h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Let me kick off the soup section with a generic winter vegetable soup. It is high carb, but very very warming.


*Ingredients*

Consider this soup as consisting of onions, root vegetables and lentils, with optional bacon or ham, and you won't go far wrong. If you are a vegetarian, then toast some pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds and add them at the end instead of the bacon. Or as well. Or whatever.

Suitable vegetables are carrot, parsnip, turnip or swede. Don't even think about using potatoes - their starch is gluey.

Red lentils are good, (they are actualy orange, of course); or yellow split peas. They both go mushy if you cook them long enough. Don't use brown or green lentils for this soup - they don't break down when you cook them.


*Quantities*

You know how hungry you are likely to be; I guess I would allow a goood-size carrot or medium size parsnip per person, plus the same weight/volume again of swede or turnip, and up to half a rasher of bacon per person.

Allow a good handful of lentils per person, and up to half a rasher of bacon.


*Method*

Finely chop one medium size onion per person, or one large one for every two people, and fry it gently in oil. The technical term is 'sweat' the onion, isn't it?

Did I mention garlic? Do you like garlic? Crush some and add it now.

Wash the vegetables, and peel the turnip or swede. If you like peeling, then you can peel the carrot and parsnip as well. Dice them finely, certainly into cubes smaller than a centimeter or so. Or you could grate them. Add them to the oil, and sweat them, preferably with a lid on.

Add the lentils and half a pint or so of stock per person. (Don't tell Hypatia, but I use vegetable buillon cubes - chicken stock is good and ham stock even better).


*Cooking Time*

The red lentil version will need to be simmered for half an hour, the yellow split pea version will take an hour or so.

Add the bacon about 5 or 10 minutes before the end. Or you can fry it or grill it and sprinkle it on the top as if it were crutons.


The final soup should be thick and yellow or orange. The lentils should have vanished into mush. If you feel like putting it through a blender, that makes an even smoother soup, but make sure you do it before adding the bacon.

Enjoy.

B

Cream of Tomato Soup
from America's Test Kitchen

Serves 4

Make sure to use canned whole tomatoes packed in juice. Use the packing juice as well as the liquid that falls from the tomatoes when they are seeded to obtain 3 cups of juice.

2 (28 oz) cans of whole tomatoes packed in juice, drained, 3 cups reserved
1.5 tb dark brown sugar
4 tb unsalted butter
4 large shallots, minced (1/2 cup)
1 tb tomato paste
Pinch of allspice
2 tb all-purpose flour
1.75 cups homemade chicken stock, or low-sodium canned chick broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tb brandy or dry sherry
Salt and cayenne pepper

1) Adjust oven rack to upper-middle posiiton and heat oven to 450°. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. With fingers, carefully open whole tomatoes over strainer set in bowl and push out seeds, allowing juices to fall through strainer into bowl. Spread seeded tomatoes in single layer over foil. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Bake until all liquidhas evaporated and tomatoes begin to color, about 30- minutes. Let tomatoes cool slightly, then peel them off foil, transfer to small bowl and set aside.

2) Heat butter over medium heat in large saucepan until foaming. Add shallots, tomato paste, and allspice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, 30 seconds. Gradually add chicken stock, whisking constantly to combine; stir in reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Cover, increase heat to medium, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.

3) Pour mixture through strainer and into medium bowl, rinse out saucepan. Transfer tomatoes and solids in strainer to blender; add 1 cup strained liquid and puree until smooth. Place pureed mixture and remaining strained liquid in saucepan. Add cream and warm over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in brandy and season with salt and cayenne. Serve immediately. (Soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Warm over low heat until hot, do not boil.)

Catfish Court Bouillion (Pronounced koo-bi-yawn)
Serves 4

Salt & pepper
Celery
1 28 oz. can tomatoes
2 16 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 catfish - cleaned
Lots of garlic cloves, crushed
1 chopped onion
Tabasco to taste

Cook all ingredients together in large pot. Fish will cook quickly - carefully remove bones.

I think you could use catfish filets instead of a whole catfish. While you wouldn't get the rich flavor of a catfish cooked off the bone, it'd be easier to prepare the soup. Try throwing in shrimp or pieces of chicken for variety. Serve with garlic bread.

