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This a a place for everyone to post and comment on all recpies involving soup. Together we can build a huge and amazing cookbook all of our own.

Escarole & Bean Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound escarole, chopped
Salt
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (1-ounce) piece Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the escarole and saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt. Add the chicken broth, beans, and Parmesan cheese. Cover and simmer until the beans are heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle the soup into 6 bowls. Drizzle 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil over each. Serve with crusty bread.

Corn Chowder

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 small onion, diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 small celery stalk, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups white corn kernels, fresh or frozen
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups half-and-half
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Melt 1 stick of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and saute for 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Cook until the roux is lightly browned; set aside to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, combine the corn and chicken stock in another saucepan, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the boiling stock with the corn (a little at a time) into the saucepan with the roux, whisking briskly so it doesn't lump. Return the skillet to the heat and bring to a boil. The mixture should become very thick.
In a small saucepan, gently heat the half-and-half; stir it into the thick corn mixture. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste. Just before serving, cut the remaining stick of butter into large chunks. Add it to enrich the soup, stirring until the butter melts.

Black Bean Soup

10 slices bacon, finely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans, drained but not rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheddar, for garnish

Put the bacon into a large heavy pot and place it over medium heat. Cook until it starts to give up its fat, about 4 minutes. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 1 minute. Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire, and chili powder. Stir in the beans, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the soup is bubbling gently and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, pick off all the thick stems from the cilantro. Wash it and shake dry. Chop the cilantro coarsely and stir it into the soup when it has been simmering 10 minutes. cook until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Serve with the garnishes.

Tortilla Soup

1/2 cup each 1/2-inch diced vegetables: yellow onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and tomato
1/2 cup roasted green chile, cut into a small dice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground comino (cumin)
2 cups Enchilada Chicken, recipe follows
6 each white corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips
6 each blue corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Chopped cilantro leaves, as needed
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Salt, as needed
1 cup crushed corn tortilla chips

Begin with a large pot. Saute the vegetables and chile briefly in about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. When the vegetables are limp, add the broth and add the garlic and cumin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add chicken, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile (or beforehand), fry the corn tortilla strips in 350 degree F oil for 2 minutes until crispy. Drain well on paper towels. At the Blue Corn Cafe, we always have tons of chips around so we used crushed ones for garnish on the bottom of the soup bowl...the strips are added at the top. We, of course, use white and blue corn tortillas. If for some reason the blue variety are not available where you live, I suggest you immediately draft a letter to your Congressman! Yes, you can use all white or yellow tortillas.
To finish the soup, you've got to make some slurry. Yep...this will add just a little body to the soup. With the cornstarch in a cup-sized container, mix as little cold water as possible to form a thin paste. This stuff feels and looks like...well, slurry. Bring the soup back up to a boil; stir with 1 hand and pour the slurry in slowly with the other. Continue to cook on high heat for a minute, then reduce to low. The soup will look cloudy at first but will clear up and thicken slightly. Remove from heat.
Add cilantro and lime juice. Fill 8 to 12 cups or bowls about 1/4 full of crushed tortilla chips. Ladle soup on top. Place a handful of strips on top of each and serve. This soup (without the tortillas) keeps well for 3 to 4 days refrigerated. Tortillas will also keep well for a few days if sealed well and stored at room temperature. In moist climates they may require re-crisping in a 350 degree F oven for a few minutes.

Enchilada Chicken:
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breast, leg, or thigh)
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup medium-dice green bell peppers
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons oregano leaves
3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
4 cups (1 quart) water
This "machaca" style cooked meat is very versatile: use in tacos, enchiladas, soup, nachos, burritos, etc. Basically a process of braising, the meat and all ingredients are put together in a large pot and brought slowly to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. If you desire, you can bake all of this in a covered dish in a 350 degree F. oven for about 3 hours for the same results. The meat should be tender to the point where it begins to shred...some of it may require quick chopping. You may want to reserve the liquid for use in soups, etc. Use the cooked meat in your dish right away or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Borshch
on a personal note:
ew, but hey it's Borshch!

