Soup Weather

[Mike Nolan]

Soup weather has arrived!

I've got a batch of chicken stock cooling; I'll take the fat off after it hardens.

I'm probably going to make a small batch of chicken soup and a small batch of potato leek soup over the next few days.

So, what soups do you like to make?

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[luvpyrpom]

Oooo, soups are my favorite! I like Manhattan clam chowder, minestrone, ham and bean. I have a nondairy version of potato and corn chowder and I can tweak that into the Boston clam chowder. I also like to make congee and I make an Asian style chicken and dumplings soup. And I grew up eating "sweet" soups, too. If I only had a large enough freezer!

[Italiancook]

Today or tomorrow, I'm going to make a batch of chili for the freezer. In a way, that's soup . . . okay, by a stretch. I love fish chowder. I also enjoy making vegetable beef soup. Next week, I'm going to try for the first time KAF recipe for potato & garlic soup. It's made in the crock pot. I also enjoy eating broccoli soup & French carrot soup. But since they're smooth soups, it's more like drinking them. I make a tomato-based Italian cauliflower & spaghetti soup that's good. I like Stracciatella and love summer minestrone. I guess I'm just a soup person. I eat soup 12 months out of the year. If I don't feel like making soup or thawing it out, I cook rice or pastina in chicken broth & enjoy just a simple Italian meal. I don't like gazpacho; otherwise, I can't think of a soup I won't eat.

I hope to make chicken stock over the weekend. I find chicken stock frustrating. It never makes as much as I need. But, it does make delicious soups.

[BakerAunt]

Here the highs are still in the 80s--very unusual for this time of year--with only one clear span of cooler weather. As it cools down to 50s or low 60s at night, however, the house stays at around the perfect temperature, and that allows for soup!

My husband does not like onion or tomato in soups, and he does not like most beans. I make my own broth from chicken and turkey bones, and it had begun to pile up in the freezer. I decided that since I come home for lunch to take care of the dog, I would start making my favorite soups for me! I have a great smooth cauliflower soup. I'm working on creating the perfect butternut squash soup. I also have a carrot-curry soup. I make minestrone for me, and I'm going to make my turkey and black bean chili and freeze portions. I also have a chicken/turkey broth vegetable and barley soup. I do miss making my ham and garbanzo bean soup, because my husband does not particularly like ham, so we don't have it, and there are no leftovers.

For my husband, I use the Bob's Red Mill Vegi-Soup mix (split peas, lentil, and barley). I saute ground turkjey, then garlic, and add carrots, celery, red bell pepper (had to sneak that in at first), mushrooms, and zucchini. A tablespoon of Bouquet Garni from Penzey's, a tablespoon of dried chives, some pepper, and a Tablespoon of tomato paste are the seasonings.

Of course soup asks for crackers or breads to accompany it....

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I make chicken stock starting with a whole chicken (or two), so there's plenty of boiled chicken for soup. I use this recipe:

Nancy's Homemade Jewish Chicken Soup The parsnips are the key, if I leave them out, the stock is too bland.

I wish I had an inexpensive source for chicken backs for making stock. In older cookbooks they always say 'ask your butcher'. There hasn't been a real butcher shop in Lincoln in the 40+ years we've lived here. I've seen them in the store for around $2.00 a pound, that's ridiculously high! But I still remember when chicken wings were 5 cents a pound, before they became an 'in' food. I've been known to buy a 10 pound bag of legs and thighs on sale and use it for stock.

I will have lots of chicken to use up if I'm making some other kind of soup.

So, what to do with the 'excess' chicken? Sometimes I shred it and add barbecue sauce and let it marinate for a day in the fridge, other times I make the Chicken Salad recipe I have posted here (which came from a friend.)

I don't do chicken cacciatore and lately I haven't done many chicken and pasta or chicken and rice meals at all, because of the carbs and my wife's low-carb diet.

[Mike Nolan]

I make my own croutons, especially for potato leek soup.

The Double Crusty bread recipe makes great croutons. (I make it Vienna-style, using butter instead of oil.)

Then I just cube it (we like them fairly large, 3/4 of an inch or so), spread them out on a tray and put them in the oven on the lowest setting for about an hour. We prefer them crisp on the outside but not completely dried out.

I used to coat them with a little butter about half way through, but that takes time and the croutons don't keep as well, so these days I just add butter to the soup when dishing it out.

[Joan Simpson]

Just made a pot of Chili,we like vegetable beef soup made with hamburger,ham and bean soup,oyster stew,potato soup,chicken and rice,and brunswick stew.

[chocomouse]

I just put 3 meals of Butternut Squash soup in the freezer, and made Beef Stew on Tuesday. We like corn chowder, clam chowder, broccoli cheddar, Duchess, tomato, bean (plain, with veggies, or sausage/kielbase), asparagus, cauliflower, chili, vegetable. And I love that it's a great excuse for all kinds of breads and rolls!! Baker Aunt, I love your squash soup recipe when you get it figured out.

[Mike Nolan]

I had to look up 'Brunswick stew', that's one I had not heard of.

There was a soup course as part of lunch at the Chocolate Academy every day. (The lunches were catered in, not prepared in-house as I had assumed.) The soups we had during the 4 days I was there: Corn chowder (very sweet, almost a dessert), ginger-carrot, broccoli cheddar (best broccoli cheddar soup I've ever had, several of us had more than one bowl of it!) and onion.

Of these, the onion soup was the most pedestrian, I thought the onions were a bit under-caramelized. The broth was good, but I wasn't able to identify what it was made from, chicken stock and something else, I think. Might have included veal stock. It was well-seasoned, so often onion soup is so salty it's hard to eat.

[Joan Simpson]

Brunswick Stew is a big thing around here in the south Mike.My Grandfather use to make a big cast iron kettle of it cooking with fire under it for all holidays in the cooler months.It has chicken and pulled pork with vegs,a sorta BBQ taste.I'll write down my recipe for you.This is half recipe and it still makes a lot.
Brunswick Stew
1-Chicken
1 1/2#-Pork
2 1/2#-Potatoes
1-can garden peas
1-can tomatoes
1-can green lima beans
3-ribs celery
1-can whole kernel corn
1#-onions
8-ounces catsup
1/2-cup worcestershire sauce
3-tbsp.sugar
hot sauce to taste (I usually do 1/4 cup Louisana less if you don't like spicy)
1 tbsp.vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
14-16 ounces BBQ sauce

I boil chicken and pork together or pressure cook till done.Pull all meat off bone and save liquid.In liquid put your potatoes cut up to cook till almost done.Grind your onions and celery together and add to same cooking time as potatoes.When potatoes are almost done mash a little you want to leave them a little chunky.Then add all other ingredients and heat for a couple hours on low.This makes a thick stew and is really filling and good.We always ate this with crackers or bread.I have cheated before and used bought pulled pork from grocery store in a hurry.If it's ever too thin can add instant potato flakes.This was a big tradition in our family.Way back in the day they use to boil the whole hog head and scrape the meat ...not me though lol.This recipe makes a big stew pot for us and is better the next day or two.Just thought I'd share this with ya'll.This is the halved recipe.

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by Joan Simpson.
• This reply was modified 8 years ago by Joan Simpson.

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