Tag Archives: Soup
Shellfish Chowder!
Super rich and creamy and chock full of shellfish, if you like seafood this is a recipe for you. This is just a basic recipe…change seafood and ingredients that you like. If you’d like additional chowder (and gumbo) recipes, along with its background, history, and lore, follow this link to an article I wrote some years ago.
Seafood Chowder
Makes 10-12 cups
2 lobster tails
1 pound shrimp
2 dozen mussels
2 dozen small clams
4 cups water
2 cups white wine
____________________
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
½ cup flour
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup sherry
1 cup heavy cream
Combine the shellfish, water, and wine in a pot just large enough to contain it. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook the shellfish for about 15 minutes. Strain the shellfish from the broth, reserving both separately. When the seafood is cool enough to handle, remove it from their shells, discard the shells, and dice the seafood as needed.
Heat the butter in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat. When it begins to bubble add the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook the vegetables for a couple minutes then add flour and cook another couple minutes while stirring. Next stir in the tomato paste, paprika, and kosher salt; stirring it to blend with the flour mixture. Add the reserved broth, and using a wire whisk, mix it until smooth. Bring to a boil, then lower to a low simmer. Cook the soup for about 5 minutes, then add the cooked seafood to the pot along with the sherry and cream. Simmer the chowder for another 5 minutes before serving.
Shellfish Chowder!
Curried Split Pea Soup!
Ok, so here’s another recipe that is super easy, really delicious, nutritious, and also satisfying in a cold day. Yellow Split pea soup with curry. The basic recipe is below but you can also add or subtract to it as you like (it’s equally good without curry, for example, but I happen to like the spice). Tonight, in addition to the ingredients listed in the recipe I also added a diced green pepper, a diced tomato, and a bit of tandoori spice. The is also good if mad with red or green lentils rather than split peas. If the recipe is too large cut it in half; this soup freezes well also.
Heat 3 tablespoons canola oil or clarified butter in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add a diced onion and cook it—stirring frequently—for about five minutes, or until it start to brown, then stir in 3 cloves of minced garlic and cook for another minute or so. Lower the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons (or more) of your favorite curry powder, and add any of your other favorite spices as well (such as extra cumin, turmeric, coriander, or chilies; all of which should be in the curry powder already). Stir the spices for a minute or so in the hot fat to bring out their flavors, then stir in 3 cups of yellow split peas and about 10 cups of chicken broth (if you want to keep this vegetarian use vegetable broth). Season the soup with a teaspoon of kosher salt (being careful if you are using canned broth which is already salted) and bring the soup to a rolling boil. Allow the soup to boil for a minute then turn it down to a simmer. Cook the soup for about an hour—stirring it frequently—and add more liquid if it becomes too thick. Just before removing it from the heat stir in about 1/4 cup of fresh lemon or lime juice and—if you have it on hand and enjoy it’s flavor—also stir in a handful of chopped cilantro.
Lentil Soup with Vegetables and Lebanese Spices
This is a variation of my more traditional Lebanese Lentil Soup recipe; in this version I added many more vegetables. This is super easy to make and yes it tastes as good as it looks. The vegetables I added are simply suggestions (it’s what I had on hand), use whatever you like. This is easily a meal in itself, and if you reduce the liquid and make it thick enough you can serve it over rice. And while it is a large-ish quantity, this soup freezes well. This soup is delicious and appropriate year-round but is especially fitting during the colder months.
1 bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 cups diced cabbage
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons Lebanese seven spice mix
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup lentils
1 (15oz.) can diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
1 potato, peeled and diced
2 cups (about 5oz. Fresh spinach, chopped
½ cup lemon juice
Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat then add the onion pepper, carrot, and cabbage. Sweat the vegetables for a few minutes then add the garlic; cook the vegetables a couple minutes longer. Stir in the seven spice mix, turmeric, and salt; cook for a minute or so, then add the lentils, tomatoes, chicken broth, and potato. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower it to a simmer. Cook the soup for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it becomes too thick add additional broth or water. Stir in the spinach and cook it for about 5 minutes. Then stir in the lemon juice and simmer another five minutes, or until the lentils are very soft.
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Mix the spices together and store in an airtight container, or use as needed.
Cool as a cucumber (and avocado) soup recipe…
This soup is really delicious and really easy to make. I know…I say that all the time, right? Well, all you have to do is put the ingredients in a blender and puree them. Seriously. Easy, delicious, and healthy…what’s not to like. This is also a great recipe for the crazy heatwave that has gripped much of the country. I hope you try this…you’ll be glad you did.
Mulligatawny!
Before I talk about the recipe I have to make a few other comments. You may be wondering why on earth this guy would be posting a recipe for soup in the middle of summer, or at least early summer. Nonetheless, it’s hot outside. Well, the answer to this is twofold…one is that it was on the menu where I work (so I had to make it), but also because I really enjoy this soup. But the less obvious reason (to most, I think) is that even though spicy food is often thought of as “warming foods” for cold weather, spicy foods originate in hot climates and are naturally eaten there. Spicy foods, in fact, act as a natural air conditioner of sorts…they make you sweat which cools you off. Spicy foods are also known to stimulate the appetite, which may be lacking during steamy weather (interesting how nature takes care of us). Anyhow, mulligatawny is a curried chicken and rice soup of British-Indian origin. It is really easy to make and really delicious (it freezes well also, in the even you make too much of it). The recipe below is a basic one; when I make it for myself I add more hot pepper or a splash of hot pepper sauce. It is, without doubt, a meal in itself.
