GINGER CHICKEN AND PAPAYA SOUP

A-Z Soups

Chicken soup sounds good but with the addition of fresh ginger, chicken soup stands out.  Add some papaya and this tangy soup is elevated to ambrosial status.

If you have papayas, make this soup and inspire smiles at the table.

Adapted from:   Southeastasianfood.about.com

Ginger Chicken and Papaya Soup                           Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon granules OR salt

½ teaspoon white pepper

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons of chicken fat or butter

¾ cup onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 cups of water

1 cup of chicken broth

1 pound (about) firm papaya, peeled, seeded and cubed into 1 inch pieces.

Method:

.

• Dry and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces
• Season all sides with the granules or salt plus pepper and lime juice
• Set aside

• In a heavy skillet heat the fat on medium high heat
• When the fat is hot, add the onion and garlic
• Fry, stirring all the while, until onion just begins to brown
• Add the chicken and minced ginger
• Stir and fry only until chicken is white

• Put the skillet contents into a saucepan and add 3 cups of water
• Bring to boiling, cover and lower the heat
• Simmer until chicken is tender, about 15 minutes
• Add the firm, diced papaya and simmer 5 minutes
• Taste for seasoning and serve hot

Starting a meal with a bowl of soup is a good idea. For one thing, it can prevent overeating and is rich in nutrients.

This ginger chicken and papaya soup could even be the whole meal along with a green salad and some bread.

Enjoy.

FENNEL SEED SOUP WITH GREEN BEANS

A-Z Soups

We always have fennel seeds in the spice rack because I cannot make (Italian) Sauce without including it. Fennel seeds also make a great soup like this one.

Adapted from Soup, Coralie Castle, 101 Productions

Fennel Seed Soup with Green Beans                 serves 4-6

Ingredients:

½ cup of chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons schmaltz * or butter

3 cups cut up Italian green beans

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

5 cups of chicken stock

1 cup of light cream

¼ to ½ cup of sour cream, to your taste preference

Salt and white pepper **

Method:

• Brown the onion and garlic in the fat
• Add the beans and fennel seeds, stir to coat
• Add stock, cover and bring to boiling
• Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until beans are tender
• Puree the soup in a blender in stages or with immersion blender
• Strain and reheat with cream and sour cream
• Season to taste with salt and pepper
• Garnish with a strip of chive if you like

This soup is deliciously fragrant and tasty to eat.

*If you poach chicken or chicken parts, place that poaching water in the icebox. The chilled Schmaltz (chicken fat) will firm up on the top and is a fabulous flavouring agent. However, if you must, substitute with butter.

** Black pepper is ok but the white is more attractive

EGG DROP SOUP

A-Z Soup

Every Chinese restaurant serves egg drop soup and for good reason. Egg drop soup is quick and easy to prepare as well as delicious to eat.

I burst out laughing in a supermarket one time when I see envelopes of “egg drop soup” mix on the shelf.  Containing salt and chemicals, I know you would abstain from it, but why worry about it, because you can make this soup in your sleep with your eyes closed, it’s so easy.

If you make a Chinese-style meal at home, egg drop soup takes very little more effort right before sitting down and adds a nice touch to the meal. Want to give it a go?

Egg Drop Soup                                    serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ quarts of clear soup stock or chicken broth
• 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch, mixed into ¼ cup of cold water
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten with a fork
• 2 Scallions (green onions) chopped, including the green parts

Method:

• Bring stock or broth to boiling.
• Slowly pour in the cornstarch slurry while simultaneously stirring
• Shut heat off
• Pour in the beaten eggs slowly while stirring
• As soon as the egg is completely stirred into the soup, it is done
• Add chopped scallions and serve now

Okay? Egg drop soup is simple, right? You probably already have the groceries in your cupboard, so go ahead and add another dimension to your dinner.

DUTCH SPLIT PEA SOUP

A-Z Soups.

Split peas make a superb soup. Years ago I see these old movies where the pilots are flying in fog and they always tell the control tower that visibility is poor because the fog’s “thick as pea soup”.