Pozole
(Recipe from memory: Jim Coleman's Kitchen)

1 lb. pork
2 tsp oil
2 cans (16 oz.) hominy - white or golden. Drain liquid and set aside.
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz.)
Tabasco sauce (hot sauce) Add to taste.

Coat the pork liberally in flour, and fry gently in two tsp. of oil. When pork is brown, add onion and garlic, and simmer until they're a bit melted. Then add tomato sauce and hominy, and stir. Heat until ingredients are integrated. Serve!

When I cooked this last month, I ended up adding all the liquid from the hominy and eating this as a soup. It works pretty well that way, but you might try adding less liquid than that and making it more of a casserole dish.

Here's my turkey chili. It goes great with your favorite cornbread recipe.

1 ½ pounds ground turkey
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped (or more to taste)
2 T chili powder
2 T chopped fresh oregano (or 2 t. dried)
2 t. ground cinnamon
2 T cocoa powder
28 oz. can stewed tomatoes
30 oz. can kidney beans
2 cups dry red wine
salt and pepper to taste

In a deep stockpot or dutch oven, saute the onion, peppers and garlic until tender. Add the turkey and brown completely. Then add the chili powder, salt and pepper, cilantro, cinnamon, cocoa powder, tomatoes, kidney beans and red wine and bring to a boil. Cover and slowly simmer for 45 minutes to a hour and serve. It's even better the next day when the flavors are fully melded!

Low-Carb Chicken Cheddar Soup

2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 T olive oil
1-3 cloves garlic, smushed (depends on how fanatic you are!)
1 small or 1/2 large onion, diced
2 cans chicken broth (basically, 3 cups broth)
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar (or extra sharp!)

1. cook chicken in olive oil, add garlic and onion and sauté until fragrant. Add broccoli and celery and sauté until celery becomes translucent and broccoli is bright green.

2. add chicken broth, cover and let simmer over low heat for at least 1/2 hour.

3. add cheese, stir, and let melt. serve.

Continuing on with beautiful soups...

Blue Onion Soup

A soup that can finally bring together the French Onion and blue cheese camps! Be forewarned, however, that if you do not like blue cheese this is not the soup for you.

5 - 6 large onions, sliced thinly
3 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme
6 cups chicken stock
1 bottle of your favorite beer (a fruity microbrew is wonderful)
8 - 12 oz. crumbled strong good blue cheese, like Stilton
good crusty bread

Saute the onions in the butter in a deep stockpot or Dutch oven until they are thoroughly caramelized. The browner the onions, the richer the soup. Add the salt and pepper to taste. When the onions are ready, add the thyme, chicken stock and beer, and simmer for at least thirty minutes. Then add the cheese, however much works for you, and simmer on very low heat for another thirty minutes. Serve hot with good crusty French or sourdough bread. Perfect for a rainy day!

And another favorite:

Butternut Squash Soup

This is a great addition to any fall or winter evening, with a side salad, fresh croutons or some crusty French bread. It is very rich and filling with a lovely buttery aftertaste.

4 pounds butternut squash
1 stick (½ cup) butter
3 cups onion, diced
1 tart apple, cored, peeled and diced
6 - 8 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 stick celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 t dried sage or 2 T fresh sage, chopped (tarragon is really nice as well)
8 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream

Seed, peel and chop the squash into 1-inch cubes. Saute the onion, garlic, apple, celery and the carrot in the butter in a deep stockpot until very soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, sage, chicken stock and squash and bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the squash is soft. Remove the soup from the heat and either mash the squash with a potato masher, leaving some chunks for texture, or you can puree the soup in small batches until smooth. Slowly pour in the cream and blend well. Serve hot.

Wow... that blue onion soup looks delicious! I wonder what would happen if you served it in a bread bowl...

You would have Total Soup Goodness, naturally!

TSG. That's a trademark, I tell you.

Very Veggie Soup

1 cup each, in bite size pieces, of the following:

broccoli
cauliflower
carrots
celery
green beans (fresh, not canned)
fresh peas
tomatoes

1/2 onion, diced
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
salt
pepper
chicken or vegetable stock to cover

sauté onions and garlic until fragrant. add all the veggies and stock to cover 'em. Let simmer, add salt and pepper to taste.