Carrot Vichyssoise with Curry, Yogurt, and Parsley Purée
I’ve posted this recipe before but not in quite a while. It is an excellent spring soup and can be served hot or chilled. The only variation in the recipe (there always has to be one) is that I did not include a recipe for the parsley puree. This is done easily by combining washed parsley and plain yogurt in a blender and pureeing until very smooth. And the images below illustrate how to garnish it as if it were served in a restaurant. The only tools you need are an ordinary squirt bottle and a knife. There are plenty of designs and this is a simple one. Draw lines in the soup and gently draw the tip of a pointy knife back and forth through the puree.
How to Make a Really Flavorful Vegetable Soup in Twenty Minutes (seriously!)
Okay, so it may take longer than twenty minutes to cut all the vegetables, but if you have them cut (or in my case–being the chef–have someone else cut them for you), this is a really quick and simple process. What is a soup anyway? Just some chopped up stuff cooked in broth, right? Well, partially, but it’s more than that. The modern English word comes from the Middle English sup or sop, referring not only to the dish but also the act…to sup is to eat; this is also from where the word supper arose. It also referred to the practice of placing a stale piece of bread in a bowl prior to pouring a thin or meager soup, giving the meal more substance. Anyhow, the way to make any vegetable soup taste really good takes three things…lots of vegetables, a good and flavorful broth (read this article on broths), and the method or sweating the vegetables; meaning covering them and letting them sort of stew or sweat in their own juices prior to adding broth. Soup is without doubt one of the world’s great comfort foods (and one of the oldest). For an actual recipe for this soup, read this post. For many other soup recipes, click here.
A Really Simple (but Superbly Delicious) Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe with Homemade Whole Wheat Noodles
What is it about chicken soup? Even when I go through one of my “very-little-meat” phases I still welcome and crave this simple food. It’s a sort of cultural phenomenon…every culture and nationality has their own version of this humble dish. One of my favorite names for this recipe is “Jewish Penicillin,” making reference to its supposed properties to cure the common cold. And historically speaking it is likely one of the oldest recipes…next to cooking over a live fire, putting things in a vessel and boiling them is one of the oldest known cooking methods. There are plenty of ways to make this dish, and a seemingly endless variety of ingredients one can use, but this is a version I made the other day. It is easy and delicious. The homemade noodles were an added bonus, but if you want to make the recipe and use store-bought (or none at all) it will be equally delicious. This is also a good Base recipe,” meaning one in which you can add or subtract flavorings or ingredients to make it your own. The addition of chilies would make this interesting, as would a bit of fresh ginger and soy for an Oriental flare. More garlic, a splash of lemon, and a few sprigs of cilantro (and a sprinkling of curry) would give it a distinctive Near East flavor. You get the picture. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go have a second bowl of soup…
Broth, Bouillon, Brodo (y Caldo)
–LouisP. De Gouy
The Soup that I Grew…
There is, I believe, nothing more satisfying than a good bowl of soup and homemade bread. Okay…so maybe there is, but you’ve got to admit the combination is really good. Anyhow, believe-it-or-not, I am still harvesting vegetables from the garden in the rear of my house (yes, in October and in Western NY). I made this yesterday and ate it with a few slices of whole wheat bread (click here for multiple recipes and pics on how to make whole wheat bread). The unseasonably warm temperatures yesterday plummeted by about 30 degrees in 2 hours, and the house sure felt–and smelled–cozy with a pot of curried vegetable soup on the stove. There’s a really basic recipe below; use it more as a guide…add or subtract whatever vegetables and spices you like (or add meat as well). Some of the vegetables that I harvested and used in this recipe are pictured below as well.
"Tis the Season…
Yes, whether we like it or not, it is that time of year again. The weather is getting colder. And with it lighter foods give way to heartier ones, and one of my favorites is soup. I’ve posted this recipe before, or at least variations of it, but it is so delicious and easy to make I thought I’d post it again (it is a crowd-pleaser). The recipe–and the picture above–both utilize butternut squash, but this recipe works great with nearly any hard squash…it’s great with pumpkin. I add a bit of sugar in the recipe, but if you stay away from sugar simply omit it (or add more if you’d like it sweeter). A fresh chili or two is great also (but not included in the recipe)…spicy and sweet and creamy compliment each other. I also used heavy cream in the recipe, you can make it lighter with the use of milk or no cream at all, but it wouldn’t be as rich. And lastly, if you want to make this vegetarian or vegan , substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth (don’t use water, it would be too bland) and soy milk to replace the cream. Anyhow–and just to reiterate–this recipe is delicious and easy to make…and it’s a great one to experiment with as well.
Gazpacho Blanco (receta y fotos)
Two Chilled Soups
Tomato Soup Recipe
The Goodness of Beer
Things That Can be Carried on a Bike (#408)…and what I made with it
A basket full of fresh vegetables, which I turned into a hearty chicken-and-vegetable soup/stew with Near East spices.
Things That Can be Carried on a Bike (#404)
A canvas bag (on the front rack) containing–among other things–a spare camera, a book, and a few recipes. A cardboard box (on the rear rack) containing 5lbs/2.2kg of whole wheat flour, 2 pints of spiced lentil soup, and two roast chicken dinners.
Spiced Lentil Soup
I really enjoy lentils….and I’m grateful that I do. Because not only are they super-healthy for you, they are also a great medium for all sorts of flavors and textures…and not just vegetarian recipes. Anyhow, a purveyor at work gave me a couple pounds of these lentils as a sample (pictured above)…beautiful aren’t they? I made the below soup recipe for staff lunch today…it was so good (if I do say so myself) I had a double serving. It’s also really easy to make. And while I used the above multi-colored lentils, any lentil will do…some just take longer to cook than others. The spices I used (pictured below and also listed in the recipe) are also interchangeable…add or subtract whatever suits your personal taste. And listed at the bottom of this post are a few links of other easy and delicious lentil recipes.