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Old 06-01-2013, 09:34
jojo01
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As others seem to be a little shy about starting a thread about soup recipes, I thought I'd start it!

Pea, Brocolli & Mint Soup

1 onion, chopped
500ml volume of frozen peas
1 litre of vegetable stick
2 teaspoons of dried mint
I head of brocolli, broken into florets

1. Soften the onion in a smidge of oil for a few minutes
2. Add the stock, one teaspoon of dried mint and peas, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes
3. Separately cook the brocolli
4. Blend the pea soup mixture, adding the last teaspoon of mint
5. Add the brocolli

You can cook the brocolli in the soup mixture, but I find it a pain to pick it out before blending!

Mushroom soup
I always use this recipe, though never with the marsala or sherry as I don't have any. It's delicious and filling.
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:50
Smokeychan1
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Not sure if it is the only soup thread, but I remember this one as it was quite recent.
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:50
WinterFire
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I wish to create a generic vegetable soup recipe, as my previous staple Sainsbury's vegetable soup has been reformulated to include dairy, which I don't eat.

I'm slowly getting there, but this needs work. In particular I need to work on what spices to include. This is what I'm doing at the moment.

Chop up one stick of celery, one medium-large carrot, and one medium onion. Cook slowly in a little water until the onion is soft.

Add in coarsely chopped vegetables. At present I add in some chopped parsnip (most of a small parsnip), say a bit over half of one medium courgette. A good handful of mushrooms. A medium small potato. I then add 600ml of water and three stock cubes. Mixed herbs - I usually add in sage, thyme, oregano, and parsley. 3-4 crushed garlic cloves depending on size. Two tablespoons of tomato puree from a tube. Then at present, more than half a teaspoon of coriander, about a quarter of a teaspoon of cumin, and less than that of fennel. I bring that to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or so. Then sufficient stock cubes or powder given that there's 600 ml of water. At present I use two oxo vegetable stock cubes.

Once it's all cooked, then I remove a proportion of the vegetables, and then blend smooth with a stick blender. I return the removed proportion of vegetables to the soup, add pepper and salt to taste, and it's finished.

I call this my "no added fat" vegetable soup. It tastes OK, but could use a little bit more of something. I can't just increase any of the individual spices as they will dominate the flavour. Particularly the fennel and cumin. Advice on jazzing this up would be greatly appreciated. It does taste a lot nicer when it has been cooled down then reheated.
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:57
Smokeychan1
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Don't know if this will help winterfire as you may be vegetarian, but I always use my homemade chicken stock when making soups and it doesn't half make a difference.

Years ago an old scottish gentleman told me never to add carrots to soup as they "'sook' all the flavour out of it".

Porridge oats added to the mix makes a nice creamy thickener in place of dairy or potato.

Edit: Having looked again at your 'generic vegetable soup', I would probably suggest less is more.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:08
WinterFire
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Thanks smokeychan. I am a vegetarian, but do have some mock 'chicken' soup that I could try using as a base.

Today I'm going to try making a carrot and butterbean soup, so I'll try a bit of "less is more" to see what happens.

I'm also planning to buy some more peas and some dried mint to try making the soup in the OP.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:15
Smokeychan1
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I think you will be onto a winner with that. I love both butterbeans and carrot soup.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:31
swingaleg
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I always use Marigold Vegetable Bouillon as stock.........two heaped teaspoons per pint of water

I nearly always have soup on the go as i make enough for 3 or 4 days at a time............this is my current one which is 3 portions

Pint and a half of water
3 teaspoons bouillon
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
one green chilli, seeded and chopped
one green pepper, chopped
one yellow pepper, chopped
4 large tomatoes chopped

everything in the pan and simmer until the tomatoes have dissolved

On day one i just ladled into a bowl with lumps intact

Day two I blended to get a thick smooth soup

I've already got the ingredients for my my next panfull to be made tomorrow. This will be pea based using dried marrowfat peas which I'll soak overnight. With no other ingredients this makes a glorious pea soup but this time I'll use a lot less peas and add the contents of a vegetable casserole bag which has carrot, suede, potato, leek, onion and probably bits of other things as well, I've also got some green beans..............any veg will do !
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:37
TYCO
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1 large red pepper
1 large brown onion
2 large courgettes
2 cloves of garlic crushed
4 large tomatoes
half a cup of red lentils
1 vegetable stock cube

After you're happy with the soup, halve 10 baby tomatoes and leave in the soup as it cools down.

Reheat.

Yummy
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:57
jojo01
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D'oh, I forgot an ingredient in the Pea, Brocolli and Mint soup recipe.

I also add two cloves of garlic to the pot when softening the onion.
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Old 06-01-2013, 11:38
WinterFire
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I think you will be onto a winner with that. I love both butterbeans and carrot soup.
It's cooking now. So far there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of flavour in there, but I'll see what it's like when it's cooked and blended.

Edit: Carrot and Butterbean soup is fine, tastes OK, but it doesn't match up to my favourite tinned soups. I think it's the spices I need more skills with.
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Old 06-01-2013, 11:59
jojo01
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It's cooking now. So far there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of flavour in there, but I'll see what it's like when it's cooked and blended.
Have you got any herbs you can pop into it?

I'm just making a big pot of veggie soup - I've chucked loads in!
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Old 06-01-2013, 12:01
WinterFire
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Have you got any herbs you can pop into it?

