Soup Recipe

Soup Recipes

Soup is the epitome of comfort, a wonderful soul warming food filled with wholesome ingredients and fantastic flavors. Homemade soup allows the cook complete mastery over what goes into each recipe, and the methods and techniques used to create delicious and nutritious dishes. Simply Soups presents easy to follow, step-by-step soup recipes in a format that takes the guesswork out of preparation, and allows the home chef to concentrate on creating perfect soup every time out. Soups are ideal as appetizers or starters, as a side dish, or as a one-pot meal. Most recipes presented here can be created with basic kitchen tools. A cutting board, sharp paring and chefs knives, vegetable peeler, wooden spoon, skimmer, measuring cups and spoons, a stand-up or immersion blender, ladle, saucepans, stockpot, and a kitchen timer are all that’s necessary to re-create restaurant quality soups in the comfort of your own kitchen. Most savory soups start with stock. As such, the soup maker should give considerable attention to stock, because this rich broth is so important to the taste of many great soups. Creating stock from scratch is a skill worth mastering, as so many recipes start with stock as the base to add and create rich flavor. Stock is the liquid from boiled meats, poultry, seafood, or vegetables, plus additional seasonings. The stock is filtered through one or more strainers, such as wire mesh or cheesecloth, the solid ingredients are discarded or set aside for later use. The resulting liquid is a rich, flavorful base ready to use in creating soups and stews. Fresh ingredients make the best dishes. To insure the highest quality results, invest in fresh meats, vegetables, herbs and spices. While the beauty of soup is the ability to use leftovers and items in the refrigerator and pantry that may otherwise spoil, when you are setting out to make a memorable dish, head to the supermarket and purchase fresh ingredients. Soup makes a wonderful addition to any meal, and once you make a pot or two, you'll discover it isn't really that hard to make. Final adjustments can be made before the soup hits the table. Some soups are finished with special sauces and garnishes, allowing each guest to create a dish that suits their particular taste. Soup can be savory or sweet, hot or cold, thick or thin. SimplySoups.com offers hundreds of taste tested soup recipes in 55 categories, from simple to gourmet, including the classics and many new and exciting soup creations. hot and sour soup Hot and Sour Soup is one of the most unusual types of soup there is. It is full of different vegetables that few people eat regularly. Instead of being smooth and comforting, it is chunky, spicy and sour. It is for these many differences that Hot and Sour Soup is so sought after. It is a culinary trip to another part of the world, another type of cuisine. Hot and Sour soup actually refers to a group of soups rather than an exact type. This amazing soup is prepared differently in various parts of the world. All versions retain the same sourness and spice, however. The typical American version is usually made with chicken or pork broth, although there are meatless versions. The broth is usually thicker than the traditional Chinese version. Most Hot and Sour soup relies on unusual ingredients to lend it a different flavor. It is not uncommon to find the soup full of bamboo shoots, wood ear, cloud ear fungus and day lily buds. Many recipes also call for egg. The sour flavor usually comes from vinegar, while the secret spicy ingredient depends on the cook. Many chose to use white pepper to add a special kick. Other people frequently use red chilies to add spice. Anyone wanting a soup that is out of the ordinary will love Hot and Sour Soup. vegetable soup Vegetable soup, when prepared from scratch, can be as varied as any type of food could possibly be. It is a basic comfort food most individuals remember from childhood. A steaming, hot bowl of fresh potato soup is hearty and satisfying. A bowl of vegetable soup consisting of freshly peeled tomatoes, baby yellow or green zucchini slices and a small amount of white, Italian cannellini beans is satisfying to anyone's palate. Even children who do not normally appreciate the taste of vegetables do enjoy eating certain varieties of vegetable soup. Tomato soup is always a popular standby, and can easily be made from scratch. Vegetables are nutritious gifts from Mother Nature and most people know that a scrumptious bowl of vegetable soup adds something special to any meal. A lonely salad, when accompanied by a bowl of vegetable soup, takes on an entirely new identity. Indeed, vegetable soup served with a mixed vegetable salad is hard to beat, yet so incredibly simple to prepare. A person does not need to have a college degree in cooking in order to make vegetable soup. There are voluminous recipes for different kinds of vegetable soup. A good cook can make changes to any recipe in order to create uniquely creative bowls of vegetable soup. Every good chef knows how to make vegetable soup, because vegetable soup is a traditional food that people all over the world recognize.

Chilly Souse Soup

Chilly Souse Soup is easy to make and can be served hot or cold. Use Plum Sauce for a tasty dipping sauce or pour it over your favorite pork or chicken dish.

Ingredients
You will need:dreamstime_5974179_sauce_plum

    12 ounces plum jam
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    1 teaspoon minced garlic
    1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
    2 tablespoon vinegar

The foggy coastline of Northern California is artichoke country. Like finding small hole-in-the-walls that serve clam chowder in New England, here one can sometimes find local diners that sell delicous artichoke soup. I first developed a taste for artichoke soup on frequent trips to Pescadero Beach during college. So when I found this recipe in the New York Times, I couldn't resist. The recipe serves 8. When I prepared it I cut it in half and it worked fine. The soup is wonderfully rich, smooth, and creamy.


Artichoke Soup Recipe

INGREDIENTS
The hearts from 5 large artichokes (see How to trim an artichoke)
7 Tbsp butter
1 medium size leek, white-and-light green part, sliced and rinsed
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped shallots (or yellow onion, if shallots aren't available)
8 oz of Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
12 cups of vegetable or chicken stock (if cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free stock)
1/2 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs of parsley
1/4 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
1/2 cup of cream
Salt to taste

METHOD
1 Prepare the artichoke hearts. Cut the artichokes lengthwise into quarters. With a small knife, remove the thistley choke part and discard. Cut away the leaves from the artichoke heart and reserve for steaming and eating later if desired (why waste perfectly good artichoke leaves?). Cut or peel away the tough outside skin of the stems and discard. When I made this dish I left an inch to two inches of stem with each of the hearts with no problem. Slice the hearts or chop to a quarter inch thickness.
2 In a large pot, melt half of the butter and cook the artichoke hearts, leek, garlic, and shallots on medium heat until tender but not brown. Add the potatoes and stock. Tie up the bay leaf, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns in cheesecloth and add to the pot. Increase heat to bring to a simmer, then lower heat and continue to simmer uncovered, 1 hour.
3 Remove and discard the herbs. Purée the soup and pass it through a fine strainer. When ready to serve, heat the soup and whisk in the remaining butter and the cream. Season with salt (I found none was needed) and serve.