What can be more comforting on a cool or even cold day than a nice, hot bowl of soup? Canned soup is convenient, but unfortunately it's also usually loaded with salt. Home made soup is more nutritious. It also tastes better. Fortunately, it's also easy to make. And what could be easier for another meal than heating the leftovers?
You don't need soup recipes. Once you learn a few basic techniques, you can make any kind of soup you can imagine. (Two of the techniques are exactly the same as making gravy, so I'll explain gravy when I get there.) Some have to cook a long time, but that's what slow cookers are for. Others can be ready within half an hour of when you start. Oh, and so I don't keep repeating the same instruction over and over, season to taste: salt, pepper, and whatever else suits your fancy.
Soups with thin broths
At one restaurant, I commented to the waiter that I loved the soup, but I supposed there was no way I would ever get the recipe. The next thing I knew, I was talking with the chef. He told me that all he did was saute some garlic and onions in olive oil and fill the pot with water. The other ingredients--and the seasoning--could be anything at all. To the best of my recollection, his soup that night had fresh spinach and fresh diced tomatoes. It was simply the first course of the meal.
When I start a soup with olive oil, I often add diced green peppers along with the onions and garlic. I don't bother with soup unless I plan to make it a meal, so I add plenty of hearty ingredients. If you plan to use root vegetables like potatoes, turnips, or rutabagas, start them first. They take longer to cook than other vegetables. You can put in things like carrots or green beans (fresh or frozen) or celery (must be fresh) at about the same time. Add fast-cooking vegetables like peas or zucchini later so they don't turn to mush. Here are some other ideas
▪ Navy or other beans (canned or already cooked)
▪ Grains (already cooked, except for quick cooking barley)
▪ Noodles or other pasta (added later so it won't be overcooked.
The olive oil provides enough fat, so there is no need to add meat to this soup. If you want a beef and vegetable soup, put the beef, onions, garlic, etc. in a pot and add water. My mother always uses stew meat. I prefer something with bones in it in order to add calcium. It seems harder and harder to find anything but neck bones at most supermarkets, and it's almost impossible to get all the bones out. Short ribs work very well if you can find them. Add whatever vegetables you want.
This kind of soup must cook slowly for the meat to be done and tender--a perfect occasion to use a slow cooker. I have never used pork or lamb, but I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't work. Raw chicken with bones, on the other hand, simply makes a mess. You can buy non-fat, low-sodium broth at the store or make some in a separate step. Even a chicken or turkey carcass that has been picked clean makes a delicious broth.
It may be necessary to remove excess fat from the soup or broth before serving it. If you make it one day to serve it the next, simply put the whole pot in the refrigerator and remove all the fat that has risen to the top and congealed. If you plan to serve the soup the same day you make it, use a defatting pitcher. Its spout comes off the bottom instead of the top. Just stop pouring before the fat is low enough to go through the spout.
Chinese egg soup follows the same basic procedure. The only required ingredients are eggs and chicken broth. I like to add frozen peas, canned mushrooms, and pieces of leftover chicken. Beat the eggs. Bring the broth and other ingredients to a rolling boil. Slowly pour the eggs into the boiling broth, which will cook them instantly. Serve immediately.
Low-fat cream soups
These are low fat because they don't actually use cream. You can turn any of the thin broth soups into a cream soup this way:
• Bring the soup to a boil if it's only simmering.
• Thicken it slightly with 1/4 cup of water and 1 T of cornstarch for every pint of broth.
• Add a can or two of evaporated milk.
You can make other cream soups the same way you make gravy. Cream of mushroom soup is like a pan gravy. Chop fresh mushrooms and saute them in 1T of butter or oil for every cup of soup you intend to make. Make a roux by adding the same amount of flour. (White flour works better than whole wheat flour for this purpose.) Then add milk a little at a time, stirring constantly, until it's all in the pot. Keep cooking until it reaches serving temperature.
By the way, if you've never made pan gravy, you do it the same way using pan drippings from, say, fried chicken or pork chops. Instead of using 1 T of drippings and flour per cup, use 2 T of each to thicken it more. I might as well explain kettle gravy while I'm at it. You'll need that technique for the next set of cream soups. To make gravy for a pot roast or anything else cooked in liquid, start the liquid and bring it to a boil. For every cup of gravy, put 1/4 cup of water in a measuring cup and whisk in 2 T of flour. Pour this mixture into the boiling broth as you stir it. It will become gravy almost immediately.
For cream of celery, broccoli, spinach, corn, cabbage, potato, etc., chop the vegetables into suitably small pieces and cook them in water. (If I make cabbage soup, I use half a bag of cole slaw. Otherwise I never get it fine enough.) When the vegetables are cooked, ladle some of the liquid into a measuring cup and add 1/3 cup of instant milk powder and 1 T of flour to it for every cup of soup. (If you don't like the appearance, you can always discard the water and use regular milk, but you'll be throwing out lots of vitamins, too. At least use enough of the water to mix with the flour.)
I don't make potato soup that way any more. I've found something I like better. Cook the potatoes and some diced onions in water--not too much. When they're finished, take about half of the potatoes out with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Run the water, the rest of the potatoes, and some instant milk powder through a blender or food processor. With any luck, it will either come out with a good soup consistency or be a little to thick. Put the reserved potato pieces back in the pot. If it's too thick, add milk. If it's too thin, you have to add instant mashed potatoes a very little at a time. I also like to add corn--and make sure I remove all of it with the potatoes I leave unblended. I like to add bacon bits to my bowl.
You can add a can of clams, juice and all, to potato soup made either way get an easy New England clam chowder.
I don't use the kettle gravy procedure for cabbage soup any more, either. Cook 1/2 cup quick-cooking barley in 2 cups of some kind of broth--or water with bouillon cubes if necessary. Saute the cabbage, chopped onions, and garlic in 4 T of olive oil. When the cabbage begins to soften, add 6 T of flour to make a roux and slowly stir in 2 cups of milk. In other words, when you get finished with the cabbage and sauce it will be thicker than gravy. Pour the broth and barley into it and stir until it's blended together. I like bacon bits in this soup, too.
Bean soups
Bean soups have to cook a long time--perfect for the slow cooker. You can use any kind of dried beans you like. Split peas and lentils are the fast food in the bean world. You can cook them straight out of the bag. Soak everything else over night in lots of water, then drain them thoroughly in the morning.
Put the beans in the pot along with onions, carrots, meat, and whatever else you want in the pot or slow cooker. Cover it all with water and cook slowly until the beans become so soft and tender. When it's ready, defat the soup and thicken it according to instructions already given.
Now you can make delicious soup every week throughout the fall and winter and never have the same one twice. Unless, of course, you want to.
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