FLDG CHALLENGE: Soup!

[Jenise]

Using leftovers, pantry staples or whatever else you have on hand in the fridge or freezer--but no going to the store for special ingredients--let's make a spectacular soup. It can be anything, it just has to be something you haven't made before, something that challenges you to create instead of falling back on the tried and true or what mom used to make. Take pictures if you can, and report back on your results.

Can someone dig around in a can of alphabet soup and loan Jenise an "r", please?

[Jenise]

LOL! It's been that kind of a day.

I have just returned from canvassing my own kitchen. From the freezer, I pulled a tub of homemade chicken broth from the freezer, and a 4" length of uncooked portugese sausage purchased in Kauai last August and leftover from Saturday's breakfast, and a packet of roasted green chiles. From the fridge, 8 campari tomatoes on the very edge of rotting. Might even be past--if they are, I'll use Muir Glen Fireroasted. From the pantry: a can of white beans and some barley. I could change my mind about all of it by dinner time.

From the freezer, I pulled 2 packages of smoked frozen turkey slices and chunks, left over from Christmas, homemade chicken stock, and one package of Hatch Chiles. From the extra refer, I got two bunches of Lacinato Kale, one leek, 1/2 small head of organic cabbage, one package of Poquito beans, and organic carrots. In the pantry I pulled Plump Soup Barley, one can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, one onion, and garlic cloves. Away I will go in the morning! I love making soup. Opps, Jenise, it looks like we stock some of the same products. It will be fun to see what we each do.

OK, that's two calls out to the same name brand. Someone tell me what's so good about Muir Glen tomatoes?

[Jenise]

OK, that's two calls out to the same name brand. Someone tell me what's so good about Muir Glen tomatoes?

They just taste better than most canned tomatoes. And Karen and I both referenced the fire-roasted which are a particularly characterful style--honestly, I can pop the lid and eat them with a spoon.

[Jenise]

So we had soup last night. I spent the afternoon contemplating the direction I wanted it to take (I am a slot person, thinks have to fit into certain slots) and decided on Iberian, even though it's likely that nobody in Portugal would recognize the meat product known to Hawaiians as Portugese sausage. So I sliced the sausage into coins and put them, the chicken broth, the chopped tomatoes and a sliced half an onion onto the stove to simmer for an hour and determine from there what I had to work with. Liking the peppery flavor of the sausage, I decided that character was my building block and into the pot went the green chiles and a large diced red bell pepper. Also, some mild Hungarian paprika and a bit of chopped bacon to approximate a smoked Spanish pimenton flavor (I own some but haven't unpacked it yet), coarse black pepper, a pinch of red chile flakes, two cloves of garlic, a handful of teeny yellow potatoes (chose the smallest out of the bag and sliced them thinly, about the size of nickels which was a nice reference to the sausage shapes--they don't break apart when cooked) and a can of white cannelini beans. That simmered until the potatoes were tender. For service, I topped each bowl with a crouton of thick pan-fried round of white country bread cut from the center of a slice that had been panfried in olive oil and rubbed each with garlic and topped it with a bit of grated white Spanish peppercorn cheese. The result--Portugese Pepper Pot?--was a very deserving main course soup and unlike any I've made before. Loved it.

OK, that's two calls out to the same name brand. Someone tell me what's so good about Muir Glen tomatoes?

Our local Raley's carries them in the health food section, which irritates me because I hate running all over the store for one type of item that in my opinion should be stocked together. Muir Glen has a great product, and the fire roasted is the one I love. The tomatoes still have some of the dark edges on them. They taste wonderful and look very nice in my recipes. I can get Muir Glen in crushed, plum, whole, the fire roasted in dice and tomato sauce.

So we had soup last night. I spent the afternoon contemplating the direction I wanted it to take (I am a slot person, thinks have to fit into certain slots) and decided on Iberian, even though it's likely that nobody in Portugal would recognize the meat product known to Hawaiians as Portugese sausage....

Yum, sounds very creative. I like the way you build, taste, think about it and build somemore! I tend to throw things together in my soups and think about taste later. Usually, I just build on what I need to use up from the refers and pantry.
Summer soups, however, are a bit more creative.

[Jenise]

Yum, sounds very creative. I like the way you build, taste, think about it and build somemore!

I just tend to think categorically, something I can drive myself a bit nuts with in some ways it manifests itself in other parts of my life but it's probably a help in the kitchen. I need to aim for something, so every meal I plan has a core reference point. It might be an ingredient (like last night's garlic/pepper, where a lot of fresh garlic repeated in the salad I made), it might be a cuisine (like last night's Iberian), and it might be an approach (comfort food, say) or, as was the case last night, all three. But there is always something.

I just tend to think categorically, something I can drive myself a bit nuts with in some ways it manifests itself in other parts of my life but it's probably a help in the kitchen. I need to aim for something, so every meal I plan has a core reference point. It might be an ingredient (like last night's garlic/pepper, where a lot of fresh garlic repeated in the salad I made), it might be a cuisine (like last night's Iberian), and it might be an approach (comfort food, say) or, as was the case last night, all three. But there is always something.

