Soups

Soups are perhaps one of the best ways to get creative in the kitchen. The variety of ingredients, seasonings and garnishes are virtually endless. You can start from scratch using top quality ingredients or the leftovers from the night before. You can make classic soups that depend on using specialized techniques or, it can be as easy as simply throwing few things together.

Understanding the basics makes all the difference. These four recipes are designed to show you the basics of making chowders, pureed, and broth based soups. The techniques are simple and can be used in a variety of recipes.

Beef & Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 125 mL
Beef shank, neck or shoulder, cubed 2.25 kg
Mirepoix (onion, celery, carrots) 500 g
Garlic, minced 20 g
Thyme, dried 1 g
Bay leaf (optional) 2
Beef stock (recipe in previous entry) 4 L (substitute with store bought broth or water)
Potato, small dice 150 g
Leeks, medium dice 125 g
Zucchini, small dice 125 g
Tomatoes, diced 125 g
Corn, frozen (optional) 50 g
Salt & pepper To taste
Fresh parsley, chopped Garnish

Directions:

1. Brown the meat in the oil.
2. Add mirepoix and sweat until vegetables are soft.
3. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf and sauté briefly.
4. Add the beef stock and simmer for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. If you’re using water make sure to extend the cooking time for the broth to develop flavor. You can also cheat a little here by using store bought broth or about 100 g powdered beef stock.
5. Skim the soup as needed.
6. Add vegetables according to longest cooking times. In this case you would start with the potatoes.
7. When potatoes are done add the rest of the vegetables, simmer for a few minutes.
6. Season to taste and add fresh parsley to finish.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 25 mL
Mirepoix 500 g
Thyme, dried 1 g
Oregano, dried 1 g
Bay leaf (optional) 2
Garlic 20 g
*Chicken, bone in 2.5 kg
Chicken stock or water 6 L
Leeks, sliced 450 g
Turnip, sliced 150 g
**Noodles, broken 250 g
Salt & pepper TT
Fresh Parsley or cilantro, chopped Garnish

Directions:

1. Sweat the mirepoix until vegetables are soft. Then add thyme, oregano, bay leaf and garlic. Sauté briefly.
2. Add the chicken, stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and skim the soup as needed.
3. Add leeks, turnips and continue to simmer.
4. Add noodles.
5. Season and add fresh parsley or cilantro to finish.

* When I don’t have a stock ready I like to start this soup by using bone in chicken pieces such as drums and thighs. It’s even better if you have a whole chicken. This brings your cooking time up since you have to allow enough time for flavors to develop. When the chicken is fully cooked, simply take it out and let sit until cool enough to pull chicken from the bone.

** Use whatever noodles you like here. Personally I like to use Capellini, Rice Vermicelli or Cellophane Noodles. Also, you can always pre-cook any pasta before adding it to your soup to avoid most of the liquid from being absorbed.

Puree of Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:

Split peas, washed and soaked 800 g
Bacon, diced 100 g
Mirepoix, diced 500 g
Garlic, minced 10 g
Thyme, dried 1 g
Water 3 L
Smoked ham hocks, or meaty ham bones 700 g
Salt & pepper TT

Directions:

1. Soak peas in water overnight.
2. Cook the bacon in a pot, slowly and allowing it to release its fat (rendering).
3. Sweat the mirepoix and garlic in the fat without browning.
4. Add water, drained peas and the ham hocks or bones. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until peas are soft.
5. Remove the ham hocks or bones and set aside to cool. Blend the soup in a blender, food processor or a good old fashioned food mill.
6. Remove the meat from the hocks or bones, dice and return to soup.
7. Bring the soup to a simmer. If the consistency is too thick you can adjust it by adding water or stock. Season to taste.

New England Style Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

Bacon, diced 250 g
Butter 50 g
Onions, diced 100 g
Celery, diced 200 g
Thyme, dried 1 g
Flour 100 g
Fish stock, warm 1.5 L (substitute with clam nectar)
Potatoes, diced 125 g
Baby clams 700 mL
Heavy cream, 35% 250 mL
Salt & pepper TT

Directions:

1. Render the bacon with butter.
2. Sweat onions and celery until translucent.
3. Add flour to make roux. Cook it under medium to low heat, stirring and making sure
to keep roux light colored, also called white/blond stage.
4. Whisk in heated fish stock until smooth consistency. If using canned clam nectar,
warm it up before incorporating it into the soup.
5. Add potatoes and simmer until tender.
6. Stir in baby clams and juice.
7. Return to simmer, add the cream and adjust seasoning.

Let's talk pasta!

Easily a favorite and one of the things that I love about it is how versatile it can be. It can also be simple and easy without taking much time to make, as well as a great way to get your daily food groups requirement. These three recipes are some of my favorite to make, simple and full of flavor.

Chicken Carbonera, with sundried tomatoes & fresh basil

Served on penne

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 200 ml

Chicken breasts, sliced 2 (serves 3-4)

Bacon, diced 250 g

Bay leaf, optional 2

Onion, diced 150 g

Garlic, minced 100 g

Sundried Tomatoes, chopped 250 g

White wine (optional) splash (chardonnay, or substitute with water)

Flour, all purpose 300 g

Heavy cream, 35% 1 cup

Mozzarella, shredded 150 g (substitute with parmesan)

Fresh basil 50 g

Salt & Pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Boil some water and cook your pasta.
2. Heat oil over medium heat and add the chicken.
3. Add diced bacon and bay leaf.
4. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
5. Add sundried tomatoes and wine and bring to a simmer.
6. Add flour, stirring constantly until you get a light paste consistency.
7. Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer
8. Add the cheese and basil, slightly stirring until cheese is melted.
9. Add the basil, and season to taste.

