Steadily climbing the mountain, enjoying the view along the way

KajiKita

PennysIntoPounds said:

Very impressed with the soup making, this is on my aspirations list. Do you have a soup maker doodah or do you do it in a pan?

I do have a soup making thingamee but don’t use it! Too much hassle to wash tbh … Because they are all typically cook in stock until soft method, they can be be blitzed with a wand blender, especially if you use a deep saucepan. My blender is an old w00lworths one (from when I ran away from mad ex, 23 years ago I think,it is now) and has done sterling service over the years 😊

@Greying_Pilgrim is the guru of soups here in all honesty, but tell me what kind of soup you might like to make and I will see what I can turn up as a recipe 😊

KK

PennysIntoPounds

I am not yet in the right mind-space to take on soup making but I absolutely will ask in future, thank you 

KajiKita

PennysIntoPounds said:

I am not yet in the right mind-space to take on soup making but I absolutely will ask in future, thank you 

Fair enough and entirely understandable. 

As and when you are in the right mind space, we will be here to help and encourage 😊

KK

Greying_Pilgrim

Oh heck, I ain't no guru of anything, let alone soup-making.  I just throw ingredients (wot I have usually), in a saucepan and hope for the best.  I must admit, my ancient, basic Pressure Cooker is a boon to soup making - for us.  Most of the time I either partially blitz or fully blitz.  But stick blenders (doesn't have to be an expensive one), and a decent size/depth saucepan, as KajiKita says, are key.  I've never bothered with soupmakers - but that's me, and an indication of lack of storage, rather than any insider knowledge about whether they work or not.  I'm sure they work for some folk, and if they encourage people to make soup, well then that's a good thing 😁 Onions, celery and garlic are usually my starting point, and because we are veggie, I always look to incorporate, beans, or lentils, veggies and sometimes pasta or rice.  Pasta or rice are good to 'bulk' out soups and transform them into a substantial lunch.   Usually pasta or rice makes an appearance if I have some already cooked portions in the freezer.  

If your soup is too thin, think about thickening agents - a roux, mashed potato, instant potato powder, tomato puree, lentils, hommus, pasta.  If your soup is too thick - or you need to stretch it to feed more; hot water, stock, a tin of baked beans, a tin of mixed beans, chickpeas, frozen veg.....  whatever goes with what your soup base is.  

I had 2 (I think) of the recipe books for a 'very famous' commercial soup making company.  I gave them away to a charity shop, and hardly used them.  My observation was that there were many, many ingredients.  If it went wrong, or you didn't like it, that was quite a waste.  Personally, if I was looking for recipes now, I would start with internet recipes that didn't have many ingredients, or had ingredients I had in stock often.  Pea soup - using frozen peas, onion, garlic, potato, stock and a bit of mint (dried works as well as fresh, if you have it), is a good start.  Tomato soup, using tinned tomatoes or passata, onions, celery, garlic and a carrot or two is also a good standby.  I would always put a teaspoon of sugar in, to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes, but then you can make it your own with the addition of herbs, or spices (cinnamon is good), or take it in a warming direction with either chilli or ginger.  Or keep in in a 'cream of' vibe, with cream or greek yoghurt.  

I like cooking, and like experimenting.  I'm no good at recipe following - I often go 'off-piste' and use what I have, or use a recipe as a starting point.  But I've had my share of failures, and "won't make that again" moments 🤣

I don't know if that is of any help.  But with recipes/soup I am increasingly seeing what I have, and what could go with it to make a soup, rather than following written recipes.

Greying X

f0xh0les

Soup Anarchy Rules!!

Cheery_Daff

Mr Cheery is an excellent soup rescuer. I am an enthusiastic maker of soup, and make a perfectly acceptable basic lentil soup, but any branching out from me usually leads to grey or unflavoured 🙄 He comes along muttering about 'soup bases' and 'mid notes' and waving things like taking and peanut butter and all kinds of random storecupboard ingredients around, and what emerges is usually beautiful, but unreplicable 😂

KajiKita

@Cheery_Daff, what’s ’taking’ in this context? I can’t guess and it sounds magical 😊

” He comes along muttering about 'soup bases' and 'mid notes' and waving things like taking and peanut butter …”

tahini maybe?

KK

Cheery_Daff

KajiKita said:

@Cheery_Daff, what’s ’taking’ in this context? I can’t guess and it sounds magical 😊

” He comes along muttering about 'soup bases' and 'mid notes' and waving things like taking and peanut butter …”

tahini maybe?

KK

Ha, yes,  well guessed - tahini indeed (which now my phone wants to auto correct to 'think' 🙄😂)

teapot2

I also make soup pretty much year round and normally just from what is in the fridge or cupboard.  am also veggie and don't follow recipes very often.  I have some go to ideas such as a tomato and veg base with a tin of organic mixed beans added.  Or I roast veg when the oven is on anyway, blitz up with ancient stick blender, add a few chilli flakes and lob into tomato base.  I also like making a spicy sweet potato and coconut one, the coconut comes from a chunk of creamed coconut which lasts ages and is also handy for curries.  Soup on the go currently is broccoli, carrot and a lump of blue cheese that was in the freezer from ages ago, most of my soups include pulses and or beans though that one doesn't.

Greying_Pilgrim

That's how I make soup teapot.  But thinking back to when I was starting out cooking, and the internet wasn't really a thing 😱 I leant heavily on cookbooks, that seemed to have a gazinty-billion ingredients - even for soup.  That's why if/when I let LG have free rein on starting some recipes ie soup, I will try to start with the simple soffrito (although sometimes you don't need/have carrots), and try to build soup flavours off that - ideally with what you have rather than specially purchasing things.  I think having a few 'basic' soups means you have something to eat, first and foremost, and then building those soups out with; beans, pasta, more veg, cooked chicken or cooked sausages or whatever gives you more options, and adds to your confidence.  There isn't a soup flavour/style/ingredient that you have mentioned that I wouldn't/haven't used 👍😁 **edit** - except for the blue cheese 🤢🤣

Greying X