minced garlic
½ t dried basil or 1 T fresh
2 T minced jalapeno pepper
6 large red bell peppers, chopped*

¼ c peeled, seeded and chopped fresh or canned tomato

¼ c flour
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, but low sodium canned will do
2 t tomato paste
½ to 1 c heavy cream
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

optional garnishes: finely chopped green onions or chives and toasted slivered almonds
splash of sambuca (optional)
sambuca cream (optional)-recipe below

In a 4 qt heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the ¼ c oil over medium heat. Add the next 8 ingredients and sauté until onion is translucent, 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the flour and stir constantly for about 10 minutes. Slowly pour the stock over the mixture, incorporating by stirring constantly. Add the tomato and tomato paste and stir. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

Remove the soup from the heat and either puree in a blender or with an immersion blender in the pot. Return the soup to the heat and add ½ cup of the cream and the sugar. Season with salt and pepper. If the soup is too spicy, add more cream or add the amount you like to get the consistency and flavor you desire.

Soup can be made 2 days or so in advance and gently reheated.

Garnish with sambuca cream and/or the green onions/chives and slivered almonds.

Makes a great starter cup of soup.

*If you prefer roasted red bell peppers, you may roast them and follow the same instructions after peeling them.

Sambuca Cream

1 cup heavy cream
½ c fresh lemon juice
3 T sambuca
pinch of sugar

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the remaining ingredients. Continue whipping until the cream is almost stiff. Keep refrigerated until serving time.

Miz GG - you are on a soupy roll!

Chicken and Dumplings

Chili

Seafood chowder

Catfish stew

(Thai) Tom Kha Gai Soup

French Onion Soup

another French Onion Soup

"Momma Bear" vegetable beef soup

Chicken enchalada soup

Olive Garden Zuppa Tuscana soup

Ox Tail Stew

Cream of Carrot soup

All I am accomplishing with this is making myself hungry for soup.



I guess I know what we will do for dinner tomorrow night. Made Shrimp gumbo Tuesday and it's gone, so a weekend of soup would be nice.

Turtle soup is one of South La's greatest food creations.

Ina's Roasted Tomato Basil Soup My Way (Otis, do not ruin this thread. Everyone here already knows you hate the woman.)

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in one layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.


My Notes:

Roasting some of the tomatoes gives a much deeper flavor. As usual, I tinkered with the recipe.

I used more onions and about 3 pounds of plum tomatoes. Make sure to get the onions nice and brown. They cook down a lot which is why I used more. I wanted a stronger roasted tomato flavor so I used more of the plum tomatoes. I removed the tough end piece from the tomatoes before halving them. I put them on non stick foil to make sure I could get any caramelized juices off easily for the soup and I roasted them a good bit longer than the recipe called for. The juices mostly caramelized which added to the flavor since all of that goodness went into the soup. I thought about removing the skin, but opted not to. I also put a little dried basil on the halves with the salt and pepper before roasting them.

I used only about 2 cups of the fresh basil. I thought 4 cups was overkill and might bury the sweetness from the roasted tomatoes. I used more thyme than called for and eventually added a few sprigs to simmer in it. Worked out really well. I also simmered a few parmesan rinds in the mixture because I'd just bought some. They aren’t necessary.

I used more chicken stock than called for to get it to my desired texture. Water probably would have been fine because the flavors were so good. I simmered it COVERED rather than uncovered so all the liquid wouldn’t evaporate too much. It still does evaporate somewhat, covered, but you can add whatever you need after pureeing.

I DID NOT run anything through a sieve. I pureed it in the pot with my immersion blender when it cooled.

This is yet another soup in which the exact measurements don't matter much unless you use too much liquid. While simmering the liquid cooks down and that was going to be too thick so I added a little more stock before I pureed it.

Next time I make it, I'll roast even more plum tomatoes. The canned is what provides a bit of body, so I'll use them again. Oh, and when I poured the canned into the pot, I took the tough end off each of those as well.

I thought about adding a little cream, but it was so creamy on it's on that I opted not to do it, but you could if you would like.

Roasted tomatoes, especially when seasoned with some nice herbs, provide a great base for soups and sauces. Roast some, puree and add a little cream and toss with pasta or just puree them and put the sauce over a boring boneless skinless chicken breast. Stick the puree in your fridge and it will hold a good while.

