Fall is Here and It Is Time For Soup

It is the time of year we all love in Tennessee, cool crisp mornings. One thing I really enjoy about living in Tennessee is the 4 distinct seasons we have here. Just about the time you're sick of the heat, cool fall weather is here. As I sit on my front porch, taking in the cool breeze and watching neighbors socialize by the mailboxes, I am thinking soup weather!

I want to share a quick and simple recipe for a soup base that can be converted into several different cream-based soups. I call it my veloute base for soups because of the similar ingredients to a veloute sauce, which is one of the 4 mother sauces in French cuisine created by Antonin Carême in the 19th century. The nice thing about this soup recipe and other recipes is that there is not a need for exactness. So give it a try, adjust the seasonings to your taste and create something! So many people are afraid to get in the kitchen and play around. Baking is more of an exact science but all other cooking is not as exact. Just remember when seasoning, go light, you can always add more but you cannot take away. Another great technique I have learned is to smell the fresh or dried herbs and spices before you add them, how they smell is very similar to how they will taste, and ask your self, would these flavors go well together?

When chefs begin a dish, they first prepare (prep), measure, and weigh all of the ingredients the recipe calls for before they begin cooking. They call this mise en place. If you always do this you will never be caught in the middle of preparing a dish without a needed ingredient or tool.

So after you have your mise en place, read the recipe 2x before making. This is a neat trick I learned after many years of cooking. When making a large batch of something or using expensive ingredients, one cannot afford to make an error in procedure. It kind of follows the same rule carpenters use, measure twice, cut once.-well kinda.

Veloute Soup Base-yields about 1 gallon of finished soup
1 lb of real butter
2 cups of small diced onions
1/2 Tablespoon kosher or sea salt (use less if all you have is iodized table salt, then buy some Kosher when you are out next)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 -2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 gallon of chicken stock* (see my tips for quick and easy stock in a minute)
1 quart of heavy cream

In a large, heavy bottom stock pot, melt the butter over medium heat and add onions. Cook the onions with salt and pepper while gently stirring until translucent, do not brown the onions.

Then add 1 C of flour a little at a time while whisking to incorporate. Continue to whisk while cooking, it should look like a thick paste with onions in it, if it is too thin, add a little more flour.

Cook for 1-2 minutes while whisking to prevent the roux from browning or burning, just long enough to get rid of the raw flour taste. Once you have reached this point, pour in all of the chicken stock while whisking to incorporate the roux into the stock, making sure to release the fond from the bottom of the pan.

Continue cooking and gently whisking over medium heat until it reaches a strong simmer, almost a boil. At this point, your soup base will be at the maximum thickness it is going to be. Dip a spoon in and see how well it coats the back of the spoon. If your soup base is too thick, add more stock, a little at a time until you reach your desired soup thickness. If your sauce is to thin, make a slurry (A mixture of water and a starch (normally corn starch) used to thicken liquids to make a culinary sauce; usually for a clear sauce, as the product will be translucent. It is comparable to and often the same as a gravy.) by 2 C. of mixing water, cream, or milk with 2 T. of corn starch together until smooth. While the soup base is simmering, pour in the slurry and stir, then give it a minute to thicken, repeat again if necessary.

Then add the heavy cream.

You have now created a soup base that can go many directions, it is really all about what you add from here. The soup is done, just add interesting ingredients you like. Make sure that those ingredients are almost cooked to the level you want as not to over cook the finished product and adjust the salt and pepper to taste after all of the ingredients have been added and stirred. Here are some suggestions:

Broccoli Cheese Soup
Loaded Potato Soup
Clam Chowder
Beer Cheese Soup
Cream of Broccoli or Asparagus
Chicken Fajita Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

• add 2 head's worth of broccoli florets that have been blanched and then placed in ice water to maintain color (shocked). Thawed frozen florets may be substituted but avoid "cut" broccoli as it is mainly stems that have been blanched and frozen.
• add 4-6 C of shredded cheese, any will do, I like Monterrey Jack/Cheddar blend
• Stir to incorporate and heat then serve.

Loaded Potato Soup

• add 4 medium sized potatoes that have been peeled, cut into bite sized pieces, and boiled just until a spoon can go thru them. Just to the point where they are NOT crunchy anymore.
• 1 T. dried chives stirred in
• add 4-6 C of shredded cheese, any will do, I like Monterrey Jack/Cheddar blend
• Garnish each bowl with bacon bits and a drizzle or dollop of sour cream

Clam Chowder

• add 4 medium sized potatoes that have been peeled, cut into bite sized pieces, and boiled just until a spoon can go thru them. Just to the point where they are NOT crunchy anymore.
• Add 4 C. of whole or chopped clam with juice
• 1 T of fresh thyme or 1/2 t. of dried thyme
• 1 t. of dried cayenne pepper

Beer Cheese Soup

• 2 bottles of a good dark import beer- I like to use Guinness, add one and drink one, just to make sure it is ok.
• add 6-8 C of shredded cheese, any will do, I like Monterrey Jack/Cheddar blend or a good sharp cheddar would go well.
• Top with a few croutons to give it that fondue feel.

Cream of Broccoli or Asparagus

• Simply add 1.5 lbs or blanched broccoli florets or Asparagus (fresh in this application)
• Technically, "cream of" soups also have some of the vegetable pureed in a blender and added as well as the above mentioned veggies, I find that unnecessary and time consuming so I never do that part
• Adjust seasoning to taste

Chicken Fajita Soup

• Add 1 small jar of pimento-pureed until smooth.
• 3 lbs of grilled boneless/skinless chicken breast-season with a southwestern seasoning-sliced into bite-size pieces
• 2 green and 2 red bell peppers sliced into 1/4" strips, then grilled until slightly charred

I hope this inspires you to get in the kitchen and create some great soup for your family.

Warning: Campbell's Soup won't be the same after this

One storage tip. We like to make soup on Saturdays so we can enjoy them during the busy work week. Ask you neighborhood Chinese restaurant to sell you 20 of their durable to go soup containers and lids, quart or pint size. I am talking about the translucent ones that have a thick lid of the same material, not the deli containers at the grocery store. Then portion out the soup into these containers, leaving 1/2 " for air and quick chill in your fridge for 1 hour before placing the lid on them. By quick chilling foods in this manner, you bring it out of the bacteria danger zone quickly thereby increasing shelf life and the quality of the finished product. You can store the soup for 10 days in the fridge (like it would last that long) or 3 months in the freezer.

Writing this blog entry conjures up memories of the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld, a true classic.

-Until next time