It’s like… Warhol — he gets me, man, he gets me!….
by Jon on Mar.04, 2007, under Babble, Food & Beverage
Second attempt at homemade soup tonight. This was mostly improvised so bear with me and I’ll try to walk through what I did –
2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp nutmeg
bring to boil, reduce
Add 1 medium sized red potato, diced.
Shake on crushed red pepper and paprika for color
let it soak on low while slicing and adding
1 celery stalk,
about 1/4 red onion, and
maybe 2 inches of finely sliced broccoli stalk.
Add 2 more cups of water; bring back to a boil
add 2 cups of green beens, boil at about 70% on the dial for four minutes
Add 1 cup water, 1 cup white (minute) rice,
1/2 red pepper, 1/2 green pepper,
1/2 yellow squash, 1/2 zucchini,
Perhaps a small fist size grab of broccoli tops
boil at about 80% for 5 minutes,
add in a sandwhich-sized tomato slice near the very last minute.
—
So, yeah. I liked it. Too much pepper maybe. I don’t know. Suggestions from anyone more knowledgeable are welcome! My broth isn’t much to speak of yet, but the taste of the fresh rice & vegetables totally popped over anything from a can. Of course the half bottle of zinfandel which accompanied the meal didn’t hurt anything : )
As I ate a bowl, I left the rest cooking down on low, and it cooked down pretty thick. So I added two cups of water & another bouillon; brought back to a good boil, then let it cool for leftovers. The bouillon was an experiment, I’d never used any before. I saw that the store had ‘vegetable bouillon’, so I’ll probably try that once I get the hang of what it’s supposed to do.
March 5th, 2007 on 7:25 am
You don’t need bouillion to make the broth. To make vegetable broth you will want to save all of your uncoked veg scraps through the week in a tupperware container in the fridge (things like onion, squash, carrots, celery, nothing juicy like tomatoes or cucumbers). Add salt and pepper (note: white pepper is better for cooking since black pepper gets bitter when cooked).
For best results, take some fresh herbs (terragon, oregano, basil, rosemary, etc) and tie them into a bundle using cheese cloth to make an herb bouquet. Crush the entire bundle using the bottom of a pan.
Dump those scraps and bouquet into a big pot of water and bring to a boil. Then cook on low heat until you have only the amount of broth you want. Strain and viola.
If you want chicken stock you cook a whole chicken, peel off all the meat and add everything that is left.
March 5th, 2007 on 9:36 am
I love making soup. The best tutorial I ever read was in the soup chapter in Jay Solomon’s “150 Vegan Favorites” in which he explained these really simple steps to inventing any soup you want and making it really tasty. You probably already have the hang of it, but if you’re like me, it’ll help to see the process articulated clearly. I’ll try to remember to bring it in for you tomorrow if you’re interested.
March 5th, 2007 on 9:50 am
Yeah that would be cool,thanks!
March 8th, 2007 on 12:38 pm
You’d think the broccoli would be overpowering. I like Jackson’s comment about using the whole chicken. This works wonderfully.
March 8th, 2007 on 4:32 pm
Thanks for the tips!
The broccoli was definitely a very strong part of the finished flavor. Which I don’t mind, since I like broccoli, but yeah maybe I should try it without and/or with reduced amounts to see how it compares. I was thinking of trying that anyway, just because a side effect was the sprouting flowery top part of the broccoli separated and (I don’t really know how to describe this) “dirtied up” the broth.
I might have to try the chicken thing just for my education to see how it does, but overall I want to try and stay away from cooking with meat (hence hoping to replace the chicken bouillon with vegetable). I’m not a vegetarian but I trend that way, so part of the impetus here is to help me take another step that direction.
March 13th, 2007 on 10:27 pm
[...] Made soup again tonight. Basically did exactly the same as the last time, but per Jaxn’s suggestion I tried white pepper instead of black, and from Babygirl’s input I used less broccoli (and only stalk). Subtle differences, but I I think good ones. Now Kate has loaned me a vegan cookbook that will hopefully work into the next round. [...]