Great analysis. I'm certainly aware if I want comfort food for me or Gene, and ethnic foods enter into the planning, as well. Do I feel like Mexican, Portuguese, etc. Lately, it has been do I want meat or meatless, fish, chicken, etc. Sometimes, it is taste and what I might be craving. This could be a whole new thread, of what did you cook tonight and why!
I rarely ask Gene anymore what he wants because he usually says, "spaghetti and meatballs", which I'm not opposed to, but there is so much more to do with pasta!

Since I had two packages of smoked turkey left from Christmas, I wanted to use this as my inspiration. I started by sautéing one medium onion, diced, in OO, adding fresh garlic, diced, red pepper flakes, fresh, thyme, and sautéing until fragrant. I added the turkey chunks, poquito beans, (that I cooked early this morning to the "not quite done" stage, two bunches of Lacinato Kale (stems removed, cut leaves into bite size), Muir Glen, 14.5 ounce Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, three roasted Hatch Chiles, chunked, homemade turkey stock, about 26 ounces, and one cup white wine Bring to a simmer for about 30 minutes. Add 1/2 head sliced small cabbage, 3/4 cup Plump Soup Barley, and simmer until beans are barley are done. Add three to four, angle cut carrots, salt and pepper to taste, heat briefly, cover and turn off heat. Carrots will continue to cook, and will cook a bit more later when you reheat for serving. I like my carrots al dente and I like to make the soup early in the day to let the flavors develop. At the end, add fresh parsley, serve into bowls and top with fresh parmesan cheese. If the soup thickens and needs more liquid, add more chicken/turkey stock or wine. This was very tasty, comforting and colorful.
I brought home some Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce today and had to try a bit in my soup for lunch. Not bad!

We were stuck inside all day because of the snow, so I hope it's ok that I joined the challenge.

I did a Shrimp and Corn Chowder.

First I thawed some frozen raw shrimp. Cleaned them, and saved the shells which I sauteed in some butter.


Next, I removed the shells and added a mirepoix. Sauteed that and added a bay leaf, some thyme, salt and pepper.


I deglazed with some sherry and added some leftover drippings from some honey mustard chicken thighs I made 2 nights ago, and 2 tablespoons of yellow rice I also had leftover (added to thicken the soup). Then I threw in some frozen corn.


I added some chicken stock. Simmered for an hr. Removed the bay leaf and pureed with an immersion blender until smooth and thick. Added some diced potatoes, and cooked for 15 min.


Added some heavy cream, more frozen corn, and the shrimp and cooked for another 5 min. Added some more salt and pepper, topped with some fresh chives, and served with some bread.


It was pretty good. It had nice flavor and the shrimp was cooked well, but the potatoes were a little too soft. I think I would cooked them 5 min less or try to use a waxier potato.

Sorry, I didn't take pictures, but I made a beef vegetable soup.
3 chopped onions
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp salt
Above sweated in olive oil
8 cups water
3 Tbsp beef stock concentrate
3 cups (2-12 oz cans) V-8 juice
10 oz steak, cubed
4 stalns celery, chopped
8 oz baby carrots, cut in thirds
1 can red kidney beans
4 potatoes. cubed
1 cup leftover cole slaw
Simmered for 90 minutes - quite tasty - maybe a bit heavy on the red pepper

[Jenise]

4 potatoes. cubed
1 cup leftover cole slaw
Simmered for 90 minutes - quite tasty - maybe a bit heavy on the red pepper

Leftover cole slaw! Now that's inventive.

[Jenise]

Maria and Karen, your soups look beautiful.

Maria, love the pictures. What kind of pan are you cooking in? It looks unusually tall and narrow, or is the handle just that oversized?

Attempting to clear out freezer space
Dinner last night:
1 pork chop, 2 slices beef shank, 2 sweet Italian sausages, fennel, celery, leeks, carrot, sweet red pepper, jalapeno pepper, spinach, white beans, homemade stock, white vermouth, Herbes de Prov, salt and pepper and ALPHABET Pasta.

Soaked beans overnight. Trimmed and cut the pork and beef into large soup sized pieces. Sauteed the meat scraps and then tossed them into homemade vegetable stock. Sauteed meat, then cooked sausage. Placed meats in heavy Dutch oven with water, some stock and white wine. Covered and braised over low heat for 1 hour. Deglazed saute pan and added to stock. Removed meat from Dutch oven. Strained stock and placed in Dutch oven with beans. Placed Dutch oven over moderate heat, covered. Sauteed vegetables in pan where meat and sausage had been sauteed. Seasoned vegetables with Herbes. 30 minutes before serving added vegetables to stock. Again deglazed pan and added to soup. 15 minutes before serving added meat to soup. Corrected seasoning. 5 minutes before serving added ALPHABET pasta. Stirred in fresh chopped spinach just before serving. Served with grated cheese aside. Note* I really wanted orzo but couldn't find it in the pantry!

