Soup

[swl]

I am making my first ever soup. I have a ham hough boiling in water, split peas and lentils soaking in a jug and a bag of mixed veg. What do I do next?

[Patrick]

Have you got a Pressure Cooker? That'd make life easier.

[swl]

No. But I could shout at the pot if that would help.

[Alpha Hooligan]

Jul 17, 2010 13:51:27 GMT swl said:

I am making my first ever soup. I have a ham hough boiling in water, split peas and lentils soaking in a jug and a bag of mixed veg. What do I do next?

Hire a stomach pump for after the meal.


AH

[swl]

Jul 17, 2010 13:57:04 GMT Alpha Hooligan said:

Jul 17, 2010 13:51:27 GMT swl said:

I am making my first ever soup. I have a ham hough boiling in water, split peas and lentils soaking in a jug and a bag of mixed veg. What do I do next?

Hire a stomach pump for after the meal.


AH

Thanks for the vote of confidence

[Alpha Hooligan]

Yer welcome.... ;D

I prefer my soup out of tins though to be honest, a lot less dicking around and washing up.

What are you making anyway? Bacon Bone soup or whatever it's called?


AH

[Patrick]

Jul 17, 2010 13:55:15 GMT swl said:

No. But I could shout at the pot if that would help.

;D

Maybe!

Cook the ham 'till it starts falling to bits. Normal cooking is the usual "Twenty Minutes per 500g" etc. When I'm doing one (usually about 1.8kg) for Big Eats it generally has abut 3/4 of an hour in the pan and the same in the oven. Putting an onion in with the water helps the flavour too. If you boil it until it starts to disintegrate, you could just chop the ham up then with a bit of the stock, re cook it with the veg and lentils.

When we've had the ham at Christmas, afterwards the last of it gets chopped up and cooked with a veg stock cube with onions, celery, potatoes, carrots and peas and a bouquet garni.

Yer pressure cooker would render it into gloop in about half an hour!

[riotgrrl]

Fry your onions, carrots and garlic in butter at a low heat until they're soft and (this is the trick) THEN add your herbs and spices and fry them in a bit with your vegetables.

Coriander is nice in lentil soup, but go with what you feel. Maybe some cayenne pepper? I usually put paprika in a lentil soup.

The water you boiled your ham in is your stock. If you've done it right the bits of ham will all be soft and in the water. So add the stock to your veg and herb. At this stage it should look horrible.

Then put in your lentils and split peas and let it simmer away for a while. Maybe half an hour? If you've soaked them (and you don't always have to do that) it shouldn't take long.

If it gets too thick, just add more water.

[Alpha Hooligan]

Pull ring tab, pour into pan, heat gently.




AH

[motorist]

Jul 17, 2010 16:27:09 GMT Alpha Hooligan said:

Pull ring tab, pour into pan, heat gently.



AH

Now that's proper soup

[Deleted]

BESt darned soup i ever did have.. french onion soup.. made freshb in a restaurant in France... bladdy deeeeelicious it were... i dream of it sometimes.. soup is very underrated.. a good soup is a thing of wonder. and you won't find it in a tin!

[motorist]

Jul 17, 2010 17:12:24 GMT @costal said:

BESt darned soup i ever did have.. french onion soup.. made freshb in a restaurant in France... bladdy deeeeelicious it were... i dream of it sometimes.. soup is very underrated.. a good soup is a thing of wonder. and you won't find it in a tin!

French onion soup is great but it doesn't half make the house honk if you do some at home

[riotgrrl]

Jul 17, 2010 17:12:24 GMT @costal said:

BESt darned soup i ever did have.. french onion soup.. made freshb in a restaurant in France... bladdy deeeeelicious it were... i dream of it sometimes.. soup is very underrated.. a good soup is a thing of wonder. and you won't find it in a tin!

French Onion Soup is DEAD easy and cheap to make, and quick.

You just sweat tons of onions in butter, add a bit of garlic, add a bit of beef stock, boil it up and it's good to go.

The nice bit is in the serving. Some people/restaurants serve it with cheese-topped bread on top, but I don't. I prefer to put thick strips of cheese (cheddar will do) in the bowls before I add the hot soup. The cheese goes all melty and it's divine.

But yes, I remember having French Onion Soup on the Left Bank one night . . . happy days.

[everso]

I always make my own soup - with the exception of Heinz Tomato soup, which if served with toast and butter takes me back to my childhood.

However, home-made soup is the business and once you've made your own you'll never go back to tinned stuff (except Heinz Tomato of course).

Riot, when winter comes I think we should seriously start a soup and casserole thread.

I might even give everyone my dumpling recipe.

[riotgrrl]

I used to make a wonderful red pepper and pear soup which was totally delish; haven't made it for a while. I must again.

I also have a Gillian Keith (of all people) recipe for beetroot soup i plan to test.

I'm thinking that every night I'm making a big meal, and really nobody wants it. If I don't cook they just have a sandwich or something and are fine. So I'm thinking I might just start having a bowl of soup and bread at dinner time.

[everso]

Riot, when I make soup I make a big batch and when it's cool I pour it into freezer bags and freeze it. It only takes a few minutes to defrost in the microwave.

Actually, a bowl of homemade chicken and veg soup with bread and perhaps some fruit and ice cream to follow would be a very well balanced meal, I reckon.

I just had fish and chips for my tea and, man, it was goooood.

[Deleted]

Riot, do you mean Gillian 'mc'Keith..? the stool inspector? read some interesting things about her recently.. mainly about her being a fraud....

[swl]

Jul 17, 2010 16:16:56 GMT @riotgrrl said:

Fry your onions, carrots and garlic in butter at a low heat until they're soft and (this is the trick) THEN add your herbs and spices and fry them in a bit with your vegetables.

Coriander is nice in lentil soup, but go with what you feel. Maybe some cayenne pepper? I usually put paprika in a lentil soup.

The water you boiled your ham in is your stock. If you've done it right the bits of ham will all be soft and in the water. So add the stock to your veg and herb. At this stage it should look horrible.

Then put in your lentils and split peas and let it simmer away for a while. Maybe half an hour? If you've soaked them (and you don't always have to do that) it shouldn't take long.

If it gets too thick, just add more water.

Ummm

I boiled the ham, picked the meat off and skimmed the fat off the stock. I then threw in a "casserole mix" of vegetables and cooked until the neeps were soft. I added a wee bit of pepper then liquidised the lot.

Mrs swl says it's nice and she's actually had a bowl. I think it smells funny so I had a couple of pork pies and a packet of crisps.

Ooops - just remembered I now have a jug of soaked broth mix (split peas etc) that I forgot to add.

[Patrick]

I have to close every door in the house and wear protective clothing when I make my Leek and Potato Soup.

I've a recipe for tomato - It's nothing like Heinz of course which is sacrosanct, but here you go; Get the skin off 3 or 4 tomatoes, the bigger the better. In a saucepan put a big knob of butter, a chopped onion and a big clove or a couple of little cloves of garlic and a bit of flour - couple of teaspoons perhaps. sauté until soft then add your skinned tomatoes - chopped. Add half a pint of vegetable stock - A stock cube is good enough. Then put through a blender. When back in the pan season as you like and add a teaspoon of Pesto.

[Patrick]

I had a fabulous Christmas Dinner at Air France many years ago. Though I don't remember it - I do remember the delicious Consommé at the start. The chef was a top French chappie who Air France had poached from British Airways apparently!