I'm just making a big pot of veggie soup - I've chucked loads in!
It had sage, parsley, and thyme in it. All dry. The soup isn't bland, it's OK, but it's not quite as good as my favourite tinned commercial soups.

I've heard that carraway is good for soups, but have made the mistake of putting it in too early in the cooking process, resulting in bitter food.
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Old 06-01-2013, 12:07
jojo01
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It had sage, parsley, and thyme in it. All dry. The soup isn't bland, it's OK, but it's not quite as good as my favourite tinned commercial soups.

I've heard that carraway is good for soups, but have made the mistake of putting it in too early in the cooking process, resulting in bitter food.
I'm learning loads in this thread... first the bit about adding oats, and now caraway - neither of which I've used before.

ETA: I just looked up carrot and butterbean soup on the BBC Good Food website, they do a curried version of it which I might have to give a go one day.
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Old 06-01-2013, 12:15
WinterFire
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Mine tasted a bit more curried than I expected. The spices were only cumin, coriander, fennel, and pepper.

SWMBO says that it was generally OK, but she would prefer that there were more chunks of vegetables of a number of different types. That might be the general way forward, rather than trying to boost the flavour through spices.

Beware of carraway. If you cook it too long, it ruins the food.
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Old 06-01-2013, 12:18
jojo01
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You might be right - I usually completely blend my veg soups but today I'm going to make it a bit chunky.
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Old 06-01-2013, 12:19
Orangemaid
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im doing a diced pork casserole for tea

Diced pork
chopped carrots
cut potatoes
an onion ( for flavour)
seasoning
peas/sweetcorn
cauliflower
grated garlic
grated ginger
mix herbs

Cook the meat in some water (Pressure cooker)
add some salt and the onion ( in the basket )
( let it come to pressure and turn heat down)

Put the potatoes and carrots in and sprinkle with bit salt ( or some pepper)
again bring to pressure and turn down and cook for 5 to 10 mins
open lid and
add some stock , and the herbs
cook peas and cauliflower as normal and add to the casserole stirring all up.
Then mash the contents with a masher a little to release more flavours..and serve

well thats my intention of doing it, so hope it turns out ok
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Old 06-01-2013, 13:14
burton07
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Sometimes a tasty soup can be made with the most basic of ingredients. I make an 'emergency' soup with onion, carrot, potato and whatever else I've got in the vegetable rack - often just a couple of soft tomatoes. I too use Marigold organic vegetable stock. It is quite salty so don't add extra salt before checking the taste.
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Old 06-01-2013, 14:03
Smokeychan1
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It's cooking now. So far there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of flavour in there, but I'll see what it's like when it's cooked and blended.

Edit: Carrot and Butterbean soup is fine, tastes OK, but it doesn't match up to my favourite tinned soups. I think it's the spices I need more skills with.
Have a look on Heinz's site for replication of their recipes. It was a few years ago now, but they gave away their chicken and sweetcorn chowder recipe and I was very impressed with the homecooked version...and the fact they were happy to provide it.

EDIT: Yeah burton, I pretty much just make soup out of leftover veg, or those looking a bit sad in the bottom of the cupboard.
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Old 06-01-2013, 14:20
Ads
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Soup is so easy to make. The only soup which is a struggle to make is tomato soup, as the tomatoes in this country are so watery and tasteless.

Roast parsnip soup is fantastic.
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Old 06-01-2013, 14:21
Orangemaid
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Soup is so easy to make. The only soup which is a struggle to make is tomato soup, as the tomatoes in this country are so watery and tasteless.

Roast parsnip soup is fantastic.
yes, it is..Had that on the xmas dinner meal as a starter
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Old 06-01-2013, 14:31
peaches41
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Years ago I bought a Kenwood Chef, and one of the recipes for the liquidiser was a split pea soup. Instead of soaking the peas overnight it told you to put the required amount into the liquidiser and whizz until powdery, then continue with the soup, using chopped bacon, onion and stock. Anyone else heard of this quick way to make split pea soup?
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Old 06-01-2013, 19:04
kimindex
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I make watercress soup, with leeks, potato, watercress, stock, cream and some blue cheese. Lovely!
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Old 06-01-2013, 22:08
burton07
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Soup is so easy to make. The only soup which is a struggle to make is tomato soup, as the tomatoes in this country are so watery and tasteless.

Roast parsnip soup is fantastic.
The best way to use English tomatoes is to use them as an ingredient rather than a complete soup. For instance carrot and tomato soup is nice as is celery and tomato soup.
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Old 06-01-2013, 22:17
turquoiseblue
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I make lots of soups by starting with gently frying onions, with a pinch of salt and then adding a crushed clove of garlic. I then add whatever I'm making the soup out of, for example butternut squash. I put a lid on the pan and turn right down, but keep stirring. When the vegetables are just about done I add some stock, usually homemade cook some more and season. I then blitz with a hand blender.
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Old 06-01-2013, 22:33
norbitonite
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Soup is so easy to make. The only soup which is a struggle to make is tomato soup, as the tomatoes in this country are so watery and tasteless.

Roast parsnip soup is fantastic.
Merging your two thoughts, have you tried roasting your tomatoes before making soup with them? It intensifies the flavour.
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