Maria, Karen, really great pictures. (If I didn't have problems eating seafood, that shrimp and corn chowder would be really tempting to make this weekend.)

Nothing as fancy or complex here, but did this on Friday evening as I wanted to make some space in the kitchen shelves and fridge.

Ingredients:
Fermented Guilin chilies (Lee Kum Kee's Guilin sauce also works for this)
2 cans creamed corn
2 carrots
1 large red onion
2 eggs (sent over by a friend in the agricultural and resource department at my uni who has chickens producing her own organic eggs)
Dried basil leaf
Coriander powder

Melted some butter (about 2 tsp) in a pot, added half the diced onion to it and let that sweat over 6-7 minutes on low heat. Sliced the carrots into fairly thin slices, then added those to the butter and onions (which were translucent by that time), and then seasoned with 2 tsp of Guilin chili paste, half a tsp of coriander powder, a sprinkle of dried basil leaf and a little black pepper. Stirred and covered for 5 minutes on medium heat.

After that, added the creamed corn to the pot along with 2 cups of water, stirred and then allowed to cook over 45 minutes on medium-low heat, adding some water and stirring occasionally to keep it from getting too thick.

Towards the end, heated up a wok on medium-high heat, added a little oil and then fried the other half of the diced onion until it was nicely browned (with some pieces starting to blacken slightly).

To finish, added the fried onion into the soup, took it off the heat, added in a tsp each of white vinegar and soy sauce, then broke two eggs and beat them until smooth and even. Poured the beaten-egg mixture into the soup, stirring evenly as it added so the egg got broken up and cooked in small strands.

soup.JPG

[Jenise]

Attempting to clear out freezer space
Dinner last night:
1 pork chop, 2 slices beef shank, 2 sweet Italian sausages, fennel, celery, leeks, carrot, sweet red pepper, jalapeno pepper, spinach, white beans, homemade stock, white vermouth, Herbes de Prov, salt and pepper and ALPHABET Pasta.

Soaked beans overnight. Trimmed and cut the pork and beef into large soup sized pieces. Sauteed the meat scraps and then tossed them into homemade vegetable stock. Sauteed meat, then cooked sausage. Placed meats in heavy Dutch oven with water, some stock and white wine. Covered and braised over low heat for 1 hour. Deglazed saute pan and added to stock. Removed meat from Dutch oven. Strained stock and placed in Dutch oven with beans. Placed Dutch oven over moderate heat, covered. Sauteed vegetables in pan where meat and sausage had been sauteed. Seasoned vegetables with Herbes. 30 minutes before serving added vegetables to stock. Again deglazed pan and added to soup. 15 minutes before serving added meat to soup. Corrected seasoning. 5 minutes before serving added ALPHABET pasta. Stirred in fresh chopped spinach just before serving. Served with grated cheese aside. Note* I really wanted orzo but couldn't find it in the pantry!

George, I love the serious nature of your ingredients--fennel, beef shank, white vermouth, herbs de Provence--juxtaposed with the alphabet pasta. I could just see you serving this at a white tablecloth dinner to a stuffy guest who waxes rhapsodic and then peers into his spoon and realizing it's spelling something back at him. Sounds like a great soup. Beans and white vermouth belong together.

[Jenise]

Salil, that sounds very Asian and delicious. I'd have never considered using creamed corn as a base like that, but clearly it worked out very well. I could see adding cubes of tofu to this.

Wow...everyone's soup sounds wonderful. Some great ideas here for me to use next time I am making some.

Thanks Jenise for the compliment. The pan I was using was a 3 quart Circulon Infinite. It's one of those non-stick dishwasher safe pots, and it is really tall and narrow.

Made my soup this morning, and we had some for lunch. I love making soup, and most of the soup I make is thrown together from whatever is available at the time, so I had to think hard about whether today's soup qualifies for the challenge - but I can honestly say I have never made this particular combination before.

TODAY soup.jpg

RED SOUP WITH BROWN LENTILS

Begin with:
1 large onion
2 stems celery
1 red capsicum (actually I used 2 halves, originating from separate red capsicums, both of which were sitting in the vege crisper looking for a purpose in life)

Chop, and sweat in a large pan. Start off with about 1 tablespoon EVOO and then when it all starts to caramelise, add about 3/4 cup hot water, deglaze and stir ... repeat the process 2 or 3 times.

Add:
1 x 800g can crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup pearl barley
3/4 cup brown lentils
1/2 litre rich beef stock
2 bay leaves
12 - 15 whole black peppercorns
3 or 4 whole cloves
About 1/2 teaspoon each of ground coriander seed, ground cumin, turmeric, ground ginger, allspice

Bring to the boil and simmer till lentils and barley are tender. Add more hot water as necessary while it cooks.