All about Soup!

With Autumn/Fall upon us (it feels like winter to me) and all the soup talk - I say share your recipes!
The good, the bad and the ugly....
Crockpot soup? Even better!
Super Easy - I love it!

I am all about some soup but sometimes it seems like you need so many ingredients and it takes so much time.
So do tell what your secrets are to making a good soup/stew/goulash.

I thought about making tomato soup as I love the tinned stuff but haven't done it yet as there are tons of recipes online but I need a trusted source ;-)
 

Yay!!  I *love* soup!  I promise I will post a couple recipes (at least) soon!

I am making soup tonight, as it happens.  It will be cream of vegetable, to use up the veg from my box.  I've got potatoes, leeks, onions, garlic, carrots, runner beans, cabbage, and I may throw in a tomato.  I just cook all the veg in chicken stock (not all at once: the ones that take longer to cook first, then the ones that cook more quickly) then puree it in my food processor, put it back in the pot to reheat, then add a few tablespoons of single cream.  I might add a handful of grated Cheddar tonight as well, and we'll have crusty bread and butter alongside.  I love soup, but don't cook it enough.  I decided a while back to try to cook more.  There are so many delicious recipes around!  

I have a total French Onion obsession! It's so easy and tasty And I make a lot of stilton and broccoli as well using frozen broccoli as it''s so cheap.


I also do a lot of clear soups as they're so scrummy and low in calories. 

Olive oil in pan, add your onions, garlic, any other aromatics and soften, then throw in your meat, like stewing beef or lamb or chicken and brown.

Top the pan off with water, bring to the boil, if you have fresh stock use 50/50 stock and water if you don't throw in a stock cube, I'm obsessed with those gel cubes.

Bring down to a simmer and toss in your veg, I keep those big packs of frozen winter veggies in my freezer for when I don't have fresh, but fresh is best, big slices of leek, carrots, potatoes if you want, swede, parsnips, and just simmer until veg is cooked. Once the soup is cooked and tasty I normally throw in some small pasta like elbow macaroni or I serve over rice. mmmmm.

I make what I call Fridge Soup. The name is actually taken from a friend of mine. It's basically whatever's left in the fridge at the end of the week. Fridge Soup. It sounds pretty similar to historyenne's except that I don't add cream and I usually add a bit of tomato puree. And I don't always blend it up - it depends on what veg are in it. Some look prettier and taste better in whole chunks.

MMmmmmm soup....

I also make fridge soup, using up leftovers

I use tomatoes, stock, maybe some onion, season, blend sometimes/sometimes not- voila tomato soup

I usually just cut up onions/carrots/celery - saute- add stock-add in whatever I feel like eating... 

No me gusta la sopa! 

Pero me gusta el cocido. 

My super easy crockpot soup recipe.

1/2 pound bacon, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken broth (4 if you like your soup not so thick)
2 Tablespoons flour
 
Place potatoes and carrots in crockpot with broth.  Turn on cooker to high.
Cook bacon in frying pan til almost crispy, remove to drain on paper towels.  Saute onions in bacon grease til soft and lightly browned, remove from heat.  Sprinkle flour on onions and stir to coat.  Stir bacon and onions into soup in crockpot.  Cover and cook on high til vegetables are done, about 4 hours.  
(I make this a lot, it's easy and we usually have all the ingredients on hand.  You can add more potatoes or carrots if you like, or some celery.  Or use just a few slices of bacon.)

Oh gosh, do I love soup!  It's the only thing I can make with confidence!

I don't really use recipes so much anymore unless it's something totally unfamiliar to me. I guess I'm usually a Fridge Soup maker myself, but I will have a look at some recipes every now and then to get some ideas for spices and combinations.  I think as long as I have a stock cube and an onion, I can chuck just about anything in there and it will turn out edible. 

I started my soup-making with Broccoli Cheddar soup, this recipe to be precise! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-And-Cheddar-Soup/Detail.aspx.  Once I mastered that, I realized that pretty much every other kind of soup was actually quite easy.

I just recently delved into the world of chowders, since it's getting chilly, and I found this recipe to be awesome. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13149/fresh-and-light-chowder.  I used normal potatoes rather than sweet potatoes since that's what I had on hand, but holy cow was it good! 

I just recently delved into the world of chowders, since it's getting chilly, and I found this recipe to be awesome. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13149/fresh-and-light-chowder.  I used normal potatoes rather than sweet potatoes since that's what I had on hand, but holy cow was it good! 

We do chowder quite often in the winter. It's so warming and lovely! And more like a proper meal than a lot of other soups are. In fact, it's something even DH likes to make!

I *heart* soups and stews and especially making fresh breads in my breadmaker to go with said soups and stews. I also freeze soups and stews for healthy and quick 'ready meals'!

Anyone have a recipe for tomato soup using fresh tomatoes? I have so many and they are starting to go a bit too ripe. 

Jewlz- I don't know if you have any sherry on hand, but The Pioneer Woman makes a sherried Tomato soup that looks fantabulous.

I love soup.  I made one last night that I was a bit proud of and the boy gobbled it up too!

Fish Chowder

Bacon Bits (the chopped up raw thingies for like a quid at Asda)
A couple Carrots
A few little onions
Some Garlic
Butter
Chilies (if you live in my house)
2 biggish potatoes
White Wine
Fish Stock
Cod or Haddock (I used 2 big pieces)
Thyme
Bay leaves
Double or Single Cream

Cook the bacon over low heat so you can render some fat. When it's nice and crispy pull it out and add the carrots, onions, garlic and chilies with as much butter as you can feel unguilty about.  When the onions get soft but not brown throw in as much white wine as you can spare from the glass you're chugging.  I mean, the bottle.  Yes, the bottle. Let is get happy and then add the fish stock and potatoes.  Cook the potatoes until soft (about 15 minutes) and then use an immersion blender/masher/blender/big fork to smash up the potatoes and carrots.  Throw the raw fish in and let it gently boil for five minutes.  Pull it off the heat and cover for ten minutes to let the fish finish cooking.  Add the cream and salt and pepper to taste and gently stir.  Cover again and let it sit for a bit so the flavors all get happy.  I thought this previous step was total bollocks, but it was actually a really smart choice by the guy who made the recipe skeleton.  Then scarf it down with crusty bread and a big spoon. Oh yeah, throw the chopped up bacon on top, your tummy will appreciate that choice.

I started my soup-making with Broccoli Cheddar soup, this recipe to be precise! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-And-Cheddar-Soup/Detail.aspx.  Once I mastered that, I realized that pretty much every other kind of soup was actually quite easy.

I will SO try this!

My super easy crockpot soup recipe.

1/2 pound bacon, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken broth (4 if you like your soup not so thick)
2 Tablespoons flour
 
Place potatoes and carrots in crockpot with broth.  Turn on cooker to high.
Cook bacon in frying pan til almost crispy, remove to drain on paper towels.  Saute onions in bacon grease til soft and lightly browned, remove from heat.  Sprinkle flour on onions and stir to coat.  Stir bacon and onions into soup in crockpot.  Cover and cook on high til vegetables are done, about 4 hours. 
(I make this a lot, it's easy and we usually have all the ingredients on hand.  You can add more potatoes or carrots if you like, or some celery.  Or use just a few slices of bacon.)

and THIS!..

I want to try a tomato soup too..anyone?

My tomato soup is very much like this except I don't strain
(I don't really measure or have a recipe, I just make it up really)

A good cream of tomato soup - but I don't usually make cream of tomato due to its high fattiness