The secret to good soup

fatpiggy

My absolute favourite soup to make is bacon and parsnip (or sweet potato if you don't like parsnips). A nice big potato cubed, a packet of bacon lardons (Lidl or Aldi) a couple of parsnips (small ones are tastier and less likely to be woody) chicken or vegetable stock, an onion cubed, pepper and salt to taste although the bacon provides plenty of the latter. Simmer all together until the veg are cooked through, then whizz up in the liquidiser. It sticks to you stomach nicely thanks to the potato and the combination of sweet and salt is just YUMMMYY!!!

Kavajo

As well as stock, soup needs some oil or fat, otherwise it tastes watery. Some food components only dissolve in oils, so as other people have said, frying the veg first helps as it incorporates these flavours into the soup. That's why so many recipes begin with 'sautee the onions'. Creamy soups work best with butter, with other soups you can add bacon lardons or chopped chorizo etc. If you do use bacon, you won't need to add so much salt to seaon.

dreamyd

Soup can be a tricky one , but like a lot of people, I use HM stock whenever possible, but what I've also started doing is using the fat which I've skimmed off the stock/ roasting juices to sweat my veg in. I save it in mini jars in the fridge. It keeps pretty well, if you keep the lid on tight.
I also add stock a little at a time, in the same way you would if you were making a risotto, especially if the stock is only a day or so old and is more of jelly. A shake of gravy granules sometimes end up in there too, as does a dash of wine, of there's an open bottle...
When I'm making a green soup (Courgette/broccoli/spinach, etc)I chuck in a couple of Dairylea-type triangles in before I blend it. That came from a lunchbox recipe book about 15 years ago, but I can't remember the title.

waterbear

I always take the easiest route.
chop up carrots and parsnips
add a handful of red lentils
boil till tender
add one of those wonderful stockpots(whatever is on offer)
a teaspoon of cumin powder and a teaspoon of coriander powder

andrewsmum

This morning I made some celery soup. I just fried some onion, added celery and bouillon powder, added water. When it was ready I added some soft cheese with garlic I had left. I've forgotton what its called but it was on offer when I bought it and needed using up.

ionafan

Kavajo wrote: »

As well as stock, soup needs some oil or fat, otherwise it tastes watery. Some food components only dissolve in oils, so as other people have said, frying the veg first helps as it incorporates these flavours into the soup.

I use very little oil or fat in my cooking - just a spray of FryLight to saut!e the onions and stp the veg sticking to the pan. All my soups are SW-friendly and very tasty.

Part of the good taste comes from the caramelised (but not burnt!) sliced onions.

Try adding a floury potato (think "baking" type) to the soup to help thicken it. It is almost tasteless and should disappear completely when you blend the cooked soup. My "creamy mushroom" soup contains no cream at all, but none of my dinner guests appear to have noticed :rotfl:

A teaspoonful of garam masala gives a lovely warm flavour to soup such as parsnip or lentil without being OTT curry.
Otherwise, the more herbs the merrier - tomato soup (which I always make with cheap tinned tomatoes and/or passata) needs lots of basil and black pepper.

Dingbat

I make loads of soup (I take it to work for lunch).

Yes, as others have said, you need a good stock - I save chicken bones and when I have enough, put them in a pressure cooker with onion, carrot, celery if I have it, bayleaf and half a dozen peppercorns, enough water to cover (subject to making sure you have at least the min needed for the cooker). I cook at max pressure at least 20 mins. You can do the same with veg peelings (not potato), onion skins, bits of pepper etc and a spoonful of marmite can help. If you don't have stick, then passata, bouillon or stock cubes are required, herbs, garlic, anything to add flavour. It freezes.

Use loads of veg, sweat onions, roast tomatoes / peppers, great way to use up stalks of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, blend all or some to thicken, you don't need flour / cornflour or gravy granules - or instant mash - to thicken if you have enough veg. Bits of cooked meat (from a chicken carcass) or bacon add texture.

This is my standby winter soup - the only fresh ingredient is onion and I substitute lemon with wine vinegar. Comfort food!

[FONT=&quot]Shorbet Ads (Egyptian Lentil Soup)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1 ½ large onions, coarsely chopped[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2-3 tbs olive oil[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 cloves garlic, crushed[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1 lb red lentils[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 pints meat or chicken stock (veg at a pinch!)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1 tsp ground cumin[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1 tsp ground coriander[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A pinch of cayenne (optional)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Salt[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Juice of 1 lemon[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A small bunch of parsley or dill, finely chopped.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Fry the onions in oil in a large pan until very brown. Add the garlic and stir.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Add the lentils and stock and bring to the boil, remove any scum.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stir in the cumin, coriander and cayenne (if required) and simmer for an hour or until the lentils have disintegrated, adding the salt when they have begun to soften. If necessary add water to thin soup to a light cream. Stir in the lemon juice and serve, sprinkled with parsley of dill.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Variations:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Add 4oz rice or vermicelli (broken in your hands) 15 mins before the end of cooking.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Add 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped when the soup is ready and just let them soften.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Add 1 lb spinach (washed, stems removed and leaves chopped) and cook a further 10 minutes.[/FONT]

Idiophreak

I make this one quite frequently...a rare meal that's yummy and actually healthy, too!

http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2009/03/cooking-for-one-weekday-detox.html

YORKSHIRELASS

Oh I could hug you all. I am not the greatest at making soup, my carrot and coriander is OK and my leek and potato always goes down well but thats about it. I have always thought I was on my own with this.

I used to do a soup and pudding night in winter occasionally instead of cooking a big meal so I might try some new recipes with some decent stock.

LavenderBees

I, too, could never understand the excitement of HM stock for the first few attempts, but I now love my HM stock!

I find it best if I have roasted the bird first, strip off the meat, break the bones, re-roast and when still hot, put in the SC with onion, garlic, celery, carrot, S&P. Just cover the carcass/veges with boiling water.

Leave on low for as long as you can - 10 hrs was my last one. Strain all the bits, and then in an open saucepan (i.e. no lid) boil and reduce the liquid. The more you reduce, the better the taste. Leave to cool and it should be jelly.

Yum!

On Monday, I reheated the jelly stock, added noodles, left over chicken pieces and left over sweetcorn. Absolutely delicious!

Goodness knows what I would do if I was having to feed a vegetarian some soup. Luckily, I'm not! There's no substitute for fantastic hm stock made with chicken bones. But it does take practice (at least a dozen attempts for me) and patience (letting it do its thing over many hours).

LB xx