I'm ALWAYS ready for soup - it's a huge part of my waste not, want not, frugality all year round, so thanks for a new recipe.

I cook soup, and many other things, in my Hot Pot Solar Cooker outside to keep the heat out of the kitchen, and can only dream of cooler temperatures that are sure to come one day.......

Last week I made Kale Soup (except I used Swiss chard, part of my fall crops) and home-grown potatoes and onion.

KALE SOUP

-Cook chopped onion in oil (I used 1/4 of a large onion).
-Add 1/2 head of chopped kale (without ribs) and cook 2-3 minutes.
-Add:
1 can chicken broth + 1 can water (I used homemade stock)
1 can white beans (I used sprouted/cooked cannellini beans)
1/2 can tomatoes (I used fresh tomatoes)
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
Italian seasonings (to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer 25-30 minutes.

I'm always ready for soup. In the last week made chunky potato soup ( I refused to make soup that requires a blender) and chicken soup.

I forgot I also make italian vegetable. I guess I'm ready for fall!

This post was edited by debrak2008 on Thu, Sep 5, 13 at 13:30

Always ready for soup. Making a sweet corn chowder with roasted veggies.

love soup, made a pot of Maryland crab last weekend.

Saw some beef rib back bones in the store for $0.99 a lb.

They are like short ribs with about 1/2 the meat. Short ribs are $5.99 a lb.

So I bought 4 lbs.

First pressure cooked to render all the fat out, and bones removed, then tomato sauce made from my garden, garlic, onion, and a few other ingredients, which I can't remember. Pressure cooker again.

I had the most delicious soup/stew. I went back to the store to get some more. There was no more.

dcarch

I have a pot of bean soup bubbling away. We dropped 10°C overnight. Brrrrr.

I'm jealous! We hit 100 degrees again, yesterday, with cooler weather not predicted until late next week, and that "cooler" weather means it's going to drop down to highs in the lower to mid 90's. It's not even cooling down much at night, so no soups here, yet.

Grainlady, I'd love to hear more about your solar cooker.

Sally

Sally-

I've been using solar ovens on a regular basis for over a decade.

The link below has information and video about the Hot Pot Solar Cooker. It's easy to use, especially for anything like soup, stew, or roasting meat. I have it attached to a heavy-duty wooden lazy-susan so it's easy to turn to track the sun and keep it anchored in one place. I have two other solar cookers I use as much as possible all year. I keep them anchored to a Craftsman metal tool cart so I move them from the garage to the courtyard outside the garage for use.

Tulsi Hybrid - A solar cooker with an electric over-ride. If the cooking temperature gets too low, it will automatically go to electric heat (if you have it plugged into an outlet). A good safety feature so food is never in the "danger zone". Because of the electric feature, you can also use this cooker anytime, anywhere, like a slow-cooker. I can load a number of pans into this solar oven, so I can cook several days of meals at once. I can use a rechargeable 5-in-1 battery pack as a source for energy, as well as deep-cell batteries with an inverter we charge with solar panels (great for tailgating).

Sun Oven - Which I like for baking, dehydrating, and roasting. It has a lot of optional equipment to use with it.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Hot Pot Solar Cooker

Well, we hit 47 last night so I guess fall is coming. The soup tasted so yummy and comforting. DH had 2 bowls. I haven't made Indian Pudding w/pumpkin in 2-3 years so it also was delicious.

grainlady, your solar cookers amaze me. Sure wouldn't be a reliable cooking method here but it's fun to read about the different uses. I enjoyed your link. We do have solar panels on our boat though and they work great once we get far enough away from land.

debrak, sounds like you need a "boat motor" for blending. :) I use mine several times/week for one thing or another.

sleevendog, I've been following your soup saga. Everything sounded great - except for that coconut milk. ;)

dcarch, I sometimes use short ribs in chili. But, they're so fatty and a PITA to de-fat but they sure make a good pot of chili. :) I like to have a pot of soup simmering on the stovetop for hours. Just feels homey, to me, stopping by to stir every once in awhile. :)

islay, bean soup is probably one of my top 5 favorite soups!

sally, hang in there - it will get cooler! We've got 2 daughters in TX so I know it's still hotter than a firecracker there!

/tricia

I'm going to make ministrone soup today. I just got back from the market with the beans. I had everything else I needed. It's cool here today too so soup is a great choice!
Joann

There is always some variety of soup in the fridge at our house. The varieties change with the seasons. We are finished with making, eating and freezing lots of chicken corn soup and since eggplants are now so prolific, yesterday I made a big pot of eggplant and sausage soup.

