seeking recipes for soup
Nov. 3rd, 2014 07:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blueraccoon in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomI made chicken soup Friday night, recipe and notes below, and it came out well (I've made this before and I think I mostly know what I'm doing with it). I'd like to make lentil soup next, or split pea soup, but I don't have recipes for either and the last time I tried to make split pea soup it didn't come out very well and I dumped it all. If you have a go-to for either soup, please share? I'll take vegetarian or non-vegetarian recipes, I don't care. I do have a crockpot so slow cooker versions are fine, although I generally make soup on the stove. The only thing I would ask is please no curries; I'm not a fan.
First note: This is possibly the easiest thing I've ever made, and should be accessible for anyone who eats chicken. The only real difficult part is straining the soup after you make it; the pot will be heavy. Minimal chopping required.
Ingredients, with some notes:
1 whole chicken, giblets removed
2-3 carrots (I use whole; you can use baby carrots but I think whole carrots have more flavor)
3-4 ribs of celery
1-2 bay leaves
whole peppercorns
salt (I use kosher; feel free to use whatever you like)
fresh dill, plus more for garnish
1. Chop carrots and celery into chunks; you don't need to slice them into edible pieces
2. Pat chicken dry and put in stockpot. Add vegetables, peppercorns, a heaping teaspoon of salt or however much you want (but only about 1/3 of total), and bay leaves. Fill pot with cold water and turn burner on high
3. As soup heats up, you will get a white foam/froth on top. Skim this off as best you can.
4. Once soup has been brought to a boil and foam is skimmed off, reduce heat to low and let the soup simmer. You can cover the pot or not as you like; covering it will likely increase the flavor of the stock, but I don't always cover it and my soup generally comes out fine. Add in the dill, about 1/3 of your salt, and stir.
5. Let soup simmer for about 2 hours, checking every now and again. Taste and add in last salt to your liking. Give the soup a quick stir now and again and make sure chicken is almost completely submerged (if it's not, add more water).
6. After 2 hours, turn burner off. Remove solids from soup and strain the stock through a mesh strainer into a giant bowl. Cover and put in fridge to chill. Note: At this point I recommend separating the vegetables from the chicken; if you leave them in the same bowl the veggies may get kind of gelatinous and icky. Put vegetables in container, bag or box the chicken, and put both in fridge.
7. Next morning, or whenever you get around to it, skim the congealed fat off the stock. It is now ready to eat. (Note: You don't have to do this step if you want to serve the soup immediately, but the soup may be a bit greasy)
Before you serve the soup, chop up the cooked vegetables into eating-size pieces, shred the chicken, add back into the broth and heat up. Garnish with more dill if you like.
I know a lot of people use onions in their soup, but I'm not a huge onion fan so I don't bother and no one's ever complained.
Other notes: You can probably make this in a crockpot, but I've never done it. My concern with the crockpot is that you might not get enough stock out of the soup, but again, it's probably completely doable.
First note: This is possibly the easiest thing I've ever made, and should be accessible for anyone who eats chicken. The only real difficult part is straining the soup after you make it; the pot will be heavy. Minimal chopping required.
Ingredients, with some notes:
1 whole chicken, giblets removed
2-3 carrots (I use whole; you can use baby carrots but I think whole carrots have more flavor)
3-4 ribs of celery
1-2 bay leaves
whole peppercorns
salt (I use kosher; feel free to use whatever you like)
fresh dill, plus more for garnish
1. Chop carrots and celery into chunks; you don't need to slice them into edible pieces
2. Pat chicken dry and put in stockpot. Add vegetables, peppercorns, a heaping teaspoon of salt or however much you want (but only about 1/3 of total), and bay leaves. Fill pot with cold water and turn burner on high
3. As soup heats up, you will get a white foam/froth on top. Skim this off as best you can.
4. Once soup has been brought to a boil and foam is skimmed off, reduce heat to low and let the soup simmer. You can cover the pot or not as you like; covering it will likely increase the flavor of the stock, but I don't always cover it and my soup generally comes out fine. Add in the dill, about 1/3 of your salt, and stir.
