Week 38 -- Clear Soups

All clear soups start as broths. Broths may be served as finished items, or used as the base for other soups. Broths are made from meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables cooked in a liquid.

Soup Classifications

  • Clear Soups: broth based, with or without protein products and/or vegetables, or grains or pasta
  • Thickened Soups: cream or puree, thickened with roux or cornstarch or cream
  • Bisques and Chowders: thick soups, bisque is usually creamy, while chowder is chunky

Broth Preparation Basics

  • Cut up the main ingredient to increase surface area (chicken, beef, shrimp, etc, or vegetables, eg. mire poix)
  • For increased flavor, vegetables may be sauteed first to caramelize sugars
  • It's usually a good idea to saute protein products first, before simmering to prevent coagulation of protein and fat remnants on broth surface, though that may be skimmed off or strained out later
  • Place the main ingredient and vegetables in a stock pot and add enough cold water to cover
  • Bring the liquid slowly to a boil, reduce to simmer, skimming impurities occasionally until the main ingredient is tender and the broth flavor is fully developed
  • Strain the broth through cheesecloth, trying not to disturb the flavoring ingredients to preserve the broth's clarity, protein products may be picked out and reserved for use in broth-based soup, most vegetables used for broth-making (mushy by now) can usually be discarded
  • Cool and store, or bring to boil to serve

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Broth-Based Soup Basics

  • A broth based vegetable soup is one in which the vegetables are cooked in the broth, adding flavor, body, and texture to the finished product
  • When making broth-based vegetable soup, each ingredient must be added at the proper time so that all ingredients are fully cooked and none are over cooked, eg. carrots first, then mushrooms, spinach toward the end
  • Because appearance is important to a well made soup, attention should be paid to cutting ingredients so that the pieces are uniform and visually appealing and cook evenly

Basic Vegetable Broth

  • Add equal amounts of onions, carrots, celery (mire poix) to pot and sautee lightly, add a few peppercorns and a bay leaf, never add salt at this point, garlic would be good to add, if you have broccoli or cauliflower or parsley stems, etc, throw them in, too
  • Add water and bring to simmer to extract flavors, this is maceration, allow at least 1 hour
  • After the flavors are extracted, the broth can be strained to remove the vegetables (which can be discarded), leaving a colored, flavorful vegetable broth

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Basic Vegetable Soup

  • Start with vegetable broth
  • Now add whatever you like, carrots, onions, celery, carrots, green pepper, broccoli, tomato, green beans, black beans, peas, snow peas, spinach, kale, cabbage, mushrooms, etc, remembering to add harder/tougher vegetables first, delicate vegetables toward the end
  • Simmer until vegetables are tender
  • Season and add herbs as desired
  • To any clear soups you can always add rice, barley, quinoa, pasta, etc that has been prepared separately to help preserve the clarity of the soup

Basic Chicken Soup

  • Start by sauteeing the diced up raw chicken in the pot, remove and set aside
  • Pan fond will develop adding great flavor
  • Then add aromatics (onion, celery, carrots) to the saute
  • Add small amount of cold chicken broth to deglaze the pan and make pan sauce
  • Add more chicken broth to the desired amount of liquid
  • Add chicken back in, and simmer until desired stage of doneness
  • Season and add herbs as desired
  • To any clear soups you can always add rice, barley, quinoa, pasta, etc that has been prepared separately to help preserve the clarity of the soup

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Egg Drop Soup

  • Ingredients
    • 1 cup chicken broth
    • 1/4 tsp soy sauce
    • 1/4 tsp sesame oil
    • 3/4 tsp cornstarch
    • 2 tsp chicken broth
    • 1 egg, beaten
    • 1/4 tsp cornstarch (in addition to above)
    • 1 drop yellow food coloring (optional)
    • 1/8 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp black or white pepper
  • Procedure
    • In small saucepan, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, bring to slow boil, just beyond simmering
    • Stir together 3/4 tsp cornstarch and 2 tsp chicken broth, add to boiling broth
    • Whisk 1/4 tsp cornstarch into the beaten egg, add food coloring here if desired
    • Gently stir the boiling broth while slowly adding the beaten egg mixture
    • Season with S&P to taste
    • Garnish with chopped chives or scallions

