Filed under: Soup
Carol’s recipe for Hot & Sour Soup is perfect for a cook like me: it’s evocative of a dish I enjoy in restaurants, but it’s simplified so it’s easy to find everything you need to cook it on your regular grocery run. I like the chance to cook with authentic ingredients sometimes, but for me at least a reasonable approximation of an ethnic dish is usually just fine. (Kevin at Closet Cooking researched traditional recipes for his Chinese Hot & Sour Soup, which includes harder-to-find ingredients such as dried lily buds, if you are able to get your hands on specialty groceries.)
I used my homemade chicken stock and generally followed Carol’s recipe, though I used .75 oz. of reconstituted shitake mushrooms in addition to a couple of cups of baby bellas. I also used 2 Tbsp. of ground ginger (from a jar), added straight into the soup for flavor. The scallions aren’t just for garnish, they add a nice bite to the overall flavor so don’t leave them out.
Overall I really enjoyed this soup, and with the egg, tofu, and very generous amount of mushrooms it’s very filling. I don’t think I’ve ever used vinegar in a soup before, so the flavor was very different than what I usually make and I really enjoyed that change. It definitely reminded me of hot & sour soup from a Chinese restaurant, though not as gelatinous and much more mushroom-y (for me, that’s a good thing). Next time I will tone down the mushrooms and add bamboo shoots as well. You can also garnish with additional red pepper flakes for a little more heat — I did, and my gums still feel a little warm from it!
February 20, 2010
The other day A. was feeling a little under the weather, so I let him choose dinner and he asked for noodle soup — my homemade chicken soup, strained until clear, with thin egg noodles cooked in the broth. Luckily I had one more container in the freezer, and he (and G.) happily slurped up those noodles as if he knew they’d make him feel better.
That virus is still lingering, so he stayed home from school today in that weird in-between where you’re not quite well enough to go to school, but you certainly don’t feel sick enough to stay in bed (or even nap, dammit). He had plenty of energy to act like a loon with his brother, scarf down three full meals, and still have room for ice cream.
I started a fresh pot of chicken soup at noon today, and let it simmer all afternoon so that he could have noodle soup for dinner again (his request). And now I’m restocked. I keep these containers in the fridge overnight, skim off the fat, and then freeze them. Hopefully I won’t need another noodle soup dinner as medicine anytime soon.
February 2, 2010
I saw flanken at my kosher butcher several months ago, and knew back then that I wanted to make it with split pea soup. Flanken are thinly-cut beef short ribs; Beth has a great photo of them on her site. Flanken-cut ribs are sometimes called “Korean style” as well — they’re usually barbecued, while kosher flanken is usually cooked low and slow. Perfect for the Crock-Pot.
I used Stephanie O’Dea’s CrockPot Split Pea Soup Recipe as a starting point, and to get the liquid to solid ratio right for my soup. I had the bag of dried peas in my pantry and the flanken in my freezer, so although I hadn’t shopped for the other ingredients I decided to pull it together from what I had on hand. It was so delicious, I’d probably make it the same way next time!
We wound up not eating this for dinner (J. and the boys had way less enthusiasm for trying this soup than I did), but I have been enjoying it myself one bowl at a time. I did freeze a good portion, and after removing the flanken from the bone, shredded it and put it on top of the soup. I’m going to defrost it and serve it for dinner tomorrow night, when my parents are here — I think they’ll love it too.
If I’d had enough vegetable stock in the house to do so, I would have eliminated the veggie stock cube entirely and just done 5 cups of broth. I might have also added some chopped carrots.
I found the consistency of the soup was smooth enough for me without blending, but you can certainly use an immersion blender to get it more uniformly creamy. Just don’t forget to remove the bay leaf and flanken first!
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Flanken
1 lb. flanken-cut beef ribs (or a little more)
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. bag dried split peas, rinsed and picked through
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. kosher salt
10 grinds black pepper
1 vegetable stock cube (I use Telma), crushed
1 c. vegetable stock
4 c. water
Add ingredients in the order listed to a 6 qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove bay leaf, discard. Remove flanken and set aside until it is cool enough to handle. Remove meat from the bones, and shred. Serve soup with a small portion of flanken on top, or stir it back into the pot.
February 1, 2010
This recipe is one of the first recipes I ever posted on Chick in the Kitchen, more than two years ago! I make it a couple of times a year, and unlike many soups it doesn’t need a long simmer time. So, it’s perfect for a quick dinner during the cold months. I didn’t have any white wine on hand so I added a couple of tablespoons of sherry instead, which worked really well.
As with most soups, you can play fast and loose with the combination of ingredients — substitute a different herb; omit the dried mushrooms if you want a less intense flavor; add some of the soaking liquid from the dried mushrooms if you like it as mushroom-y as possible.
I served the soup with Sweet Potato & Buttermilk Corn Bread, and J. declared it to be a really good dinner. My parents and I agreed.
Wild Mushroom Soup
Updated from November 22nd, 2007
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic clove, crushed
1 lb wild mushrooms, sliced (I like shitake and oyster)
1 oz. bag dried mushrooms (such as porcini), reconstituted + chopped
5 cups veggie stock
2/3 cup dry white wine or a couple of splashes of sherry
2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
salt and black pepper to taste
In your soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in oil until they are soft and golden. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. (The mushrooms will cook down considerably!)
Add the stock, wine, and thyme. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer up to a half hour. Add salt and pepper to taste.
