donc - Posted - 08/13/2011:  20:22:54

From a guy who could probably burn water I feel odd making a comment about cooking methods. When we were in Ireland last month I noticed one thing about how all the restaurants and hotels seem to cook soup. Everything is ground to a pulp. There are no red, yellow, black, or green things sticking up out of anywhere. I 've always had an aversion to soup that seems to be chopped up vegetables and things  floating in hot water. The way the Irish cook soup is how I really like it, and I wish the places at home did it the same way. Is this strictly a regional thing? I don't know if your other areas do it also.

Edited by - donc on 08/13/2011 20:23:43

pandjlocke - Posted - 08/13/2011:  20:43:41

I don't know the answer to your question regarding other places, but most of the Irish soup recipes I cook (learned from my mom and cookbooks) are either pressed through a sieve or blended before serving. And a lot of them have some cream added to the blended soup, as well. I like soup better that way. 

banjotom2 - Posted - 08/13/2011:  20:45:36

How to Make Chicken Soup…

Shoot the chicken, good and dead…

Get your axe and lose it’s head…

Pluck the feathers, yank the legs…

Make sure the chicken is done with eggs…

Remove the innards, cast them out…

Wash the chicken inside and out…

Put the foul in the pot…

Add some water, make it hot…

Add some veggies and some salt…

If it all goes wrong, it’s not your fault!

To make make it extra good and nice…

Don’t forget to add the spice…

Let it cook in said crock pot…

Somewhere’s between medium and hot…

Stir it now and stir it then…

Smell the aroma of cooking hen…

When all is said and all is done…

Making chicken soup was fun…

And what’s best of this kitchen feat…

Is when you finally sit down to eat!

BanjoTom2, 8-13-2011

Edited by - banjotom2 on 08/13/2011 20:46:41

CurtissWhite - Posted - 08/13/2011:  21:37:35

It all depends on WHO yer makin' soup FOR.  Maybe start by going to the grocery store and buy a bunch of broth, meat and vegetables for yer favorite folks. Or ..... then by first drinkin a bucket full of Figman's favorite cheap beer (Filter it thru yer kidneys).... an' buy a bunch of last day meat and vegetables.

pandjlocke - Posted - 08/13/2011:  22:31:15

I must append my last post. The soups I'm referring to are meatless soups; i.e. potato, tomato, vegetable. Split pea soup is cooked with ham hocks. The ham hocks are removed and the meat taken off. The soup is then pureed and the meat put back in.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 08/14/2011:  05:45:13

Personally, I prefer soup that has something in it to chew on.  I don't like cream of whatever soup -- I want meat, potatoes, veggies, rice, pasta, whatever you want to put in it.

If you MUST make a mush out of it, then you can put it all in a blender and blend it until it resembles nothing at all.

bikebum - Posted - 08/14/2011:  06:03:51

Gee, and I was going to say 'Open a can and dump it into a pan. Add some water and heat it up.'

This, coming from the culinary challenged.

ltjgcag - Posted - 08/14/2011:  07:30:25

I use my Mom's and Grandma's recipes for the best soup.  Lot's of veggies, meats - and still chunky too!

Great recipes and a link to the past too!  Now my oldest is making "Great-Grandma's Chicken Soup" because it's "the best Dad!"  - And she never met her Great Grandma.

Micki - Posted - 08/14/2011:  08:18:17

I use a roast cooked. then use juice or a soup bone. Lots of veggies'  micki

raybob - Posted - 08/14/2011:  10:48:30

I don't dislike a creamy or pureed soup, but I prefer my soup to have something for the tooth.  Even if I make a pureed soup I'll still leave some small, recognizable pieces of whatever is in there.

Voyageur - Posted - 08/14/2011:  17:50:57

I'm with raybob. Soups like bean or lentil are OK pureed, but I prefer not to do so. And to make a nice soup with lovely fresh vegetables and then puree it all into mush seems odd to me.

eagleisland - Posted - 08/14/2011:  18:34:40

I like chunky soups... I like pureed soups.. get right down to it, I just plain like soup.  Add the heel of a crusty fresh-baked loaf of bread and this boy is one happy camper.