 Pea soup the way they make it in the Netherlands is indeed thick, moreover it is fragrant and a thorough pleasure to eat on a chilly, rainy day. Dutch split pea soup can be made in a slow cooker if you desire. Just imagine turning it on before you leave the house in the morning and returning to a wonderful nourishing soup.

Adapted from :      kayotic nl blog dutch split pea soup

Dutch Split Pea Soup                 Serves 6

• 1 pound of dried green split peas
• 2 quarts of water or thin ham broth
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 large onion
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced (2 cups)
• 1 large carrot sliced
• ½ pound cooked ham or ham hocks
• 1 pound of smoked sausage ( kielbasa, andouille, rookworst or other) sliced
• 3 ribs of celery sliced thinly
• Celery leaves, chopped finely for garnish

Method:

1. Sort through and wash and drain peas
2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large pot
3. Stick the cloves in the onions and add to pot
4. Bring to a boil, then simmer for one hour, stirring from time to time
5. Remove the onions and bay leaves
6. Puree the soup with a stick-blender or in batches in an electric blender
7. Add the potatoes, carrot, ham, sausage and celery
8. Simmer for 20 minutes
9. Check that potatoes and carrot are tender
10. Taste for salt and pepper
11. Garnish with celery leaves

Now that’s a proper Dutch split pea soup, thick and rich and hearty.

 Enjoy.

CREAM OF CARROT SOUP

A-Z Soup

Carrots are the second most popular vegetable after potatoes. They provide huge amounts of vitamin A and fibre as well as other vitamins and minerals.

Carrots come in different colours.  In the16th century, Dutch carrot growers invented the orange carrot in honour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family. They cross- bred pale yellow carrots with red carrots.

Newly orange, carrots traveled to England with Dutch travelers during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Bugs Bunny loved them and so should you. Eating carrots will encourage healthy skin, hair, bones, eyesight and will also cleanse the body.

Carrots are wonderful vegetables, how about making a nice cream of carrot soup of them?

Cream of Carrot Soup                                    serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter

¼ Cup chopped onion

2 Cups chopped carrots

2 Tablespoons white wine

3 Cups of chicken stock or broth

1 Teaspoon salt

1/8 Teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 Teaspoon pepper

1 Cup of heavy cream

Method

• Heat butter in a saucepan until melted

• Add onion and cook until tender

• Put in the carrots and wine and heat to boiling

• Lower the heat, cover the saucepan and simmer about 10 minutes

• Add remaining ingredients except the cream
• Bring to boiling, then simmer, covered until carrots are tender soft, about 20 -30 minutes

• Put half the carrot mixture into blender and blend until smooth

• Strain into bowl and blend the remaining carrots likewise

• Reheat the smooth carrot mixture until hot

• Beat the whipping cream until stiff

• Stir into the soup and serve

Soup is among the earliest cookery achievements of humans. Thank goodness.

I hope you will try this cream of carrot soup to see if you carrot all for it.

BOURRIDE FISH SOUP

A-Z Soup

If you enjoy foods like cioppino or bouillabaisse, you will likely be content to eat a bowl of bourride (boo reed). This Mediterranean fish soup, a classic dish from the Provence region of France is thick like a stew and makes a wonderful one dish meal with crusty bread and an accompanying, garlic- mayonnaise thickening called aioli.  The fish soup bourride is simple to prepare and leisurely to make. The garlic, shallots et al sautéed in olive oil with tomatoes, herbs, orange rind, wine and fish stock impart a lovely aroma in your kitchen. The resulting liquid is the foundation of a fish poaching that leads to a fantastic bourride. You could serve this with boiled potatoes and French bread slices with aioli and make a grand robust meal.

Adapted from:  Soup, Coralie Castle, Cole Group

Make the garlic mayonnaise (Aioli)     1 cup

4 cloves garlic

2 egg yolks

1/8^th teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons quality olive oil

Crush and mash the garlic with a rolling pin or mortar and pestle or back of a sturdy spoon.

Put the garlic in a bowl and stir in the yolks.

Stir in the salt.

While whisking or stirring, add the oil very slowly, almost drop y drop

Keep stirring and adding oil until thick mayonnaise is achieved

If not used right away, cover and refrigerate.

