Simple Pureed Soups

While some may liken pureed soups to eating watered down baby food, I find them to be one of the best ways to showcase the flavors of a vegetable and make sure I'm getting my 5 a day.

The process for all of them is simple and they allow for some experimentation with seasoning.  While it's true, that unless you consider an entire loaf of bread to be the appropriate accompaniment, these soups won't exactly fill you up.  They are, however, perfect starts to supper or a nice way to update that all time comfort meal of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

Case in point - broccoli and cauliflower soup with cheese and bacon sandwiches:

The Process

All pureed soups are pretty much the same thing: vegetables cooked and pureed with vegetable or chicken stock.

I generally follow this formula:  Saute some chopped onions in butter or olive oil in a soup pan.  Add a clove of chopped garlic and whatever vegetable I will be featuring.  Saute a bit longer then pour in enough stock to cover what's in the pan.  Cook until the veggies are just about mushy.

Put in blender (may need to do this in batches if you have a lot) with any other seasonings you might decide to add.  When blending hot liquid, I usually cover the lid of the lid of the blender down with a folded towel as some of it will try to escape.  Pour back into your soup pan.  Voila.  Soup.  If you think it should be a cream-based soup, add some cream now.  Put it into bowls and add some garnish if you're fancy.

Here are some combinations I've used:

Broccoli & Cauliflower

Onion, garlic, chicken stock and nothing else.  Or, cheddar cheese is also nice with broccoli - melt it some shredded cheese after you blend or just garnish with it.

Carrots 

Besides the onion, garlic, and stock, ginger (in the picture above), cumin, or cilantro (lots of it), are good additions.

Squash 

While most people think of butternut squash, I find the buttercup, kabocha, turban and other varieties that resemble a pumpkin on crack to be the sweeter varieties.  Since I hate peeling winter squash, I usually toss these whole in the oven and bake on high-ish heat for a about an hour, or until they are soft (check that a fork easily goes in). When it's done, I chop it in half and scoop out the seed slop.  Not only is this easier, but roasted veggies tend to have richer flavor.  With some of squashes I add no other seasonings except the onions and broth.  Otherwise, cooked sweet red pepper is nice as coconut milk and some curry spice.

Today I got a bit more adventurous having seen a recent rerun of a River Cottage episode:  After baking the squash, I sauteed some onion, garlic, ginger, and serrano pepper in coconut oil and added to the blender with the squash, chicken stock, and spoonful of peanut butter.  Then I garnished it with chili sauce, yogurt and cilantro.  Pretty close to the original with some modifications based on what I had in hand.

Celeriac
Celery-who?  Some of this plant arrived in my veg box scheme and after figuring out what it was, one of the things I made with it was a soup.  My formula for this one turned out to be celeriac, onion, garlic, ginger powder (I would have used fresh but didn’t have it), a dash of salt, and pears.  Yes pears.  After sautéing onion, a smashed garlic clove and cubed celeriac, I poured enough chicken broth in the pan to cover.  Then I peeled, cored, and sliced some pears and tossed them in the pan.  Twenty minutes later, it all went into the blender.  It came out velvety and delicious.

Possible substitutions – an apple could be swapped in for the pears or parsnip or turnip for the celeriac.  It’s all good.

Basically, it's all just a simple formula for some good kitchen experimentation.

Chicken Stock Simplified

I used to think making chicken stock was 1) a pain in the ass, and 2) something only for the hardcore chef.

This probably comes from the fact that I first learned to make stock from a fancy Williams Sonoma cookbook and the instructions involved a precise list of ingredients, including a stewing chicken, and activities like monitoring a simmering pot for a couple of hours on the lookout for any "scum" that might rise to the top and quickly removing it at first sight, then straining it with a cheesecloth (I never have any cheese cloth), then skimming off fat.  While this is probably the correct way to make it if you are running a professional kitchen, it's not very practical.