EGGPLANT SOUP (serves 10-12)

2 TBL olive oil
2 TBL butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb lean ground chuck (I use sweet Italian sausage or ground lamb)
1 medium eggplant, peeled & cubed
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup finely sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
Two 16 oz cans whole tomatoes
3 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I use 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and 1/4 tsp. ground coriander)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup macaroni
2 TBL minced parsley
Parmesan for garnish

Heat the oil & butter in a 6-8 qt Dutch oven. Add the onion & saute until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the meat & cook, stirring until it begins to brown. Add the eggplant, garlic, carrots, celery, tomatoes (break up the tomatoes), broth, nutmeg, sugar, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover & simmer 2 1/2 hours. (I usually only cook for about 1 3/4 hours.)

10-15 minutes before serving, add the macaroni & parsley to the soup & simmer until the macaroni is tender. Serve hot sprinkled with Parmesan.~~

Source: Ginger@ Recipe Exchange

Soon, it will be time to move to soups containing winter squash, pumpkin, and apples but I'll be sticking with summer ingredients for a while.

Ruthanna, that's a better looking bowl of soup than those from the Soup Nazi!

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Fri, Sep 6, 13 at 13:57

Thanks, DC. The soup is actually much brothier but I wanted to show its solid ingredients without putting marbles in the bowl.

Thanks for the link, Grainlady. I'll check it out when I have more time next week.

Tricia, can you share your recipe for the Indian pudding with pumpkin? That sounds interesting.

Sally

Sally, here's how I make Indian Pudding...

INDIAN PUDDING

6 Cups Milk
2/3 Cups Molasses
2/3 Cups Yellow Stone Ground Cornmeal
2 Extra-Large Eggs, beaten
1 Can Libby's Pumpkin Puree (15-oz can)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Butter, melted and cooled
1 Teaspoon Ginger
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Raisins (optional, but because I grew up on 2,000 acres of Thompson Seedless grapes that we made into raisins for Sun Maid - I love raisins!)
1 Teaspoon Salt (I always omit)

In a saucepan, combine milk, molasses, and pumpkin. Stir in cornmeal. Cook and stir until thick - 10 minutes, or so. Remove from heat. Combine eggs, sugar, butter, spices, and salt. Gradually, stir into hot cornmeal mixture. Stir in the raisins, if using. Bake, uncovered, at 300 degrees for a couple hours. It's done when a knife inserted about 1" from the center comes out clean. I don't much worry about how long it takes to cook - I make this when I'm around the house and it's done when it's done. :)

NOTE: Stir the raisins around every 30 minutes, or so, if you remember while baking to keep them from sinking to the bottom. Once the cornmeal and pumpkin start to thicken the pudding the raisins will stay put.

This makes a huge amount of pudding because I freeze extras enough to last an entire season. The recipe may be cut in half easily. Use the other half of the can of pumpkin for pancakes, muffins, etc. It's all good. :)

NOTE: I forgot the butter when I made this a couple days ago. I'd melted it in the micro and forgot about it. :( We really couldn't tell much difference in the pudding, maybe, not quite as silky without the butter. I think I'll probably leave it out on purpose going forward just to save on fat calories. ;)

Indian Pudding is a traditional New England thing. The pumpkin addition is mine 'cause one day decades ago I had some leftover pumpkin to use up and tossed it into a batch of pudding. We loved it and I've been using ever since.

/tricia

It's 95 today here in Chicago BUT I still made soup yesterday because I had some chicken stock leftover after I boiled some chicken legs and thighs for the dog. I made avgolemeno (Egg and Lemon). Don't have an exact recipe as I just eyeball it but here is my approximation.

AVGOLEMENO

About 5 qts chicken stock
1 cup rice
6-7 oz fresh lemon juice (add a bit more if using bottled)
2 bone in chicken breasts
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
(Can add celery, carrots, onions if you like although traditionally I don't think they do.)

Boil chicken in stock, after cooked remove chicken an add rice. While rice is cooking remove chicken from bone and cut up into bite size pieces. Beat eggs and lemon together in a separate bowl ( I do this with a stick blender). After rice is done cooking add a few ladles of soup mixture to egg and lemon mixture (to temper) and beat by hand. Pour egg/lemon mixture back into soup pot and return to boil. Once boiling shut off and add chicken.