Lasagna

This is a very easy recipe to put together and you could even freeze it to have it ready for those days when you just don’t feel like taking the time to cook anything.

Ingredients:

Pasta sheets, cooked

Bolognese sauce (recipe in previous entry)

Ricotta cheese 500 g

Spinach, stemmed 1 kg

*Mozzarella cheese, shredded enough to form a thin top layer

Fresh parsley just enough to garnish

Directions:

1. To layer the lasagna start with a layer of meat at the bottom, pasta, ricotta cheese & spinach, pasta, meat, and coat with cheese.
2. Cover aluminum foil and seal tightly.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350F
4. Cook lasagna to an internal temperature of 160F. If you don’t have a thermometer you can use a butter knife, just poke in the middle and with it touch just underneath your bottom lip to feel the heat.
5. Remove aluminum foil and brown the cheese slightly.
6. Garnish with parsley

*You can use your favorite cheese, or a combination here. Play around with it and find something you like. I like a combination of mozzarella and asiago.

*Mediterranean Vegetable Penne

One of the benefits of this dish is that it takes very little time to make. You can chop all your vegetables the day before and have ready to just throw together.

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 100 ml

Red onion, sliced 1 half

Garlic, minced 100 g

Roma tomatoes, diced 2 (substitute with sundried tomatoes)

Canned artichokes, drained 1

Canned black olives, drained 1

Dry white wine 50 ml

Fresh basil, thinly sliced 60 g

Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped 60 g

Parmesan cheese 40 g

Salt & pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat and add the onions.
2. When onions are soft, add garlic and tomatoes and sauté for about a minute.
3. Add the canned vegetables and wine and bring to a simmer.
4. Finish with the fresh herbs, cheese and season to taste.

* Mediterranean cuisine can be described as a fusion of the foods from all the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Given the geography, the cuisine of these nations have influenced each other over time and evolved into sharing common principles and ingredients, making this type of cuisine very flexible.

"Meez"

Let’s kick things off by talking a little bit about “Mise en Place” or simply, Meez, literally meaning, put in place. This is the philosophy that drives any professional kitchen and there’s no reason why you can’t apply it at home. This includes everything from getting your pots, pans and utensils ready as well as cutting all your meats and vegetables beforehand. The more prepared you are the easier things will flow when you actually come to cook your meal.

Something else to think about when cooking any meal is to start by cooking the item that will take the longest. This obviously goes without saying but you would be surprised by how often it gets overlooked.

So with that in mind, here’s a two simple recipes that require little to no Meez.

Chicken & Snow peas stir-fry with Shitake Mushrooms
Served on a bed of white rice

White Rice

*Converted rice 1 cup (serves 2-4)
Water 2 cups
Salt 2 grams

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. Cover and reduce temperature to a simmer. (on most domestic stoves the ideal simmering temperature is 2)
3. Simmer the rice until tender or most of the liquid is absorbed.
4. Remove from the heat and allow excess moisture to evaporate, approximately 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid if necessary.
5. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.

Stir-fry ingredients:

Vegetable oil, or sesame oil if you have it
Chicken breasts, cut into strips (depending on the size of the breast, estimate about half to a full breast per person)
Shitake mushrooms, sliced (substitute with button mushrooms)
Snow peas, cut into halves
Soy sauce
Mirin sauce (substitute with brown sugar, pineapple juice or honey)

Directions:

1. Heat your pan with medium heat and add your oil.
2. Sauté chicken, making sure chicken is cooked before adding the rest of your ingredients.
3. Add shitake mushrooms and snow peas and sauté for about a minute. These items don’t need much cooking time.
4. Add Soy and mirin sauce and bring to a slight simmer.
5. Serve on bed of rice and garnish with sesame seeds, if you have any.

*On choosing rice:

Converted rice is parboiled to remove surface starch. What that means is that while the cooking time is longer, it retains more nutrients and flavor.

Instant/quick cooking rice is done by fully cooking then flash freezing milled rice. While this gives you the advantage of a quick cooking time, the process removes some of the nutrients and flavor from the rice.

Bolognese (or quite simply, tomato & meat sauce)

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 15 ml
*Lean ground Beef 3 lbs
Bay Leaf 2 (optional)
Garlic, minced 20 grams
Oregano, dried 5 grams
Thyme, dried 5 grams
Basil, dried 3 grams
Onion, medium diced 500 grams
Celery, small diced 500 grams
**Crushed tomatoes 1 can (540 ml)
Tomato paste 1 can (284 ml)
Granulated sugar To Taste (optional)
Salt & Pepper TT

Directions:

1. In a medium sized sauce pot, brown the meat in the oil.
2. When beef is cooked, add the garlic, herbs, onions and celery. Sauté until vegetables are soft (Until onions are almost transparent)
3. Add tomato product and bring to a simmer over medium to low heat. (You don’t want the temperature too hot here because the natural sugars in tomatoes will cause the sauce to burn and stick to the bottom. Always watch your heat)
4. Season with sugar, salt and pepper until desired taste. (I try to always leave this until the end, adding by small increments to avoid over seasoning)
5. Serve over your favorite pasta. If you’re looking for something a bit healthier for you, use whole wheat pasta. It contains fiber and proteins and just generally tastes better.

*You can substitute ground beef here with ground chicken or pork for a leaner option.

**The amount of crushed tomatoes here is used simply as a guideline. If you want more volume or a thinner texture then add more crushed tomatoes or tomato juice.