Ummm, does your husband have an easier / less labor-intensive stock recipe than the Thomas Keller one?
I want some of you to come over and cook these delicious sounding soups for me, because as a cook, I suck (and I dislike cooking). But I like to eat good food. It’s a dilemma.
@nottelling: TK’s recipe isn’t much different from the others. There are lots of steps involved in making stock, which are pretty easy. What’s a pain is that it is very time-consuming. IMO the effort is totally worthwhile given the difference it makes in soups. It’s clearly not an endeavor for people who don’t care about cooking.
A Pittsburgh couple has had a Big Soup Party every year for the past 23 years. Partly, it’s a fund-raiser for their local food bank. They usually cook 3-5 different soups each year, and attendees just bring their own bowls and spoons. I’ve always wished I could attend, but I’ve never been in Pittsburgh at the right time of year. On their website, you can see copies the publicity posters, invitations, photos, and recipes for the past 23 years.
http://blog.bigsoup.org/
I definitely agree that good stock is the key to good soup and I’ve made it myself before but boy is it a pain! The Thomas Keller recipe seems particularly obsessive because of the multiple rounds of straining and instructions like “rinse the chicken bones under cold water for 30 mins.” And all those leeks, which are a pain to work with because they are so hard to clean. TK’s recipe also calls for constant skimming for 6 hours (instead of once every 30 mins or so). Obviously, the result is likely to be fantastic but unrealistic for the average home cook. I’d really like to find a simpler tried-and-true recipe for good chicken stock.
Easy recipe: A big pile of chicken backs/necks/feet/whatever, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, peppercorns and parsley. Salt. Boil for a couple of hours. Strain once through a mesh sieve and you’re done.
Meat eaters: beef with barley. Beef, carrots, onions, broth, barley, tomato pureeseason to taste.
Chicken posole soup: dried posole, chicken thighs (in chunks), tomato, onion, carrots, sweet pepper, broth. Simmer for about twelve hours (posole absorbs a lot of liquid). 3 pounds chicken to 12 oz. dried posole (hominy).
Vegetarians: simmer together potatoes, tomatoes, apple (just one or else it’s too sweet), onions. Puree. Add frozen sweet corn kernels.
(Note that all soups (IMHO) benefit from having a few bay leaves thrown in while they’re simmering. But I have a bay tree in the back yard, so it’s easy for me.)
@nottelling — I really enjoy Thomas Keller’s OCD approach to cooking. So delightfully obsessive. It reminds me of of Phil Hartmann’s Anal Retentive Chef on SNL… I have two of his cookbooks and though I read his recipes, I charge ahead and do things my way.
Here is my absolutely tortilla favorite soup:
c/o Wolfgang Puck
Yield:3 quarts
Ingredients
2 ears fresh corn, husks removed
4 or 5 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 small onion (about 3 ounces), peeled, trimmed, and quartered
1 small jalapeno pepper, trimmed and seeded
2 tablespoons corn oil
2 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch squares
2 large ripe tomatoes (1 pound), peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 to 3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 quarts chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Garnish:
2 corn tortillas
1 ripe avocado
1 large chicken breast, cooked, boned, and skinned
1/2 cup grated Cheddar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
Using a large knife, carefully scrape the kernels off the corncobs and set aside, reserving the cobs.
Using a food processor fitted with the steel blade, or a large knife, coarsely chop the garlic, onion, jalapeno pepper, and corn kernels. Reserve.
In a large soup pot, heat the oil. Add the squares of tortillas and cook over low heat until they are slightly crisp. Stir in the chopped vegetables and simmer just until the vegetables are coated with the oil. Do not brown.
Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, and 2 teaspoons of the cumin and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes to maximize the flavor. Slowly pour in the stock, add the corncobs, and cook over low heat until the soup is reduced by one third.
Discard the corn cobs and puree the soup, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth. At this point, the soup can be passed through the fine strainer, if desired. Return to a clean pot and season with salt, pepper, and additional cumin to taste.
Prepare the garnish: Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the tortillas into thin strips and arrange on a small baking tray. Bake until the strips are crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Peel and dice the avocado. Cut the chicken into thin strips.
To serve, add the chicken and avocado to the soup and reheat over low heat. Ladle the soup into 6 to 8 warm soup bowls and garnish with the baked tortilla strips, Cheddar cheese, and chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.