Once I realized that chicken stock is basically cooking to death some leftover chicken parts and seasonings and then straining it, I now use up every roasted chicken carcass this way.  For some reason, I get satisfaction out of the fact that I've used the whole bird, even the bones (ok, I'm not using the heads, feet, and feathers yet, but give me some time . . .).

So, to break down the process a bit, first take all the usable meat off the chicken and save that for something tasty.  As you're pulling everything off the chicken, take any skin or pockets of fat and get rid of those.  What you'll have left is the bones, some cartiledge, and some tiny bits of chicken stuck to it.  If your chicken came with giblets, you can add these to the pile of bones.  This process does leave you're hands very chickeny, but think of it as a fancy farm-spa treatment.

(Usable chicken in the box on the left, meaty carcass on the right)

At this point, decide if you really have time to make chicken stock.  If you don't, toss the carcass in a bag and toss it in the freezer and deal with it later.

If you do, check the kitchen and garden for things you can season it with.  Anything from this list will do, with the more common ingredients listed first:

• Onions or leeks, any kind
• Carrots
• Celery
• Peppercorns
• Bay Leaves
• Thyme
• Parsley
• Oregano
• Garlic
• Parsnips, turnips or other root vegetables
• Ginger
• Rosemary (go easy on this one)
• Fennel
• Mushrooms
• Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers or chili peppers
• Potato peelings

A great thing about stock is that you can use the peels or leafy tops of the veggies that you wouldn't normally use.  Also, if you have some vegetables that have lost their spark and gone a bit limp, these are fine too.  Just make sure whatever you throw in the pot is clean. In other words, you can empty the fridge and use anything that isn't quite appetizing any more but is still good.  I wouldn't skip the onion, but the rest of the combination changes every time I make it.

I would probably avoid tossing in much cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower, mainly because the sulfur smell might overpower the rest, but even that's not a hard and fast rule.

Once you've rounded things up, you're ready to toss them in the pot.  You do not need to finely chop anything.  I usually just quarter the onion, chop the rest in a few good chunks, smash a couple garlic cloves with the side of my knife, and toss the herbs in stem and all.

Then, add enough water to your pot to cover everything and bring to a boil.  Once it has boiled, turn the heat down as low as possible, and let it simmer for at least an hour and a half, or up to four hours, depending on your patience and your gas bill.  I usually put the lid on but sometimes I forget.

If you happen to pass by the pot, you can use a spoon or small strainer to scoop off any nasty looking foam (or "scum") that has risen to the top, but as you are probably not on a cooking show, even this step isn't strictly necessary.  Doing so will make your broth clearer and more refined.  Not doing so will keep you saner.

Once it's all done, add at least a teaspoon of salt or so to taste (you can add it up front, but I find it easier to check the taste once the rest is done stewing).  Then pour the broth through a strainer into another pot or a pitcher.  It might be easier to pull some of the big pieces out before straining.  If you're anal, strain it with a cheesecloth.  If not, any mesh strainer will do.  If you don't have a mesh strainer, line a colander (strainer with big holes) with a cloth and strain it through that.

Now you have your own chicken stock.  If you're not going to use it all in the next couple of days, toss the rest in the freezer.  If I'm not planning on making a soup right away, I usually keep a cup on hand in the fridge for rice, curries, simmering vegetables, etc., and freeze the rest.

If you put it in the fridge, you will notice once it's cold that there is a layer of fat on the top.  If you don't like this (or you left some skin in and there's quite a lot), use this opportunity (while it's cold) to scoop it off.

A couple of tips:
1) Don't be greedy.  It's tempting to put one small chicken carcass in a giant pot and fill with water.  This will give you a very weak stock.  If you did this, you can still use it, but if making soup, you might want to cheat a bit and add a touch of chicken bouillon.
2) Be patient.  Too often I try to make the stock in an hour or so and immediately make soup.  Again, the stock turns out weak and then so does the soup.  The best time to make stock is when you're at home doing something else so you can just forget about it for a couple of hours.  Which is why some of my chicken carcasses now live in the freezer until I get the chance . . .