Being a confident soup maker

[cjt110]

...Reading threads on here where people just chuck X, Y and Z in to make a soup. I don't have the confidence to do it and not follow a recipe.

How do you know what goes with what and if you find you like it, how do you remember quantities etc?

Just years of doing it I guess. The Soup Book is fabulous.

Just google some recipes and take it from there.

Carrot and coriander is our favourite.

Onions
Carrots
Celery
Stock cube
Water
Boil and simmer
Coriander
Blitz

Im happy to bung stuff in when I know the recipe... ie my leek and pot soup is never weighed or otherwise. Nor was my curried butternut squash soup I made the other day.

@Calzone - I have a question... when it asks for coriander.. is it the leaf or the seed?

My mate just chucks it in. Its crap. Boiled veg and a stock cube blended together do not make nice soup.

Personally I think you need proper stock and a roasting/sweating stage.

I would suggest you start with some recipes and gradually experiment yourself.

I follow recipes as a starting point. But I'll change/substitute ingredients along the way. DD hates celery, for example, so I tend to exclude that if it is one of the base veg for a soup and use carrot or onion instead.

Sometimes I just make veg soup using everything left mouldering in the bottom of the fridge to use it up.

Like all cooking, the more you do it, the more confident you get at trying different ideas.

I chuck in most of the time it is fine but for the life of me I can't make a decent tomato soup it always tastes metalicay

I am a good cook... I use all sorts of stuff and substitute stuff... just cant stand meek soups.. like Tinkly says, I find if I just whack it all in it's like veg coloured stock

It depends on the audience - if never do a bung it all in soup for a dinner party for example. Sometimes it goes wrong (parsnip and apple soup ) and sometimes it's delicious (squash and lentil). It helps to have lots of flavourings in your cupboard too.

Fresh coriander is always nicer imo but seeds/ground will do if not. I start pretty much all soups whether blended or otherwise with a base of sweated onion, celery & garlic and then add unmeasured quantities of either butternut squash + red pepper, leek + potato, carrot + coriander plus a decent stock. Roasted veg definitely lift it but I can't always be arsed and just want a quick whizzed up version. Also love chunky soups like minestrone, mulligatawny, Italian bean, chicken noodle etc

I have a fab soup secret. When we have a roast dinner, I use the pan dp he par boils the potatoes in with all the little bits stuck to the sides as the basis for the soup I make with the leftovers. It adds just enough thickness without it becoming a purée.

Fresh coriander

And I should have said to sweat the vegetables together first.

Can you tell I;m onto my last batch of BNS soup today? The BNS only cost me £1.. plus 2 tspns of curry powder and 2 stock cubes. Tasty, filling and cheap

Dh made a lovely cauliflower soup last week.

Made it fancy by adding truffle oil and pumpkin seeds at tend.

Basic base for a lot of soups is onion, carrot and celery, stock cube. You can riff on this a bit - add leeks if you have them or skip the celery. Then just chuck whatever else you have in. The quantities aren't critical and as long as you are putting in things that taste nice and don't argue with each other, it'll end up fine.

Some of my go-tos to add are:

• soaked yellow split peas and caraway seeds
• sweet potato and cumin
• leek and potato (maybe leave out the carrots in the base)
• butternut squash and chilli flakes
• red lentils with ham or bacon
• that Tesco magic soup one - sweet potato and red pepper. The official recipe has coconut but I leave that out.

With anything that's a bit of a pain to cut up like the butternut, you can bake it first and add it cooked. Don't add loads of different flavours each time, or you'll find all your soups taste the same.

A touch of heat from cayenne or chilli flakes - just a tiny bit - lifts a lot of soups.

Anything particularly creamy, like chowder or cream of mushroom, I'd use a recipe.

Totally considering a soup maker but they're so costly. For a simple BNS soup as above I used a roasting tray, blending stick, pan, measuring jug and finally my blender jug (just for storange).

Coriander leaf and seeds taste totally different. The seeds are lemony and fresh and go really well with butter, garlic and cumin (fab in Mexican or curry - also yum with butternut, etc) The leaves and stalks need to be rinsed really well as they are often grown in sandy soil and can be chopped up very finely and used at the very last minute - just before serving - or they lose their flavour. They can be added as well to the mix I suggested above or used alone. If used all together, the blend is warmer, more aromatic. If alone, it’s stronger and greener. Oh, and if you like, you can also add chili (green or red) as well.

Marigold vegetable boullion powder makes delicious soup.

Carrot and coriander soup is usually made with the leaf - it's a herby soup. If you used the seed (or ground seed) it would be mildly spicy not herby. But a spiced carrot soup would also probably be nice.

Equal quantities of veg and stock is usually about the right amount (eg 500 g of veg and 500 ml of stock). Adjust if you like a thin or thick soup - if it's too thick you can just add more water. If it's too thin, you can boil it down and that will thicken it up.

Covent Garden soup books have lovely recipes in them and are often available cheaply from the Book People or The Works.

Don't forget to season the soup too. Many people seem scared to properly season food, but a good sprinkling of salt is still far less than there would be in the ready made version.

Cjt, what's a BNS soup please?

@RagnarorBjorn Sorry - Butternut Squash. I just roasted a whole one chopped into big pieces, put in a bowl, blitzed with my hand blender, added my stock and spices then simmered for a bit.

Butternut squash, I'm guessing.

Two key things:

1. Don't add too much liquid. You can always thin it down later if it's too thick. Too much liquid and it gets watery.
2. As mentioned above, soup really, really needs seasoning. Generous addition of salt and black pepper, especially if you don't use a stock cube or powder.

I can't believe a soup maker is really worth it. I think, like cooking anything, you start with recipes and then you learn to experiment over time. The first soup I ever made was a minestrone from my parents' M and S 80s Italian cookbook, which is an easy recipe to customise and make your own. Marigold bouillon is a store cupboard essential for me.
One soup I really struggle to do well is miso like in Itsu. I love it but just can't get it but just can't get it right at home.

I saved this

Ahh butternut squash of course!

@MrsJayy try adding a bit of sugar & some sun dried tomatoes, a dollop of pesto is also delicious!

I do add Sugar i might try the sundried tomatoes I have followed various TS recipies always dissapoint me. I have made Scoth broth today the husband has the lurgy and hasn't eaten much so maybe soup will appeal.