This is a nice soup that you can leave as is, add some pasta and beans to make minestrone (increase the tomatoes to 2 cups), add whatever veggies you happen to have on hand (spinach is a nice addition!), etc. It's even good pureed, with a spot of cream.

For some more TSG, try this:

Cream of Broccoli Soup

7 - 8 cups chicken stock
2 large bunches of broccoli, chopped
1 large onion or 3 large shallots, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cream

Bring the chicken stock, broccoli, onion, salt, pepper and bay leaves to a boil in a large stockpot or dutch oven. Simmer, covered, for at least 30 minutes. Remove from heat and take out the bay leaves. Ladle half of the soup into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Add the pureed portion back into the pot and in a seperate small bowl mix a little of the soup with the flour to make a paste. On low heat, whisk the flour paste into the soup until all lumps have disappeared. Bring the soup to a simmer and slowly whisk in the cream. Simmer gently for ten to fifteen minutes longer, correct seasonings and serve!

I just found this thread. Rather slow on the uptake.
May I offer Mother's Potato Soup?

This recipe was given to me by my Mother in her handwriting. You would have to determine your own quantities.

Cubed potatoes
Chopped onion about 1 medium
Chopped celery about 2 stalks

Boil vegetables in small amount of water until nearly done. Add salt, pepper, and butter to taste. Bring back to boil until tender. Add milk. Heat to boiling point.

This will give you an idea of the kind of cook my Mother is. She just "knows" how much of everything to put in. Makes it kind of hard to pass on her recipes though.

When I lived in southeast Texas, gumbo was considered an art form. My mom certainly makes it so... Her gumbo's always delicious, thick and brown as a Cajun swamp.

Gumbo

No quantities are given here. Add as much or as little of each ingredient - remember, good gumbo is not an exact science.

Making the roux:
Start with equal parts flour and oil in a large iron skillet. Heat the flour and oil until the mixture is the color of coffee or Coca-Cola, and the consistency of toothpaste. Don't heat it too quickly. Patience is your friend.

Ingredients:
Okra
Onion
Celery
Carrots
Garlic
Meats of choice - chicken, shrimp, fish, sausage (andouille preferred)
Chicken Stock
Herbs: Filé, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Feel free to add cumin, paprika, and anything else that looks good.

I recommend cooking chicken thighs down until you've got a pot full of chicken stock and a lot of cooked chicken. Remove the chicken and bones from the stock. I like to precook the vegetables in oil in a dutch oven, then add the chicken stock and large spoonfuls of roux. The more roux you add, the thicker it gets. Add your dried herbs at this point, except for the filé. Cook the vegetables until they're at the texture you prefer - I like them slightly al dente. When the okra is cooked, it adds a weird 'slime' to the soup. Don't be put off by this - the slime is what binds the gumbo together, and gives it a wonderful smoothness.

Now you can add the meat and the gumbo filé. Shrimp and fish takes no time at all to cook - usually when the pot has come to a full boil, the shrimp is done. If you're using precooked chicken, it's already cooked. Sausage will get a weird gray unpleasant texture when it's boiled in gumbo, so don't cook it too long.

And... you're done! I always had gumbo with rice. I suspect this was Mom's way of stretching a meal for us kids, but it added starch to the meal, and gave the soup juices something to hang out with.

Sounds wonderful.

Our gumbo was chicken and andouille. We have enough left for another meal and some for our son in law.

I have some file powder, but wasn't sure how to use it so we skipped it. Next time I'll know to put it in at the end.

Makes me want some, actually! I'll wait until the weather gets cooler.

It cooled off here for a couple of days--just in time to make the gumbo and then for supper last night we had sanchos.

I imagine we'll grill this evening though. It's warming up again.

Sanchos? What are those?

Our version of a soft taco. I'm sure that isn't the proper name for them. They are served on a soft wheat shell--seasoned ground beef, refried beans, lettuce, onion, tomato, salsa, and cheese. A lot of the Tex Mex places around here serve them.

Ah, your basic burrito! The trick is not to make it too soggy, or it will break through the tortilla...

At first I thought it might be a reference to Sancho Panza, Don Quixote's right hand man.