Great Soup Tips

Soup Tips

• Did you know that when you add vegetables
  to a soup, they taste better if you sauté them
  in a little butter first.

• Don't boil your soups for too long, you'll lose
  the color.

• Did you burn your soup by mistake? You can
  fix it. All you need to do to camouflage the
  burnt taste is to pour the liquid gently and
  carefully into a clean pan and flavor it with
  curry powder, mustard, chutney, or your
  favorite flavor.

• Here's one of my favorite soup tips. Is your
  soup too salty tasting? Then place a raw potato in the pot and simmer with the soup for about
  15 minutes. Not only does it absorb the extra
  salt, but it also absorbs all that flavor and becomes a great treat for the cook!

• If you need your soup to be a little thicker -
  put instant mashed potato and gravies in to thicken. Stir it in thoroughly and keep on adding as much as desired.

• You can give canned broth a little extra flavor
  by simmering reserved chicken or meat bones
  in the broth for 15 minutes. Then strain the liquid and use it for your soup.

• Did you know that salad bars in grocery stores are a great resource for ready-to-use ingredients, such as pre-cut vegetables and cooked shrimp, chicken and meat? Yep. I bet you never thought of that one!

• If you have any leftover cooked pasta, meat, or vegetables - use them for instant substance. Most cooked vegetables can also be pureed and then stirred in to thicken soups.

• To cut your prep time, use frozen vegetables such as peas, spinach or corn. Add them to assorted soups or puree them with broth, cream, and sautéed onion, then simmer to make a smooth, creamy soup.

• As you know, there's nothing like homemade stock. Even though it takes extra time to make your own stock, it's worth it. Any leftover stock is easily frozen and can be thawed for future soup creations.

  Yes, the best soups are made with a base of homemade stock and fresh ingredients. But, if you are short on time, you can use canned or frozen broths or bouillon bases.

• Did you know that a hot soup will help recondition the palate between meal courses or after consuming alcholic beverages? I love these soup tips! So, at your next party, serve something like Zippy Tomato Soup before your guests start in on the food!

• If you're serving cold soups, make sure you serve them in chilled dishes.

• If you are serving soup as an appetizer, you can count on one quart to serve six. As a main dish, plan on two servings per quart.

• Do you live in an altitude higher than 2500 feet? If so, you may have to exten the cooking time since liquides boil at a lower temperature.

• Savory soups and stews always taste better if made a day or two in advance and reheated just before serving.

• Check seasonings of cold soups just before serving as chilled foods tend to dull the taste buds and will need more seasoning than hot soups.

• Don't wait too long to add your herbs and spices when cookng soup. If you do, the flavor will be much more intense, and maybe too overpowering.

• Adding wine is a wonderful way to add flavor
  to soups and stews. When using wine or
  alchohol in soup, use less salt as the wine tends to intensify saltiness. Wine should be added at a ratio of no more than 1/4 cup of wine to 1 quart of soup.

• Beer is also a good addition to soups and stews. A good rule of thumb is 1 cup of
  beer to 3 cups of soup.

In researching soup tips, I came across a lot of
great fat reducing tips. Here are a few of them.

• There's more to lettuce than meets the eye. One way to remove fat from hot soup is to
  float a large lettuce leaf on the surface. Is that amazing or what?

• Here's another fat-eliminating soup tip. Drop ice cubes into the pot. As you stir, the fat will cling to the cubes. Throw the cubes away before they melt.

• If you make the soup the day before and chill it, you can scrape off the fat that rises to the top. If you don't have time to chill the soup, use an unprinted paper towel to soak up oil from the surface.

And a few more important soup tips:

• A good pot to use for making soups is a Dutch Oven, it's shallow, but wide base makes combining ingredients a breeze and it's an all purpose pot that every kitchen needs.

• Using a liner plate or saucer under each bowl allows you to serve bowls filled with hot or cold liquid with ease. You can use a salad plate beneath rimless bowls, and a ten-inch dinner plate beneath rimmed bowls. The plate also gives your guests a place to put the spoon when they have finished eating, and helps to protect the table cloth or mats from those messy soup eaters!

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Did you ever wonder what the difference was between broth and consommé? Well, check out the Soup Glossary and get all your questions answered.

Enjoy "Za Zoup"!

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