Soup Love
Making and eating soup is one of my favourite things to do in the kitchen. And you don't really need a recipe to make a great tasting pot of soup ... just some idea of proportions of broth/stock, starch (pasta or noodles, potatoes, beans, rice), proteins (meat, egg, tofu) and veggies. And then there are the herbs and spices. The combinations are endless.
The soup can be light and refreshing or rich and filling. You can make it all from scratch if you have the time and inclination. Or if you're short of time, you can use help like purchased stocks, canned beans, frozen vegetables, packages of instant noodles and seasonings.
I made THIS bean soup from scratch.
Cannellini Bean and Smoked Ham Hock Soup - Dig in!!!!
Cannellini Bean and Smoked Ham Hock Soup - serves 8
1 smoked ham hock, cut half
2 cups (1 pound) dried cannellini beans (Great northern or navy beans work too)
8-10 cups water
1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 cup (1/2 large) finely diced onion
1 cup (2 medium) finely diced carrots
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp Hungarian paprika
Soak the dried beans overnight in a large soup pot, using enough water to cover the beans by a couple of inches (about 5-6 cups).
The next day, drain and discard the soaking liquid and replace with about 8 cups of fresh water. Nestle the 2 pieces of smoked pork hock among the soaked beans. (You may need to add more water. I added a couple more cups.) Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle boil or hard simmer and cook, covered for 45 min to an hour, or longer, until the beans are tender and the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone.
Remove the ham hock to a large bowl and allow to cool long enough to be handled.
Cooked ham hock
Remove the meat from the bone, discarding the skin, fat, cartilage and bone. Shred the meat and reserve in a bowl.
Shredded ham hock meat
Use a large dutch oven to cook the flavour base for the soup. Saute the onions and carrots in the oil over medium heat until the onions are a golden colour and the carrot is a bit tender. Add the paprika to the onions and carrots and toast for a few minutes.
Remove a couple of cups of cooked beans from the soup pot and mash with a potato masher.
Cannellini beans stay whole even after prolonged cooking, which is great when making a cassoulet but not so great when you actually want it to break down and become creamy thickening your soup. Still, beggars can't be choosers and they're what I had in my pantry.
Add the whole and mashed beans, cooking bean liquid and shredded meat to the dutch oven and bring to a boil. Add the dried thyme leaves and salt and pepper, to taste, to the soup. Then, simmer covered for half an hour to let the flavours of the soup marry and the carrots get tender. Taste again for seasoning.
Finished soup - The paprika gives a lot of gorgeous colour to the soup.
Serve with crusty bread, cornbread or biscuits for dipping.
THIS soup was made with prepackaged ingredients and odds and ends from my fridge and pantry.
Spicy Duck Miso Soup - It's hard to take a good picture of this type of soup as the miso makes the broth cloudy and the glass noodles are almost invisible in the resulting murk. Not that it matters, as the soup is very tasty.
Spicy Duck Miso Soup - serves 4
5 cups water
2 tsp dashi powder
2 tbsp white miso paste
1 package ramen noodles (or 2 bundles glass or mung bean noodles***)
1 package ramen soup seasoning (your choice of flavours)
1 cup diced bok choy (stems and leaves separate)
1/2-1 cup shredded duck meat
1/4-1/2 Korean chili paste (gochujang)
*** I used the ramen noodles in the package for another dish but reserved the seasoning packet so I used the last of the glass noodles I had
If using ramen noodles, cook them according to package directions in a large pot as the compressed, curly noodles need lots of room to expand. Drain and rinse in cold water. Reserve until needed. (The glass noodles will cook just as quickly but can be cooked directly in the soup pot.)
Rinse boy choy stalks wells. Cut the stalks in half, keeping stems and leaves separate. Dice into ~1/2 inch cubes.
In a medium sized sauce pan, add the water, dashi powder and ramen soup seasoning. Bring the water to a boil. Cook covered for about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, off the heat, add the miso paste and about a cup of the hot dashi flavoured stock, breaking up the miso. Reserve until needed.
Add the bok choy stems and shredded duck meat to the soup and cook for a few minutes, then add the leaves and the noodles (cooked ramen or dried glass noodles) and cook for another 3 minutes.
Take the pot of soup off the heat, stir in the dissolved miso, and serve.
NOTE: If using glass noodles, you may feel that there aren't enough glass noodles in the soup, to satisfy your appetite, but after standing for half an hour, they absorb more and more liquid and your soup will be quite thick and hearty.