December 6, 2009
A couple of weeks ago I sent out a call for slow cooker recipes, and I got a terrific response. Thank you again! This recipe comes from reader Rebecca in DC, who adapted it from something she found on RecipeZaar. Rebecca calls it minestrone, and I would agree… except that there’s barley in it instead of pasta. To me, minestrone must have ditalini or similar, those small tube-shaped pasta pieces in it. So for my own reference, I have to call this a vegetable and barley soup. If you like minestrone, though, you will love this version. It is rich and velvety, even though it’s vegan. It is my favorite soup I’ve made in my slow cooker in recent memory. And, best of all, it uses up kale from my farm share. I thought it was delicious right out of the Crock-Pot, but Rebecca says it’s even better the next day, reheated.
Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup
Adapted from Rebecca’s version
1 28 oz. can fire-roasted, crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 small zucchinis, skin on, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 c. barley, rinsed
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 15 oz. can cannellini bean (or any white bean), rinsed
1 cup curly kale, roughly chopped
1 vegetable bouillon cube (I used Telma brand)
1 Tbsp. seasoning mix (I used Mrs. Dash)
6-8 cups of water
salt and pepper to taste
Add all ingredients up to and including 6 cups of water in a 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. If needed, added additional water to thin, and season with salt and pepper.
November 19, 2009
Meh is the best I can say about the Slow Cooker Creamy Onion Soup with Kale, though the fault is largely mine. I didn’t pay attention to the quantity of potatoes it called for, and, wanting to use up the potatoes from my farm share I nearly doubled the recommended quantity without adjusting the liquid. Whoops.
Once pureed and cooled a little, the soup took on the consistency of runny mashed potatoes rather than a soup. It could be thinned out with more stock, obviously, but overall the flavor didn’t do anything for me. I made the vegetarian version, but I think a little crumbled bacon would have really helped it out! Also, don’t skip the lemon juice and zest — it adds some brightness to what could otherwise feel like a really heavy soup and is a nice counterbalance for the earthy, slightly bitter kale. J. ate warmed up leftovers and said “it’s like paste.” A ringing endorsement, no? The boys wouldn’t touch it.
So, if you want to try this soup, follow the recipe and add the appropriate amount of potatoes. Or add more stock. And don’t forget the bacon.
November 3, 2009
If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know that I forgot to buy a chicken for the Chicken Soup I wanted to make Friday. I was able to pick one up in time to get the soup into my crock pot by 11 AM — it cooked on high for 6 hours and was done just in time for dinner.
I chose some tiny pastina stars to serve in the soup, thinking they would enchant the boys. But, no. These were not the usual noodles I served in noodle soup! And therefore, G. refused to eat them. As has been his habit lately, A. protested about the change in pasta shape but then ate the whole bowl.
I wish my immediate family enjoyed soup as much as I do. Especially when made in a slow cooker, it is so easy to dump stuff in in the morning, leave the house for the day, and then come back to a hearty, warm meal at night. One soup J. likes is French onion, so I need to get that on my menu plan soon.
If this chicken soup is not your style, what about Chicken, Edamame & Red Pepper Soup, Wild Mushroom Soup (not cream-based), or Split Pea & Barley Soup?
October 18, 2009
We finally got around to this mulligatawny from Body + Soul magazine tonight, which Julie has posted on her blog (the magazine still doesn’t have it up).
J. liked the soup a more than I did; the spice is balanced (a little fiery) and I generally like lentils, but overall this just didn’t do anything for me. I wouldn’t make it again.
I used brown lentils, since that’s what was in my pantry, and omitted the coriander because I didn’t have any (and it’s rarely called for in the recipes I cook). To make things easier, I used my immersion blender to puree the lentils. Mine batch turned out a bit watery, so add your water in slowly until you get the thickness you desire.
The star of this recipe is the pan-toasted chickpeas that are supposed to go on top of the soup (mine sunk to the bottom). Just drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil in a large skillet, season a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat until browned and starting to pop. These were divine — I could have eaten the whole batch myself.
January 25, 2009
I used a recipe for Turkey & Squash Soup from the most recent Eating Well for this dish. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken stock, and followed their suggestion of throwing in pre-cooked chicken since I had it, instead of cooking turkey cutlets from scratch.
It’s a nice soup, easy to make (especially since I bought peeled and chopped butternut squash this time!) and filling because of the chicken. The dried thyme muddies the color of the soup so it was certainly not the prettiest thing I’ve ever cooked. The addition of lime juice at the end makes it taste very fresh and more than just chicken and veggies — I used one fresh lime. My parents and I all enjoyed it, and since it’s a small batch it was nice not to then put an extra 40 quarts in the freezer.
Ultimately, though, this feels like a soup you’d throw together from a bunch of leftovers. I’d probably not specifically buy ingredients for this soup again, but I’d use it as inspiration for what items I had on hand.
January 8, 2009
A Chick in the Kitchen reader, Heather, sent me this recipe for Winter Lentil Soup. She was right, it’s exactly the type of soup I like to make at this time of year, and as a bonus it used up the last of my kale.
The recipe combines canned tomatoes (I used diced, per Heather’s suggestion), sweet potatoes, leeks, kale, and lentils — plus fresh basil — for a slightly sweet, chunky soup that just needs some fresh bread to make it a meal. Although I liked the delicate flavor of the leeks, I think a little garlic would perk it up next time. And I would double the lentils, which take a backseat in this soup regardless of their prominence in its name.
The only thing I didn’t like about the recipe is that it really needed the 2 teaspoons of salt specified. Normally I leave the salt out altogether, but the soup tasted very flat without it, even with all that basil and thyme (I used a half teaspoon of dried instead of fresh).
J. and I both liked it; he deemed it “good” and “definitely edible” which is his version of an enthusiastic double thumbs-up. I’ve got a ton of it ready to go into my freezer, but I’m happy to share if anyone local would like a quart bag — just let me know.
November 16, 2008
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 4 and 6, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 