Soup from Scratch
Today’s episode is inspired from the September Cooking Challenge in the Kitchen Counter Coffee Break Facebook group (the official group of the podcast).
I did do a soup episode a while back where I talked about classic soup recipes, but today I decided to make up my own soup for the challenge, and talk about my philosophy of improvising soup in the kitchen. Listen to the whole episode for all the detail on creating your own soup recipes, and find my easy Potato and Hatch Chile Soup recipe at the bottom of this post!
The Basics of Improvising a Soup
Creating a great soup from scratch can often be accomplished with whatever ingredients you have on hand, or at least with minimal shopping! I break my soups down into five main sub-components and this helps me plan whatever type of soup I want to make. Listen to the full episode for plenty of detail on all of these components, but here is a guideline to get you started:
- What type of fat will you use? Fat is the basic building block of flavor for your soup. Butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, bacon grease…whatever fat you choose will carry you to the next component, aromatics.
- Choose your aromatics. You can’t go wrong with onions, and other traditional ingredients like carrots, celery, garlic, bell pepper, shallots, and so on will help you build up your soup’s flavor profile.
- What is your soup base? Will your soup be a broth-based soup, or will it be a chunky mix of broth and tomato puree. Or perhaps you plan to make a cream soup? The soup base will be your primary liquid ingredient.
- Primary ingredients come next; what are your proteins and meats, vegetables, pasta, beans and grains? These give your soup bulk, texture and flavor.
- Spices, herbs, and finishers round out your soup. Spices elevate and identify your soup (what would Southwestern style soup be without chile, cumin and cilantro, for example?)
Once you know what ingredients and flavor combinations you are working with and you like, you can feel comfortable knowing that they will work together in your soup. You can use the five components as a general flow for making your soup. Fat comes first, then aromatics. Add in your base and then your primary ingredients. Herbs and spices go in to simmer with the soup, and the finisher comes near the end (e.g. acid to brighten the soup, butter to smooth it out, cheese to add some flavor, etc.).
Potato and Hatch Chile Soup
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
Description
A fantastic vegetarian soup that takes advantage of in-season chiles and creamy potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 4 or 5 Hatch Chiles, roasted (optional) and chopped
- 5 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat large saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Melt butter and add onions and celery. Cook until onions and celery begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add white wine, stirring, until reduced by half.
- Add chiles, potatoes, chicken broth and cumin. Bring just to a boil then reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer on low for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Transfer contents to a large blender, or use an immersion blender in the sauce pan. Puree the mixture until smooth, then return to sauce pan and reheat to a simmer. Add lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- Hatch Chiles are another name for Anaheim or New Mexico Chiles
- This recipe can easily be converted to vegan by substituting olive oil for the butter and vegetable stock for the chicken stock
Keywords: Soup, hatch chiles, potato
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