Ruthana - That eggplant soup looks so amazing. I will definitely be making that soon.

Love soup, any time of year.

But now that apples are coming into season, I'm thinking mulligatawny...yum!

"---- I'm thinking mulligatawny...yum!"

Speaking of Soup Nazi!

dcarch

This is my absolute favorite soup - Beef Pho. It takes a whole day to make and the longer the broth simmers, the better it is. I had never tasted much Vietnamese food until about 2 yrs ago, but I had this in a restaurant and fell in love with this spicy, rich broth. I found a recipe and everyone I've ever served it to has raved about it. If you watch Master Chef, a couple of weeks ago, the contestants had to duplicate each chef's "best dish I ever ate". Gordon Ramsey said the best thing he ever ate was a dish of Vietnamese Noodle Soup served to him on a houseboat in Viet Nam by a tiny grandmother. That noodle soup is called Pho and is the national dish of Viet Nam. After much searching and tasting, here is the best and most authentic recipe for Beef Pho that I've come across. It's from the website "The Steamy Kitchen".http://www.steamykitchen.com/271-vietnamese-beef-noodle-soup-pho.html

THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4" nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat - chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices [optional]
6 quarts of water
1 package of Pho Spices [1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbl coriander seeds, 1 tbl fennel seeds, 5 whole star anise, 1 cardamom pod, 6 whole cloves - in mesh bag]
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (halve if using regular table salt)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) - or 1oz of regular sugar

THE BOWLS
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh)
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2-3 chili peppers, sliced
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce
Directions:
Char: Turn your broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.
Parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.
Boil broth: Add ginger, onion, spice packet, beef, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside (you'll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the broth to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning - this is a crucial step. If the broth's flavor doesn't quite shine yet, add 2 teaspoons more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or 1 teaspoon of regular sugar). Keep doing this until the broth tastes perfect.
Prepare noodles & meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible - try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will "assemble" their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles - there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that's needed. The package that I purchased (above) - needed about 45 seconds in boiling water.
Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.

My Chicken and Rice soup seems to get better every time I make it - with home stock, caramelized onions and carrots, shakes of poultry seasoning, chicken breast pieces, and a slow simmer for the rice. During hot months we use a cooked chicken from our grocer. Yummm.

Thanks, Tricia for the recipe. I'm looking forward to making it if and when the weather ever cools off enough. (We actually had some relief yesterday, with the high only around 95 and low humidity!)

Sally

I LOVE soup and make a ton of it during the cold-weather months. The temps are dropping rapidly here, with lows in the 30s, so I made what I call my "garbage" veggie soup... it's meant to use up all the extra veggies and bits of leftovers in the fridge. This one was vegetarian with a tomatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots, peppers, zucchini, potatoes, sweetcorn, green beans, kidney beans, and herbs from the garden. Served w/ optional hot pepper, grated parmesan, and all the open pkgs of tortilla chips, pretzels, crackers, etc. :O)

PS: Ruthanna, your eggplant soup looks fabulous!

This post was edited by party_music50 on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 8:24

I made this last night...I never think to snap a pic so I'll post the one from the recipe on allrecipes, because it looked exactly like that. I've made it with chicken, too. I only used 2 cans of lite coconut milk, not 3 as it calls for.

Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 stalk lemon grass, minced
2 teaspoons red curry paste
4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
3 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 pound medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the ginger, lemongrass, and curry paste in the heated oil for 1 minute. Slowly pour the chicken broth over the mixture, stirring continually. Stir in the fish sauce and brown sugar; simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and mushrooms; cook and stir until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp; cook until no longer translucent about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice; season with salt; garnish with cilantro.

Thanks to everyone for this timely thread.

The weather is finally turning, here in Portland. Days are cool, mornings sometimes drizzly, there is often real rain at night. I went for a bike ride this morning and was motivated along by loud thunder and even a bit of lightning. So when I got home, soup seemed in order.

The first soup of the season deserves some effort, I think. So I took bones from the freezer and scratch-made beef stock in the pressure cooker, then reduced it down while browning mushrooms and chunks of beef, added carrots garlic and onions, sage thyme and cilantro, quartered new potatoes, barley and pressure cooked black beans. A serious and respectful soup, a meal in a bowl.

The downside is that this took forever, so it is almost 9 pm and we've yet to eat. The family is getting mutinous, so I really hope my mushroom-beef-barley soup is good.

Sounds delish and worth the wait. 38 here this morning. Brrr.