Some soups demand being close to stew with regard to their texture.  Others are better if they're smooth and silky.  The trick is knowing which is best for a given set of ingredients and, of course, understanding how to avoid scorching the soup - which is a lot easier to do if you're going for a smooth-thick soup as oppose to a broth-and-chunks soup.

With that in mind, I tend to make my smooth-and-thick soups as though they were broth-and-chunks, then beat hell out of them.  Tools handly for the latter:  a food processor and a reasonably fine strainer and - even more convenient - an immersion blender, such as this one:

Those who remember "Emeril Live" will recall he called these "boat motors."  They're pretty handy.  Wear an apron.

pandjlocke - Posted - 08/14/2011:  18:36:49

My wife loves the immersion blender. I prefer the food processor.

MrNatch3L - Posted - 08/15/2011:  02:21:22

rinemb - Posted - 08/15/2011:  06:14:37

I start about every soup with the "holy trinity": saute onion, celery, carrots (options: garlic in saute or if cajun style sub in chapped green bell peppers)...then add to a stock, do whatever you have to do to tenderize/cook primary ingredients. eat.  careful not to "over cook" and get it all mushy.  Just decide timing of adding ingredients to avoid overcooking/undercooking.  I love to use herbs, but tend to over-herb sometimes.  My wife-the german, prefers most things seasoned simply with salt and black pepper.  Like to pick a primary meat along with a primary veggie.

Brad

banjobilly32 - Posted - 08/15/2011:  07:30:38

In my early years I remember my mom sending me to the meat market for a soup bone. Our local butcher would go into the cutting room and return with  a large section of leg, just full of marrow and having a few scraps of meat clinging on it.  The cost was usually$0! My mom would cook this over our wood stove for half a day or so, then toss in potatoes, onions, rutabagas' cabbage, tomatoes, string beans, corn and whatever else was in season. Sometimes we'd have chunks of actual meat too.  With some home made bread this was often our main meal of the day. Throughout her life my mother insisted you had to have a bone to make good soup. Sometimes she used a ham bone as a base, then beans and cabbage were often the main ingredients.

I'm getting hungry for some good soup! Another great advantage if you had unexpected company for dinner, you could just add a little water!

steve davis - Posted - 08/15/2011:  07:38:34

Nearest I got to soup,growing up was beef stew.Potatoes,turnip,onions and beef.

rinemb - Posted - 08/15/2011:  07:55:05

banjoblilly32.  It sounds like your mother did what I like to do.  Basically, a peasant soup or stew or burgoo.  Use what ever is available.  Though I don't get to grow a lot, I love a soup done from a refrigerator,freezer and cubbard cleanout. Meats, veggies, beans, macaroni, rice, etc.  By the way we love cabbage soups.  Brad 

banjobilly32 - Posted - 08/15/2011:  08:28:58

Another of my mom's creations used bacon ends, the pieces that are cut off when the butcher slices the bacon.( I recall in the '40's these cost about .19 cents a pound). They were usually found in the meat case near the regular bacon.  Mom would dice the bacon ends up, and add them to a kettle of string beans and potatoes, then let them cook until the potatoes and beans were done. To this day our whole family craves a good mess of string beans & ham or bacon ends.

Take a ham bone with some meat still left on it and cook it for a while, then add wedges of cabbage and potatoes.  It will stink the house up for sure, before your meal and afterwards too! This was another Fall favorite. These were depression era meals. The first time I saw a T bone steak was at my girl friends house when I was 22 years old. When that was thrown on my plate I thought I was selected to carve for the whole table.

Soups are great when warmed up the next day too!

trapdoor2 - Posted - 08/15/2011:  11:11:21

Tomato soup:

1 cup hot water.

Add free packets of ketchup to consistency desired.

eat up!

In reality, it depends on the type of soup. Here in the south there are not a lot of soups (regional) outside of bean, bean or bean. Too hot down here for soup to really be a popular dish...although variations on "brunswick stew" are available in nearly every BBQ joint.

I make a very nice Parsnip soup that is heavily 'boat motored' until smooth and creamy. I like to run about 1/3 of my bean soup thru the blender (or simply give it a shot or two with the immersion blender). Meat soups usually are left chunky, as are most mixed veggie soups. I would venture this generically about soups: if it is a single-source soup, blend it out (single-source = one main item, like Parsnip or Tomato or Celery, etc.). If it is multiple-source or mixed, leave a lot of chunks.