Stock in the crock pot is really easy, too. Throw everything in before you go to bed and put it on low. In the morning, strain and you’re all set.
Totally decadent Cream of Crab soup has been on our New Year’s Day dinner for years.
1 stick butter melted
2 Tbl flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 pt milk
1 lb lump crab meat
1 1/2 pts table cream
1 wine glass dry sherry
Melt butter, add flour, salt, red pepper, parsley and nutmeg. Stir 1 minute, making sure not to brown it. Add milk and stir constantly unitl thick. Add crab meat; remove rom heat. In a small suacepan heat table cream. Pour into crab mixture and add sherry. Serve hot.
I do the recipe up until adding the hot cream ahead of time. I re-heat it gently and then add the rest so I don’t have it as a last minute chore for company.
One of my favorite soups is Gypsy Soup form the first Moosewood cookbook. It has the advantage of being vegan and gluten free as well.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cups diced yellow onion, 1/4” dice
1 cup diced celery, 1/4” dice
1 cup diced red or green bell pepper, 1/4” dice
2 cups diced, peeled yams, sweet potatoes, winter squash, or carrots, 1/4” dice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoe, or 1 1/2 cups diced fresh tomatoes, 1/4” dice
1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
5 cups vegetable (or chicken stock), or water
1/2 tsp. salt
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
In large pot, sauté onions, celery, peppers, and garnet yams in olive oil, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper,until onions soften and start to turn golden. Stir in garlic, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne and cook for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, stock or water, salt, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover, turn heat down to low, and simmer for 20-30 minutes until flavors have blended. Taste and add salt, freshly ground black pepper, or cayenne, as needed. Stir in fresh parsley and serve.
It’s very adaptable, you can throw in greens or other stuff as well.
I use Hanna’s recipe for stock. I just put bones in the freezer whenever we have chicken until I have enough to be worth it. Or I use the rotisserie chicken dh often buys for lunches he takes to work. I always have stock in the freezer.
If only I could type!! It’s carrot soup, not varrot. I’ll find the recipe when I get home.
I use Better Than Bouillon for stock (it’s in the soup section, it comes in glass jars), and it’s pretty darn good for not being home made. It’s WAY WAY WAY better than those gross, msg-laden cubes.
+1 for albondigas soup, one of my favorites. We eat lots of soups in the winter.
In terms of old school comfort soup, and one that does well in a crockpot, my Dutch grandfather made great oxtail soup. His recipe was similar to this:
http://www.food.com/recipe/oxtail-soup-313087
Another easy regular in the rotation is a tortellini pasta e fagioli, with or without slices of italian sausage. More difficult, but receiver of raves from guests, we make a roasted red pepper soup and serve it with about a 1/4 cup of Dungeness crab meat clumped on top.
Soup for dinner tonight, just coincidence.
My favorite Chicken Noodle Soup is the Consumer Reports recipe
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2014/01/chicken-noodle-soup-taste-test/index.htm
I belonged to a cooking club while living in London. I was one of 3 who brought soup to have along with our Christmas Cookie exchange. I found this recipe and decided to try it. While there was a wonderful Minestrone Soup and a fabulous Tomato Basil soup, the one everyone loved was this one. We had to discuss how we made the recipe and talk about any changes that we made. Everyone was astounded that it was so good and so easy. I like to keep some in the freezer. When I want it, I just add the noodles and proceed. I have added carrots and/or mushrooms – whatever I have on hand.
I am going to try this recipe for spinach soup and adapt the seasonings to my taste. Maybe add a bit of ginger, garlic, cumin, red pepper, tomatoes, bit of onion, coriander, and use olive oil instead of butter. For me a squeeze of lemon juice to add to the taste.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/74551/spinach-and-yogurt-soup/
We just had a lovely Onion Soup for dinner using the Craig Claiborne recipe from a cookbook that I’ve had for years. Instead of beef broth, I use low sodium vegetable broth and very lovely. I can share the recipe if anyone is interested.
Does anyone have a good recipe for tomato basil soup?
My mom’s birthday is coming up soon, and all she asked for was some tomato soup. I want to try and make it for her rather than buying it because she likes it when I cook.
I would love the recipe for onion soup!