Love the Thai soups. That one is great with shredded left-over chicken from a roasted meal.

PhoBang is one of my favorite Vietnamese lunch spots in NYC, (actually i like their place in ForestHills, Queens better)
I finally worked out a recipe that is a close match to their Pho. Has taken forever to get it down to an easier prep but still takes an hour. And 20 bits and bowls to clean up but so worth it. Love the combination of flavors. My all time favorite cool weather meal hands down.

I LOVE making soup....and I confess to its preparation any month of the year....even here in the summer heat of Texas! I have a question to ask of my fellow participants on the Cooking forum....I ate at La Sandia in Denver when we went to purchase our daughter's wedding dress...they have the most outstanding tortilla soup....I did everything I could to get them to part with even a "sort of" review of the recipe...poor waiter, he did everything he could for me...all he could find out was that they use the paste of the guajillo chile....well, I have a tortilla soup recipe that I love, but never have used that particular chile. Does anyone know anything of this soup? I think the restaurant is a California-based place....and the reviews of it frequently mention this soup, so it can't be just me who craves it! If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE pass on your wisdom! Thanks so much!!! Now, off to make butternut squash soup for dinner tonight!!!
K

gigi7, I remember years ago that one of the cooking magazines I subscribed to (either Cuisine, Gourmet, or Bon Apetit) would pressure a restaurant into giving out their famous recipe at a subscriber's request. You might try to find out if anyone still does that.

It's COLD here! I made pea soup for tonight -- I think I'll have it w/ some kind of grilled sandwich. Comfort food.

Making a pot of stock tomorrow for soup Wednesday night. I've got quite a few odds/ends of bones, trotters, etc. in the freezer for the stock and I need the freezer room. I'll refrigerate it overnight to de-fat Wednesday morning. Haven't decided what type soup to make but at least there will be good broth!

/t

All your soup recipes sound wonderful.

Thanks to Annie and this link, I was reminded that I haven't made mulligatawny soup for about a year and a half. I made it yesterday - the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's recipe from Dining by Rail: The History and Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine. I have made so many recipes from that book.

About a month ago, we had a chilled creamy carrot and peach soup, which turned out to be a harmonious partnership.

Soup is my favorite item to cook and my family's favorite to eat. DD#2 will be home from the Army for a short visit in November. I talked to her yesterday and she said her only plans while she's here are to sleep, take bubble baths, have a tranquil lunch with tea sandwiches and eat a different soup every day.

Well, I cleaned out the freezer yesterday, so I went ahead and made some vegetable stock with the scraps. So now the yogurt containers filled with veggie scraps are now filled with stock, and back in the freezer.

I found one container that had some stock still in it from the last time I made it, so I used that to make me some soup for lunch. I just chopped up some scallions, celery, and garlic and peppers, had some partial bags of collards, and some chinese noodles. I added some tamari soy sauce and garlic chile paste, and wallah, had me a nice soup lunch. I'm tired of waiting till it cools down. Besides, it has been cooler in the mornings.

Sally

On this rainy, blowy day, the delicious scent of soup is filling my house. Look , a huge pot of potato leek soup! And I didn't make it! Dear son peeled the potatoes and SWMBO made the soup. She is very good at potato leek soup. I mean, really good, not "that is very good, dear" good.

Oh my, really soup weather here in Portland. Rained really hard yesterday and more forecast today after this drizzly morning.

I went out and unclogged a downspout, put a tarp over some outdoor furniture, swept the branches and leaves from the bike lane in the street in front of my house. When the kids come downstairs I'll set them to building a fire.

The next job is to make another big pot of soup.

I'm thinking albondigas soup with lots of garlic and mint today. This is one of those soups that can be made with stuff that is usually hanging around the house. You need a little of this and a little of that, and the list is a bit flexible.

(Base of the soup starts with stock, white wine, and water; a couple pounds of beef soup bones with the meat trimmed off and chopped up. That will cook for a couple hours, then all those solids will be strained out. Next will be aromatics - onions, garlic, carrots, celery - with some tomatoes and mint. The meatballs are a miss-mash of freezer finds - italian sausage, plain pork sausage, minced beef liver, uncooked rice, with garlic, onions, red pepper, and lots of mint. It will smell nice as it simmers. Add some uncooked rice 20 minute before serving. I wanted a redder color so I also added some beet juice.)

What is everyone making, if it is a soup day for you?

This post was edited by johnliu on Sun, Sep 29, 13 at 16:29