Talk to me about making soup (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

4. Gumbo. I've discussed this in the cooking thread, but doing a dry roux is worth the trouble. Dry roux: Put a cup of flour(and only flour) in a cast iron pan and put in a 350 oven for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes until it reaches the color of cinnamon).

Do you then mix it with fat like a normal roux? Planning on gumbo tomorrow, using Isaac Toups’s recipe

Put a cup of flour in a skillet and put it in a 425 oven. Stir it often(every 10-15 minutes), then when flour turns the color of cinnamon(about 40-55 minutes), take it out and transfer to a bowl. Let it cool to room temp, then slowly incorporate stock while whisking to avoid lumps. Pour into the pot when it calls to add the liquids.

If you want to experiment, go ahead and do it. If it is your first time making gumbo, I'd stick to how Isaac makes it. His recipe is rock solid. I'd say make it a few times to get a hang of it first.

I’ve made the Toups recipe a few times. May give this a shot. Still will need some fat to cook the trinity though

Can you share the Toups recipe?

I'm interested in oven roux with dry flour.

I always make my roux the old fashioned way constantly stirring 1:1 flour to oil to get to the color you want. But it's a lot of scraping over a hot pot.

It's worth the 10 minutes to watch the video.

Yes. I make my roux the same way. Although I like a flat bottomed wood spoon more than the wire whisk. But it's a pain this way.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Soup has been an obsession of mine for several years now. I have two cookbooks just on making stocks and broths, and an additional 8 soup cookbooks.

Some of my favorites so far:

1. Creamed ginger and carrot soup. Sublime. Can't say enough about this soup.
2. Chili. I'm pretty active in the Judges Chili thread. I'll let my work in there speak for itself...and yes, I consider chili to reside under the general umbrella of soup/stew/chowder/etc...
3. Ham and white bean soup. The secret here is to take a can of white beans(liquid and all) and throw them in a blender until smooth. Add that to the soup while simmering. The soup will have ham with whole white beans, but the broth(fortified with the can of pureed white beans) is a show stopper.
4. Gumbo. I've discussed this in the cooking thread, but doing a dry roux is worth the trouble. Dry roux: Put a cup of flour(and only flour) in a cast iron pan and put in a 350 oven for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes until it reaches the color of cinnamon).
5. Pho. Vietnamese liquid gold. I would help a mere acquaintance move if it meant a good bowl of Pho. Trivia time: Pho is pronounced like the first two letters of everyone's favorite 'F' word.

I would love your recipe for carrot ginger!

Cream of Carrot with Ginger

2 tbsp butter
2 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
1.5 lbs young carrots, peeled and sliced
3 tbsp shredded fresh ginger
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
1.5 cups light cream
1 tsp salt or to taste
Large pinch freshly ground white pepper

Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Cook the onions uncovered over low heat until translucent, about 15 minutes

Add the carrots and shredded ginger, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a separate saucepan while the carrots are cooking. Add the stock to the carrot mixture and boil gently over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the carrots are fork tender.

Remove from the heat and add the milk. Allow to cool for a few minutes before putting the soup in a blender. Blend till smooth. Stir in the cream, salt and pepper to taste.

I did this one this past weekend - fantastic soup.

 

[limey]

Been making a fairly simple version of Shorbat Adas, the Egyptian lentil soup, which seems to have a number of different recipes / variations. At its simplest, it’s just diced onion, garlic, perhaps a couple of carrots, a cup of red lentils and four cups of vegetable stock, seasoned with cumin powder. You could add tomato / tomato paste, or more vegetables, and just add water instead of the stock. It’s great with bread (flatbread / pitta would be ideal) and perhaps a tiny wedge of lemon squeezed on top. I occasionally add a bit of ras el hanout to give it more of a Moroccan / North African feel, or some Aleppo pepper. It’s versatile, comforting and cheap.