For THIS soup, I took a can of Campbell's cream of tomato soup, made it according to the directions on the can and then added half a cup of cooked nokedli/spaetzle. Not really cooking, just reheating, but hey, you can't complain about the results.
Cream of Tomato Nokedli/Spaetzle Soup
The soup can be light and refreshing or rich and filling. You can make it all from scratch if you have the time and inclination. Or if you're short of time, you can use help like purchased stocks, canned beans, frozen vegetables, packages of instant noodles and seasonings.
I made THIS bean soup from scratch.
Cannellini Bean and Smoked Ham Hock Soup - Dig in!!!!
Cannellini Bean and Smoked Ham Hock Soup - serves 8
1 smoked ham hock, cut half
2 cups (1 pound) dried cannellini beans (Great northern or navy beans work too)
8-10 cups water
1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 cup (1/2 large) finely diced onion
1 cup (2 medium) finely diced carrots
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp Hungarian paprika
Soak the dried beans overnight in a large soup pot, using enough water to cover the beans by a couple of inches (about 5-6 cups).
The next day, drain and discard the soaking liquid and replace with about 8 cups of fresh water. Nestle the 2 pieces of smoked pork hock among the soaked beans. (You may need to add more water. I added a couple more cups.) Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle boil or hard simmer and cook, covered for 45 min to an hour, or longer, until the beans are tender and the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone.
Remove the ham hock to a large bowl and allow to cool long enough to be handled.
Cooked ham hock
Remove the meat from the bone, discarding the skin, fat, cartilage and bone. Shred the meat and reserve in a bowl.
Shredded ham hock meat
Use a large dutch oven to cook the flavour base for the soup. Saute the onions and carrots in the oil over medium heat until the onions are a golden colour and the carrot is a bit tender. Add the paprika to the onions and carrots and toast for a few minutes.
Remove a couple of cups of cooked beans from the soup pot and mash with a potato masher.
Cannellini beans stay whole even after prolonged cooking, which is great when making a cassoulet but not so great when you actually want it to break down and become creamy thickening your soup. Still, beggars can't be choosers and they're what I had in my pantry.
Add the whole and mashed beans, cooking bean liquid and shredded meat to the dutch oven and bring to a boil. Add the dried thyme leaves and salt and pepper, to taste, to the soup. Then, simmer covered for half an hour to let the flavours of the soup marry and the carrots get tender. Taste again for seasoning.
Finished soup - The paprika gives a lot of gorgeous colour to the soup.
Serve with crusty bread, cornbread or biscuits for dipping.
THIS soup was made with prepackaged ingredients and odds and ends from my fridge and pantry.
Spicy Duck Miso Soup - It's hard to take a good picture of this type of soup as the miso makes the broth cloudy and the glass noodles are almost invisible in the resulting murk. Not that it matters, as the soup is very tasty.
Spicy Duck Miso Soup - serves 4
5 cups water
2 tsp dashi powder
2 tbsp white miso paste
1 package ramen noodles (or 2 bundles glass or mung bean noodles***)
1 package ramen soup seasoning (your choice of flavours)
1 cup diced bok choy (stems and leaves separate)
1/2-1 cup shredded duck meat
1/4-1/2 Korean chili paste (gochujang)
*** I used the ramen noodles in the package for another dish but reserved the seasoning packet so I used the last of the glass noodles I had
If using ramen noodles, cook them according to package directions in a large pot as the compressed, curly noodles need lots of room to expand. Drain and rinse in cold water. Reserve until needed. (The glass noodles will cook just as quickly but can be cooked directly in the soup pot.)
Rinse boy choy stalks wells. Cut the stalks in half, keeping stems and leaves separate. Dice into ~1/2 inch cubes.
In a medium sized sauce pan, add the water, dashi powder and ramen soup seasoning. Bring the water to a boil. Cook covered for about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, off the heat, add the miso paste and about a cup of the hot dashi flavoured stock, breaking up the miso. Reserve until needed.
Add the bok choy stems and shredded duck meat to the soup and cook for a few minutes, then add the leaves and the noodles (cooked ramen or dried glass noodles) and cook for another 3 minutes.
Take the pot of soup off the heat, stir in the dissolved miso, and serve.
NOTE: If using glass noodles, you may feel that there aren't enough glass noodles in the soup, to satisfy your appetite, but after standing for half an hour, they absorb more and more liquid and your soup will be quite thick and hearty.
For THIS soup, I took a can of Campbell's cream of tomato soup, made it according to the directions on the can and then added half a cup of cooked nokedli/spaetzle. Not really cooking, just reheating, but hey, you can't complain about the results.
Cream of Tomato Nokedli/Spaetzle Soup