Soup of the day (Soups)

Member Name: jessyclown

Product:	Soups
Date:	08/10/01 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: tasty, filling, good for you

Disadvantages: I never make enough

Soups can make very useful meals and are not difficult to make. Tasty soup with some crusty bread or croutons can fill the belly and impress guests. If you sprinkle on some fresh herbs or present them with a swirl of cream then your guests will be doubly impressed. When you are not feeling great then simple soup is often just what you need to tempt your taste buds. If you are really hungry then soup can start a meal. There are some very good canned soup and fresh soup on the supermarket shelves but you can not beat a good home made soup. It is usually cheaper to make your own!

###### STOCK ######
The main ingredient for most soups is the stock. A good flavoured stock can give you soup a better flavour. The stock should be appropriate. A fish stock would not improve a chicken broth! I like to make my own. I take some bones. They may be left from a Sunday leg of lamb or chicken or they can be bought very cheaply from the butchers. I put the bones, some old grotty looking vegetables in a pressure cooker and just boil them up. It takes about half an hour and you can make some delicious stock. If you are a vegetarian leave out the bones and you can easily make a vegetarian stock. I usually use the ends of carrots and peelings from the last days vegetables, they must be clean. I add some herbs and seasoning.

###### BROTH TYPE ######
Broth type soups are very easy. You need to chop up whatever vegetables you want to use and they can then boiled in the stock. This type of soup is left with lumps of vegetables and can be very tasty. I like to use cabbage, carrots, parsnips, turnip, and potato to make a basic broth. I soak soup mix or barley, lentils, split peas and rice in the stock. The stock is then boiled with the mix in. I then add my mix of vegetables and boil the whole lot until every thing is cooked. At this point I may add any meat from the bone I had left. This makes a lovely lunch on a cold day.

#####
# CREAMED SOUPS ######
Cream of vegetable soups have slightly more to do. The vegetables you are going to use can be fried in a little oil or butter if you want it to be really rich. Enough flour to absorb the fat is added and then the stock. This is then boiled until the vegetables are soft they are then liquidised, some milk or cream is added and there you have another tasty meal. All types of vegetables can be used. I like cream of celery soup and cream of artichoke soup particularly.

There are other variations you can use. Some soups have cheese added or they are a cross between the two types. Usually soups are very easy to make I like to make a big pot of soup and eat it for several days especially during the winter. Adding garnishes can make your soup look something special. Herbs and seasoning can give it subtle flavour.

I think winter is on its way so I have bought a small chicken today which I am going to use to make some chicken broth and some chicken sandwiches. I am sure I can get a couple of meals out of it for my family and it only cost £1.50!

Summary: