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I like to make a lot of soup in the winter, but I rarely use recipes, and tend to just make it up as I go along depending on what ingredients I have at home. I never use stock when I'm making soup (or any other time, actually), just because I forget it exists and I seem to do okay without it because I am a big fan of other seasonings. Fresh herbs like rosemary and lemon thyme are great, sometimes soy sauce or even vodka are good, and it's worth experimenting with any seasoning range that combines flavours to create an "ethnic" taste (for example, Schwartz do some good ones; the Thai and the Morroccan are popular in our house). Also I sometimes like to add nuts or seeds for a little texture; poppy seeds look good on red or yellow soups (and taste especially good in a vodka/tomato sauce), sometimes walnuts are quite nice in soup.
Butternut squash is easy for soups, once you've got past the getting-it-out-of-the-rind stage. I find it works in a similar way to potato for binding and thickening soup, though it has a slightly smoother, creamier texture, especially after it's been run through a blender. (Can one bake the seeds the same way you can with pumpkin seeds? I should try it next time.)
A simple butternut soup is just to add big chunks of it to a pot with chunky-chopped carrots and potatoes, maybe parsnips too. Leave to simmer in enough water to cover the lot and some decent seasonings of your own choice, until it's got a nice, thick soupy consistency. This is a good hearty one for the mashing approach which GGM mentioned (a method I favour, also)
If you don't have potatoes or flour, a small amount of oats can be a useful thickener (as can barley, I believe, but I don't think I've ever tried it). I made a pea and asparagus soup last week and it was a little watery, so rather than wait for it to reduce down (I was too hungry and didn't want to risk losing any nutrients through over-cooking), I added some oats. I ended up with a sort of pease porridge, and was reminded that you need to be wary of the amount of oats you use. Actually, my pease porridge was very nice hot (but only lasted three days, rather than the nine days of the rhyme)
I don't often remember to make a note of which ingredients worked with which other ingredients, or amounts, but occasionally I do write them down. Usually without proper guidelines for amounts or time, though.
And soup always tastes better at least two days after it's been made, no matter who makes it. |
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