The Bourride:                                    Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 Cups water

1 ½ Cups chopped onion

2 Tomatoes

3 Sprigs parsley

1 Sprig oregano

1 Bay leaf

6 Coriander seeds

1 Cup chopped celery

3 Garlic cloves

Peel from ½ orange

1 teaspoon salt

4 black peppercorns, lightly crushed

Pinch of Saffron threads

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Pounds assorted fish filets, such as cod, flounder, bass, red snapper etc. (About 3 filets)

6 slices stale or dry French bread

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Egg Yolks, beaten

The aioli sauce

Method:

• In a big pot, put the first 14 ingredients (water, vegetables, seasonings and oil) and bring to a boil.

• Lower the flame and simmer for 20 minutes.

• Wrap the fish filets in cheesecloth, raise the flame, and lower the filets into the liquid.

• Poach for 10 minutes at a simmer.

• Place a slice of bread into each of the 6 bowls.

• Put ½ of a filet atop each bread slice and cover to keep warm.

• Strain the stock in the pot.

• Taste and adjust salt and pepper

• Whisk a 1/2 cup of soup into the egg yolks and then stir back into the pot.

• Ladle the soup into the bowls

• Put 1 tablespoon of the aioli sauce on top of each bowl.

Try a bowl of bourride; it is a fine aromatic, poached, fish soup.

ALMOND AND ONION SOUP

A-Z Soup

Soup and bread go way back. A well baked loaf and a well made soup are a transcendent combination. Through the years soup has become a classic, delicious and nutritious first course.

The first Spanish language cookbook was written in the sixteenth century by Ruperto de Nola,  a chef to the Spanish ruler of Naples, King Hernando,  In it he included a soup recipe calling for almonds and onions.

Almost 500 years later and almond and onion soup is still popular all over Spain, often served as a first course at the afternoon meal.

The technique used in this soup may remind you of  French Onion Soup but the difference is that here the onions are not browned and a lot of almonds are used.  It makes for a spectacular tasting soup that you are sure to enjoy.

Almond and Onion Soup                                    Serves 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 large onions, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly

6 cups of chicken stock or broth, reserve ½ cup for the almond grind

1 cup of white wine

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs of parsley

salt and white pepper to taste

2 ounces of blanched almonds (is about 40 almonds)

The reserved ½ cup of broth

¼ teaspoon of cumin

6 slices of crusty bread, such as a baguette, sliced ¼ inch thick

Butter for the sliced bread

6 slices of Gruyere cheese, sliced 1/8 inch thick OR:

  ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup of sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish

Method

• In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil

• Fry the onion slices over low to medium heat until softened but not browned

• Add the chicken stock or broth , wine, bay leaf, parsley and salt and pepper

• Bring the mixture to boiling, lower the flame and simmer, covered for ½ hour

• While the soup is simmering, grind the almonds in a food processor or blender until they are ground finely

• Add ½ cup of stock and the cumin to the almonds and process or blend until the liquid is milky

• Strain through a fine sieve

• Pour the almond mixture into the simmering soup

• Simmer the soup an additional 30 minutes for a total of one hour

• Toast the bread slices and then lightly butter both sides. The buttering/toasting process is important so that the slices do not absorb the soup and get soggy

• Remove the bay leaf and parsley from the soup

• Put all the individual ovenproof  bowls on an ovenproof tray

• Ladle the hot soup into bowls

• Fill to the rim and place a slice of toast over the top

• Place the cheese slices over the toasts to cover and seal the top

• Place the ovenproof  tray under the broiler, about 6 inches from the heat

• After about 4-5 minutes, the cheese will melt and turn golden

Serve as soon as it comes out of broiler with a sprinkling of the sliced toasted almonds. More slices of the baguette would be good to accompany this soup.

Almonds are a wonderdul food,the most nutritious of all nuts. In a nutshell, almonds are very rich in fibre, vitamin E, niacin, biotin, riboflavin, and the minerals zinc, selenium, copper, potassium, phosphorus and iron.

Almonds are good groceries for you and this soup is a perfect showcase for them. Enjoy.