StarDestroyer.Net BBS

So how do you like to make your favourite soup?

Myself, I'm a Carrot and Coriander fiend.

I shred the carrots and also some potato in order to bulk out (am NOT an onion fan). This goes into the pan and is simmered with butter, then topped up with a weak vegetable stock. Fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and freshly chopped coriander is thrown in.

Personally, I also like to lightly season with a hint of garlic, ginger and mixed herbs, but the carrots and coriander are the main flavours here.

Leave to simmer. I also seem to find it actually tastes better being left to cool and sit for a while before reheating and serving with fresh granary bread.

I like my mom's chicken soup, though I rarely have the time to prepare it. Start with a couple potatoes, peeled, chopped into pieces, and boiled in a large pot. To that (the water is not poured off) add the uncooked chicken, carrots, cabbage, onions, some chicken broth, chick peas, slices of tomato, celery, and kidney beans if we remember. For spices, we add celery seed, a little salt, pepper, and lots of lemon juice. Cook everything together, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is ready.

The number it serves depends upon whether or not I am there. I'll often end up eating four or five large bowls of it at a time.

EDIT: for those who may be thinking that I'm not being specific enough, I actually am. There's two big secrets to making this soup:
1) everything has to be cooked together (except the potatoes since those take longer so they're cooked first), and
2) there's no specific way to make them, and it's never the same twice.

There are no exact proportions to add. If you have a lot of carrots, toss in the extra carrots. If you don't like onions, you can leave them out. We started adding kidney beans this one day when we realized while we were adding ingredients that we had no chick peas but we had a can of kidney beans, and why not try it? I think we tried adding bell peppers one time; it must not have appealed to us, but somebody else might think it's the secret ingredient to perfect soup. It's a fun dish since it's all about experimentation. It's still good even if it's just chicken, potatoes, and celery, but adding extras makes it better and gives it more character.

I'm a fan of my grandmother's bean soup with hunks of ham and carrots and celery and other stuff too... not very specific I know but i've never made it.

When I was in Spain my Great Aunt Aida made some wonderful vegetable soup with a beef broth.
And I also enjoy, though this isn't soup, my mother's chili. Mostly because of the sweet and spicy taste you get when you cook it with normal chili ingredients and baked beans.

Mom's chicken soup:

2 cups water
2 large cans of chicken broth
1 package chicken legs - you need the bone for the soup to taste right
Small package of chopped broccoli, or chopped celery
Fist-sized onion, chopped
Baby carrots to taste, chopped
Garlic salt & pepper to taste
Pasta of your choice - you don't add this until you're ready to eat, so the amount you want to use is really dependent on your personal preference

Add all these ingredients to a large dutch oven, boil for 1 hour, and when you're done, take the chicken legs out and the chicken should come right off the bone. Chop it up if you want smaller pieces and put it back in. Boil up the pasta/noodles of your choice in a separate pan - I prepare bowtie pasta for this soup - and add that in also whenever you're ready to eat. If you're not particularly health conscious, you can also generously sprinkle parmesan cheese over a bowl you're about to eat to give the soup a slightly gooey but tasty character. The great thing about this soup is if you make a huge batch it can last you at least half a week. Or you can freeze some and have it weeks later.

Portuguese Soup (from Col. Olrik, and slightly modified)

1 potato
1 tomato
Several baby carrots or one large carrot
1 small white onion
1 medium can of beef broth - don't get the bigger one
1/2 tbsp olive oil

Peel the potato and chop each of the veggies into several small to medium sized pieces. Put all the pieces in a saucepan and pour in the can of beef broth. That shouldn't be enough to cover all of it (and that's good), so add water until all the vegetables are submerged. If you prefer thinner consistency, add even more water. Bring water to a boil for about 7-10 minutes - I prefer to leave in on there for quite a while so the vegetables are soft - and then take it off. Mesh the vegetables together (except for the carrots, they won't mesh easily), add the olive oil, and you'll have a rather tasty soup with a potato soup-like consistency. I'm usually able to get about 2-3 servings from this recipe, and it's pretty easy to scale up if you want.

My mom makes fantastic pho, but I have no idea how to make it.

Campbell's Chunky Beef and Vegetable with rice.

I'm usually into beef stews (if those count as soups), but otherwise I love New England Clam Chowder and Split Pea.

Ramen

Bugsby wrote:Ramen

Despite being half asian, I've never gotten into that stuff. The WORST, though, is that Vietnamese Pho (with accents on about ten out of the three letters) stuff. It's VILE. I seriously cannot believe that some people actually pay money more than once for that, since it is disgusting beyond my capability to express.

(With apologies to our Scots members! )

Cockie-Leekie or Cock-a-Leekie;

One chicken, preferrably a stewing hen if available. Stewing hens are older, tougher birds that require a much lower cooking temperature and a cooking time that can be as much as 3 times that of a young fryer or roaster...

3 medium sized leeks.

1/2 pound of bacon, cut into matchstick sized pieces, and fried 'til crispy.

Two prunes, 1/2 inch dice.

Water to cover.

Salt and pepper to taste.

2 bay leaves.

Place chicken, cleaned and chopped leeks, salt and pepper, and bay leaves in a large stockpot or dutch oven, with enough water to barely cover your bird. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and allow to cook for 1 hour or until meat is done and tender.

Remove chicken from pot, allow to cool on plate for 10-15 minutes until you can handle it without burning yourself. Add bacon and prunes to broth, which should be kept at a low simmer.

Remove meat from the bird, discarding skin and bones. Add to soup, and serve.

Borsht, suckas.

And Okroshka

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Clam Chowders, or Beef Stew. Those are my favorites...

mmmm, Clam Chowder, now that's something I haven't eaten for a while. Anyone got a good recipe for Lobster Thermidor?

Yeah, I know I can look it up, but I like to explore the individual touch and opinion, makes it more, well, creative and personal to share the expression of enjoyment of successful cooking.

Chicken & Lemon Rice Soup

1 cup (uncooked) rice
2 cubes chicken boullion or one can chicken broth
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks.
1 cup lemon juice.
Pepper to taste.

Mix chicken boullion or broth in enough water to start rice cooking. Halfway thru, add more water or broth to rice, adding chicken (can be precooked, or simply seared) and lemon juice. Add pepper to taste. Keep eye on the soup... you don't want the rice to soak up too much of the broth.

Serve hot with french bread or another bread with a crisp crust.