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French Onion Soup

  • Ingredients
    • 2-4 beef short ribs
    • 3-4 lbs onions (3-4 medium onions), mixed types, or whatever you have on hand, sliced with the grain
    • 5 cloves garlic, minced (divided 3 and 2)
    • 1 cup red wine
    • 1/3 cup sherry wine
    • 1 tsp dried thyme
    • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
    • 1/2 tsp black pepper
    • 3 cups beef broth
    • 1/2 tsp black or white pepper
    • a loaf of french baguette
    • 1/3 to 1/2 lb gruyere or swiss cheese, grated
  • Procedure
    • Brown the short ribs in a medium/large soup pot, Dutch oven is great, this begins the formation of a beef stock, use a little salt and pepper but no flour (no thickening desired)
    • Caramelize 2.5 to 3 lbs of onion along with the short ribs, low temp, may take a while, 30-40 minutes to sweat the onions down and get good color (short ribs will be tenderizing at the same time), add 3 cloves garlic
    • After onions cook down to about 1/4 the original volume, add 1 cup red wine, 1/3 cup sherry, thyme, rosemary, black pepper
    • Cook alcohol out then add beef broth, covering everything, simmer for at least 1 hour
    • Saute the remaining onions in a skillet, brown them up, add another couple cloves of minced garlic, cover and cook at least 1/2 hour (meanwhile the short ribs will be braising/tenderizing on simmer in the soup pot with the original onions)
    • Slice the baguette on a bias, toast lightly under broiler, top with grated cheese, then back under the broiler to melt cheese
    • Add the newly sauteed onions to the soup, taste for salt and pepper, adjust as needed, done
    • Slice up the short ribs into small pieces (1/2 bite-size), add back to the soup
    • Serve soup in bowls with toasted baguette slices (crostinis) on the side for dipping

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Classic Okra Soup

  • Ingredients (4-6 servings)
    • 1 lb ground beef (or use 3-4 short ribs - best way to go)
    • 2.5 cups beef broth
    • 1 onion, coarsley chopped
    • 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
    • 1 cup okra, chopped
    • 2 medium yukon potatoes, coarsely chopped
    • 1/2 cup corn off the cob
    • 1/2 cup carrots, coarsely chopped
    • 1/2 cup bell peppers, coarsely chopped
    • 1/2 cup butter/lima beans
    • 1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid (14 oz)
    • 2 oz tomato paste
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 1/2 tsp dried thyme, (rosemary, oregano to taste, try 1/4 tsp each)
    • S&P to taste
  • Procedure
    • Slow simmer the ground beef (or short ribs, after browning -- ground beef does not need to be browned) in beef broth for 3 hours, breaking down into bite-sized chunks
    • Par-boil the carrots and lima beans to soften, set aside
    • Saute onions, garlic and bell peppers, set aside
    • After simmering beef 3 hours, add diced tomatoes and tomato paste, bay leaves and dried thyme (other dried herbs as desired), simmer another hour, then add the rest of the vegetables, continue simmering until potatoes and all vegetables are tender
    • Test for S&P, adjust as needed
    • Serve soup in bowls with cornbread or rustic artisan bread or baguette or focaccia on the side for dipping

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Maryland Crab Soup

  • Ingredients (3-4 servings)
    • 1 lb lump and claw crab meat
    • 3 cups shrimp broth
    • 1/2 onion, diced
    • 1 cup mixed frozen vegetables
    • 1 medium yukon potato, diced, skin on
    • 1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid (14 oz)
    • 1 oz tomato paste
    • 2 tsp Old Bay
    • Hot sauce, optional
  • Procedure
    • Slow simmer the beef broth, add diced onions, mixed vegetables, potato, and tomatoes
    • Add tomato paste and Old Bay
    • After the vegetables and potatoes are beginning to soften, add the crab meat
    • From now on simmer and stir very gently so as not to break up the crab meat, leave those big chunks of crab
    • Test for S&P, adjust as needed, better yet, add more Old Bay as needed
    • Serve soup in bowls with cornbread and butter on the side for dipping

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