I can't remember which poster here shared this wonderful cold soup with me, but I really like this stuff. As I understand, they don't make it all that often at Mr. B's

Cold Avocado Soup – From Mr. B’s Bistro

1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/4 of a bay leaf
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 avocados
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
hot sauce to taste
1/2 pound jumbo lump crabmeat

In a median saucepan combine 1 1/2 cups water with potato, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook until soft. Remove bay leaf and chill. Puree in food processor to a nice smooth consistency.

Peel and pit avocados. In a food processor combine 2 1/2 avocados, 1/2 cup potato puree (discard leftover puree), milk and cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dice remaining avocado and use as garnish when plating.
Serve in a shallow soup bowl with a nice spoon of Lump crabmeat and a shot of hot sauce.

quote:

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Ina's Roasted Tomato Basil Soup My Way

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Why the hell would anyone want to cook a dish from the mouth and mind of that rabid hippo?

Green Chili Chicken Soup

1/2 small onion
8 c. chicken broth
1 stalk celery, cut into pieces as desired
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded (1 breast and 2 thighs should be plenty). Discard bones and skin.

1/2 cup chopped onion
¼ cup fine diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small cans chopped green chilies
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt (to taste)
2 Tablespoons fresh finely chopped cilantro. Or slightly less if using dried.

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon dried cumin
1 cup cream or milk or skim milk

Sour Cream
Crushed white tortilla chips
1/2 cup chopped green onions (optional)

In a 10-12 cup stock pot, cook the chicken in the chicken broth with the 1/2 onion and the celery stalk. Remove the chicken when done and shred or cut it into small cubes. Remove the 1/2 onion and celery and discard. Keep the chicken broth at a low boil, as this will be the liquid base for the soup. Add water or more broth if needed to have 8 cups broth. Taste this broth and add salt if needed (you probably do not need to add any salt).

In a skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onion and celery until the onion is clear. Add the garlic when the onion first begins to go toward tender, so that you cook but do not burn the garlic. On a separate plate, mash the green chilies with a fork, until a paste is formed, and add to skillet toward the end of sauté. Also add the cilantro at this point. Turn off heat when chilies and cilantro are added.

To the broth, add chicken and sautéed vegetables. Reduce heat to a low boil and put a lid on the pot. Cook for ten minutes while making béchamel.

Béchamel

Melt butter in skillet, add flour and black pepper to butter and cook for three minutes on medium heat. Do not brown the flour. Add cumin to the flour at the end of the three minutes and then ladle 1/2 cup broth from the stock pot into the skillet. Add cream and stir until the liquid thickens and no lumps remain. Stir this béchamel into the soup to thicken it.

Cook soup at a low boil for 5-10 minutes after adding béchamel.

Serve in soup bowls, with a dollop of sour cream and crushed tortilla chips added. Garnish with chopped green onions if desired.

Jerked Chicken Soup

You'll Need:

4 cans chicken broth
1 stalk celery – break in half
1/2 onion, left whole
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (6-8 tenders) cooked in broth and shredded
1 cup medium chopped onion
1/2 cup celery, fine chopped
1 cup medium chopped carrot
1/2 cup medium chopped red, yellow or green bell peppers, use some of all colors if you have them
1 can diced tomatoes 16 oz
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
1 cup short grain rice
1 -1 1/2 Tablespoon Jerk Seasoning.

Jerk Seasoning:

1 Tablespoon onion powder or dried onions
1 Tablespoon Lawry’s Garlic Seasoning
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 Scotch Bonnet Pepper, chopped finely
1 Tablespoon Vegetable oil

Cook the chicken breasts in chicken broth, celery and 1/2 onion until done. Remove and allow the chicken to cool then shred it in smallish pieces. Remove celery and onion form broth and set the broth aside.

In a suitably sized stock pot, sauté onions, carrots, green peppers and celery in 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil. Add Jerked Seasoning to the vegetables as they begin to turn clear.

Add the broth used to cook the chicken and the tomatoes then add rice, chicken and coconut to the soup as it comes to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

I like this soup thick. If it is not thick (creamy) from the Jasmine rice, add a small amount 1-2 Tablespoons of flour, mixed in a little broth to make a paste, to the soup to thicken it and then cook and additional five minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally to keep the thickened soup from sticking.

Makes 10 servings.