5. Let soup simmer for about 2 hours, checking every now and again. Taste and add in last salt to your liking. Give the soup a quick stir now and again and make sure chicken is almost completely submerged (if it's not, add more water).
6. After 2 hours, turn burner off. Remove solids from soup and strain the stock through a mesh strainer into a giant bowl. Cover and put in fridge to chill. Note: At this point I recommend separating the vegetables from the chicken; if you leave them in the same bowl the veggies may get kind of gelatinous and icky. Put vegetables in container, bag or box the chicken, and put both in fridge.
7. Next morning, or whenever you get around to it, skim the congealed fat off the stock. It is now ready to eat. (Note: You don't have to do this step if you want to serve the soup immediately, but the soup may be a bit greasy)
Before you serve the soup, chop up the cooked vegetables into eating-size pieces, shred the chicken, add back into the broth and heat up. Garnish with more dill if you like.
I know a lot of people use onions in their soup, but I'm not a huge onion fan so I don't bother and no one's ever complained.
Other notes: You can probably make this in a crockpot, but I've never done it. My concern with the crockpot is that you might not get enough stock out of the soup, but again, it's probably completely doable.
no subject
on 2014-11-03 04:55 pm (UTC)1 small onion, diced
1-2 good sized carrots, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
1 turnip, diced
2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 15oz can of vegetable or chicken broth
1.5 cups lentils, rinsed
Poultry seasoning (I use McCormick)
Saute the onion, carrots, garlic, celery, and turnip in oil over medium-high heat for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with several good shakes of poultry seasoning, and about 1/4 tsp salt. Add the lentils and the broth, plus two cans of water or so. Bring to a boil, and then simmer on low for a good long time. I usually allow for a 1-2 hours of cooking, but the lentils will probably be cooked and the soup will be edible in about 45 minutes. Also, I am guessing about the water, since I've never really measured it. If it looks like too little, add more. If it looks like too much, boil some off. This recipe is forgiving.
no subject
on 2014-11-04 07:16 am (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-06 06:09 am (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-06 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-04 05:38 pm (UTC)1 lb dry lentils, picked over and rinsed
8 c. water +/-
2 bay leaves
½ t. black pepper
¼ t. dried thyme
1-2 t. balsamic vinegar (optional but delicious if you have some)
1 loop kielbasa (used to be 1 lb, now is 14 oz), sliced into half rounds
2 large onions, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 large carrots, pared and finely diced
2 T. olive oil for sautéing
Sauté onions, celery, and carrots gently in olive oil until onions and celery are softened. Add to crock pot with the rest of the ingredients. Cook on high until lentils are done (2-3 hours, depending on your crock). Remove bay leaves and serve. Keeps well, tastes even better the next day.
Notes:
--Can be cooked on the stovetop just as easily. After sauteing the veggies, just add all the rest, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 45 minutes, until the lentils are done to your taste. A Dutch oven is perfect for it, if you have one.
--Substitute diced cooked ham, or a meaty hambone, for the kielbasa, if that's what's available.
no subject
on 2014-11-06 06:07 am (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-06 12:11 pm (UTC)Ooh, that sausage would be delicious. Maybe brown it before sauteing the vegetables for a nice flavor boost?
no subject
on 2014-11-04 11:07 pm (UTC)Red lentil stew http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2012/11/vegan-red-lentil-stew-428-recipe-071.html (also nice with a splash of red wine if you're ok with cooking with alcohol and have it around, I'd toss it in after step 1)
Red lentil soup with cumin and lemon http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1915483
no subject
on 2014-11-06 12:21 pm (UTC)By the way, the link to that first one acts funny - takes me to the recipe for half a second and then instantly defaults to the blog home page - so I did a little searching and found another url for it: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/11/vegan-red-lentil-stew/