Ingredients:
2lb uncooked beetroot peeled
2 carrots peeled
2 celery sticks
3tbsp butter
2 onions, sliced
2 garllic cloves, crushed
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 large parsley sprig
2 cloves
4 whole peppercorns
5 cups beef or chicken stock
2/3rds cup beetroot kvas
(pickled beetroot)
salt and freshly ground pepper
sour cream, garnished wiht snipped chives
or sprig of dill

Instructions:
Cut the beetroot, carrots and celery into fairly thick strips. melt the butter in a large pan and cook the onions over low heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the Beetroot, carrots and celery and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and chopped tomatoes to the pan and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. place bay leaf, parsley, cloves and peppercorns in a piece of muslin and tie with string. Add the mulsin bag to the pan with the stock. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1.25 hours, or until the vegetables are very tender. Discard the bag. stir in the Beetroot Kvas and season. Bring to boil. Ladle into bowls and serve with sour cream, garnish with dill or chives.
serves 4-6

Cincinnati Chili

This is one of scores of variations of Cincinnati chili. The primary ingredients they all have in common is spaghetti, allspice and cheese.

2 pounds ground beef
2 large onins, chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 Tablespoons vinegar
4 teaspoons chili powder (or to taste)
1 8 ounce can of tomato paste (well, I'd use a large can of tomato sauce)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 quart water (less if you used tomato sauce)
2 teaspoons cumin
1 Tablespoon Kitchen Bouquet
salt and pepper

In a cheesecloth bag, place 3 red hot peppers or 1 Tablespoon red ground pepper
6 small bay leaves
25 allspice balls

Cook all of above for 3 hours in a NON ALUMINUM pot, then taste for seasoning. If it's ok, remove the cheesecloth bag (can leave chili peppers in for seasoning) and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, stirring frequently. Add water or canned tomatoes with juice if it gets too thick. But this is not a thin, soupy chili.

Serve over spaghetti (in each bowl) and grated Colby cheese on top for 2-way chili. I think 3-way includes finely chopped raw onions on top. 4-way probably includes raw chopped jalapenos on top (omg). 5-way... I'm not sure, but I'd think you'd want at least one fireman on hand.

. blaugh

Viccysoise


I have eaten this soup in French restaurants and it is rather bland. Don't know why, cause this family version is not. Perhaps they don't use salt.

Ingredients:
6 large leeks (NO onions or garlic)
6 medium to large white potatoes (not bakers)
one stick of butter
32 to 48 ounces of chicken broth
8 ounces or more of cream (you can use light cream or even whole milk, but cream makes it the rich soup it was meant to be)

Cut the green tops off the leeks and discard, and the root end. Wash the white part that's left... leeks are grown in sandy soil, and you need to get the grit out. Cut the leeks into small pieces.

Peel the potatoes and cut into small pieces.

Sautee the leeks in the butter. When soft, set the butter and leeks pan aside.

Boil the potatoes till soft

Pour off some of the potato water but not all (leave, say, a cup)

Add the cooked leeks and the butter remaining in the pan.

Add the chicken broth to cover plus a little more. Two cups plus more if you like, makes a thinner soup but just as tasty.

Bring to a boil then immediately cut down to a simmer. Taste and if not enough flavor, add some salt. No pepper. If you bought the chicken broth, some of it is salt free and some is not. For this soup, you do want some salt. It helps the flavors marry.

After simmering the mixture for half an hour or so, use a blender (a little at a time) or a food processor to make it entirely smooth -- no lumps. We used a Foley Food Mill, back in the pre-blender days. The Foley still works, but is a little harder to do... you grind it through a sieve essentially.

The soup should still be hot, or at least pretty warm.

Serve in good sized bowls, and add a little cream to each one, stiring it in by just a swirl or two of a spoon.

Serve with crispy French bread. Although we ate it so fast, the bread was a sort of dessert.

Now, officially this soup is served cold, but my family could absolutely not wait for that... the smell had us all at the kitchen door, drooling. So, we ate it hot, and there was never enough. I think each of us had at least two bowls of it, and still wanted more. But you know how it is... Dad got the last bowl. LOL