Soups

Winter months are the time when many cooks are inspired to make big batches of soups. They warm us up on a cold day and give us a little comfort in a bowl. Typically they are inexpensive and easy to prepare and freeze really well.

They can also help keep us hydrated and give our immune systems a boost. Many soups are loaded with garlic, onions, celery, carrots, and spices that all contain immune-boosting properties. Maybe it’s not just a superstition that having a bowl of chicken soup can make us feel better when we are sick.

It doesn’t just have to be chicken soup. The list of soups is endless and the ingredients and flavors we use in them is limited only by our own tastes and creativity.

What defines a soup? Well if you really want to get specific you can google it and find all kinds of answers. There are multiple categories and sub-categories, but for my purposes here, I’m calling anything that’s not a chili or a stew a soup. Broth or cream based, bisque or chowder, it all counts as soup for me.

Having a few items in your kitchen arsenal can help up your soup game:

• The right pot. Any sturdy pot that heats evenly and has a well fitting lid will give you good results. If you don’t already have one, a large enameled cast iron dutch oven, like Le Creuset (or similar), is excellent and worth the investment.

• Food processor, immersion blender or heavy duty blender - any one of these will help when pureeing your soups into velvet consistencies. It is personal preference and recipe dependent which one will give you the best results. An immersion blender is easier, but sometimes it doesn’t give you the best texture. My personal choice is my Vitamix blender. It is expensive but will be a versatile asset to your kitchen - making well blended soups, great smoothies, vegetable purees and much more.

• Cheesecloth or kitchen twine - cheesecloth to tie up seafood shells or large aromatics (makes removal so easy) and kitchen twine to use for herb bundles

• Strainer - both a colander with larger openings and a fine/medium sieve - these are helpful when making stocks or when getting certain pureed soups to an even smoother consistency

• Quality zip-top freezer bags - this is my favorite way to freeze soups. Mostly I use quart size bags and I place the filled bag inside a second quart bag to protect against freezer burn. I always label and date the bag. For quick thawing, just place the bag in a bowl of lukewarm water, replacing water as needed when it turns cold, until completely thawed. My favorite tool to make filling the bags easy is an adjustable baggy rack stand. This thing is so handy and it folds up so it fits in a drawer.

One final item that deserves a mention here is actually an ingredient, not a tool or appliance - Parmesan cheese rind. It is a flavor bomb for many soups. I store the rinds from my Parmesan in zip top bags in my freezer. You can toss it in while your soup simmers and remove whats left before pureeing or serving. I promise, if you’ve never tried this you will be amazed. Just remember it will add a touch of saltiness so hold back some on your added salt and taste and adjust as needed once you remove the rind.

I have a collection of both cherished old soup recipes from relatives and friends that I have adapted for my own family’s tastes and new, lighter, more international soups that are exciting our palates today. I rarely make a batch of soup that gets eaten at one sitting. I love making huge pots that fill up my freezer that I can grab for lunch or on a busy night for dinner.

So grab a bowl and a spoon, or just a mug, and enjoy!

“Soup is the song of the hearth... and the home.” Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949)