Soups Table

Summary of all my soup recipes, for cooking with the soup method. Don't follow recipes, let them guide you.

MY EUROPEAN SOUPS

Soup	Base	Spice	Main	Finish
White Bean	onion, carrot, celery	garlic, thyme, bay	tomato, navy bean, stock	balsamic vinegar, parsley
Carrot	onion, carrot	tarragon, orange	stock
Minestrone	onion, carrot	garlic, bay, oregano, basil	tomato, zucchini, cabbage, shells, white beans, stock	balsamic vinegar, parsley
Corn Chowder	onion, pepper	garlic	corn, stock	chives
Split Pea	onion, carrot, celery	garlic, bay, thyme, parsley	split peas, stock	lemon juice, parsley
Seven Bean	onion, carrot, celery, pepper	garlic, bay, thyme, chili, oregano, basil	tomato, beans, stock	balsamic vinegar, cilantro
French Onion	onion	bay	white wine, stock	croutons
Barley Mushroom	onion, celery, carrot	bay	mushroom, barley, stock	parsley
Beet Potato	onion, celery	garlic, bay, thyme	beet, potato, stock	lemon juice, parsley
Butternut Squash	onion, carrot	garlic, ginger, cinnamon	butternut squash, stock	lemon juice
Black Bean	onion, celery, pepper	garlic, chili, bay, oregano, cumin	tomato, black beans, stock	cilantro

Vegetable Base

Also called Soup Greens, Aromatic Vegetables or Trinity.) The base is the large volume of soup greens (onions, celery, carrot, tomato, bell pepper,) cut into small pieces, slowly steamed and simmered 15-30 min.
The base keeps the solids and evaporates the liquid, concentrating the flavors. This is the opposite of stock, which keeps the liquid and wastes the solids.

BASE
- India: onion, tomato
- France: onion, carrot, celery (mirepoix)
- Italy: onion, tomato (soffritto)
- Spain: onion, tomato (sofrito)
- American Cajun: onion, celery, bell pepper (holy trinity)
A base is often associated with smaller amount of seasonings (garlic, ginger, thyme, parsley,) to make a signature taste.

SWEATING
Small pieces are simmered in a covered saucepan in their own moisture and steam, gradually passing through bright and firm, then becoming dull and wilted as fiber breaks down. Onions become translucent. Avoid burning by using a low heat, occasionally stir, and adding a splash of stock or water.
BROWNING
Small pieces are dry roasted in an uncovered saucepan, as their outsides dry out, quickly passing through golden, then brown, as sugars cook. This brings out sweetness and flavor. Avoid burning by scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon, and adding a splash of stock or water.
DEGLAZING
Deglazing uses a splash of stock or water on a hot saucepan, which rapidly steams, to lift and mix the browned pieces. Use hot stock or water from a saucepan on the stove.
JUICY VEGETABLES (TOMATOES)
Tomatoes, which contains lots of tomato juice, can be used both as base (small amounts) and liquid (larger amounts.) I’ll often deglaze onions with tomatoes. I’ll reserve most of my tomatoes, especially canned tomatoes in juice, until after my base vegetables have browned and sweated.

Vegetable Stock

Vegetable stock is made from ends, peels and scraps. Stock is left unseasoned. Some stock recipes use whole or sliced vegetables and discard the solids. This is wasteful. I prefer to use chopped vegetables as my vegetable base, and fill a saucepan with the scraps, and the scraps make my stock. When the stock liquid is poured off, the solids become compost or are discarded. With this method, my stock mirrors my base.

VEGETABLES
- onion ends and peels (Red onions make red stock. Yellow onions make golden stock.)
- celery leaves and tops
- carrot peels and tops
- sweet pepper stems, ribs and seeds
- potato peels
- cabbage hearts and outer leaves
HERBS
- garlic skins
- herb stems (parsley, cilantro, etc.)

To make a flavorful vegetable stock it is necessary to use lots of vegetables--fill your pot! Be careful of chilis and citrus peels (lemon, lime), and use sparingly if at all.

I started cooking with packaged stocks. While I cooked with packaged stocks, I was never satisfied with my soups. To me, packaged stock almost never match my cooking, and taste muddy. For example, Asian soups need different base and spice than European soups. Italian minestrone needs a different stock than Hungarian goulash.

Never add water. Always add stock.

Seasoning

Seasoning uses number of herbs and spices, selected from a larger palette. My grandmother often cooked with only salt, pepper and parsley. Almost all seasoning includes salt and pepper. In place of pepper other pungent spice like cumin may be used.

SPICE
India: ginger, garlic
France: thyme
Italy: garlic, olives, basil
Spain: garlic, olives, oregano
Use the simplest combination that works. Fewer spices is better than more.

Tablespoons for Herbs
Try 1 tbsp of big herbs like garlic and ginger (1 clove garlic or 1/2 inch ginger), lemon juice, fresh chopped parsley or cilantro, etc.

Teaspoons for Spices
Try 1 tsp of dry vegetable powders: paprika, chili
Try 1/4 tsp of spices: cumin, coriander, thyme
Try 1/8 tsp of strong spices: turmeric, chili, salt, pepper

Soup Method

Soup is a slow cooked dish, whose main ingredient is a liquid stock. Soups are simple recipes with common ingredients, but not necessarily fast. The best soups are made from scratch, and cooked slowly. Soups requires some planning and preparation, but are not labor intensive, mostly cooking in the background.

Soup = BASE + SPICE + MAIN (STOCK and FEATURE) + FINISH

Vary the ingredients in each building block.

The soup method applies equally to Asian, European and American soups and stews. From Indian lentil soups and curries, to European vegetable minestrone soup. With popularity of both dry dishes and fast cooking, soups and stews are becoming a lost art. Can you remember the last good European soup or stew you made?

Soups and stews should have mouth watering flavor. It’s a common mistake to think that flavor comes from spices. Flavor comes from the base and the stock. The base and stocks commonly use aromatic vegetables like onions, carrots, celery, tomato and peppers. The spices and finish only enhance the central flavors that come from the base vegetables.

The best way to serve green and yellow vegetables is not as salad, and not as a side dish, but as soups and stews. An amazing amount of green and yellow vegetables and roots effortlessly disappear into soups and stews.

Soup Tips

List of general tips for better soups.

BASE

- Roast vegetables in oven.

MAIN

- Add tomato or tomato juice as liquid.

- Puree or blend 1/2 to thicken.

- Thicken with mashed potatoes (or tomato paste or cornstarch)

FINISH

- Test seasonings in tasting cup. Ladle 1/2 cup soup into tasting cup, and try adding drops and pinches of liquids and spices. Avoids mistakes in the main soup pot.

- Lemon juice (1 tbsp) perks up or brings out flavors. Also lime juice, basalmic vinegar, white vinegar, or mustard condiment (which has vinegar).

- Salt (Soups with lots of liquid dilute and require lots of salt, so use the minimum amount, and not too much liquid. Add 1/8 tsp increment. Salt base layer during simmer, adjust salt at finish.)

- Try secret sauces (mustard, ketchup, soy, worchestershire, basalmic vinegar, salsa, etc.)