Soup

B for Beans

By / A to Z Challenge, Soups / 5 Comments /

Beans… they come in all colors, shapes and sizes. They have been a staple for centuries and probably are humans’ earliest cultivated food, even before grains.

Domesticated more than 7000 years in southern Mexico and Peru, they spread to other regions of America through native trade routes. Early explorers from Europe took these beans back home with them and cultivated them, spreading them all over the world. In many instances they were renamed and returned to the Americas, adding to the plenty.

Black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, lima, cannellini, garbanzo… the varieties of beans could be interchanged in many recipes, especially in the case of soups and stews, though there will be differences in the flavor.

Beans belong to the Fabaceae family, the fruits of which are called legumes. They are one of the main sources of protein for most vegetarians and vegans.

Among the beans, my favorite is black beans with their creamy texture and fragrant broth. They are also called turtle beans, caviar criollo and frijoles negro. They are mainly grown in South America, the country of Brazil producing most of the harvest. A black bean and beef stew named ‘feijoada’ is the national dish of Brazil. 

For cooking, you can either select canned (cooked) or dried black beans. If using dried, you have to rinse and soak them for 8 to 10 hours, preferably overnight. In case you are short of time, you can bring a pot of water to boil, add the beans and boil for a minute or two. Set aside covered for an hour and you are ready to go.

A trick to enhance the flavor of beans is to soak them in stock and use the same stock to cook them. No, the salt in the stock will not make them tough; it is acidity that makes beans tough. So if you are adding anything acidic to a bean recipe like vinegar, tomatoes or lime juice do make sure that it is added after the beans are cooked.

If you are cooking with an older batch of beans which tend to be tougher, you may want to add a bit of baking soda to the mixture to tenderize the beans.

Dried black beans can be stored indefinitely, if you keep them in a sealed, airtight container in a cool, dry place. However they will start to lose their moisture and get harder after a while, taking longer to cook. 

One cup of dried black beans yield about three cups of cooked beans.

Beans in general, have a bad reputation for causing flatulence. What happens is, gas is produced in the process of gut bacteria breaking down and digesting some of the carbohydrates in the beans. This depends on a person’s intestinal health and the specific bacteria in the gut. Some people can eat all the beans they want without any bad effect while some others have to be real careful. Know thyself, is the best solution here. 

Because of their ability to bind nitrogen to the soil, they are sometimes used for soil amendment as they make the ground in which they’re grown richer.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

  • ½ pound smoked bacon
  • 1½ cups finely chopped onions
  • 1½ cups finely chopped celery
  • 1½ cups finely diced carrots
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
  • 1¼ teaspoons dried thyme
  • 4 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano, crumbled
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 16 cups chicken broth
  • 1 pound black beans, about 3 cups
  • 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Salt to taste

Directions

  • 12 hours ahead of cooking, wash rinse, and soak the black beans in salted water.
  • When ready to start cooking, cut the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. 
  • Smear the bottom of a largish cooking pot with oil and heat on medium. Add the bacon pieces and cook, stirring often, till the bacon is browned. 
  • Add the chopped onions, celery, and carrots. Mix well and continue cooking. 
  • When they start to wilt, add the bay leaf, thyme, half of the cumin, black pepper, oregano, and garlic. Stir to combine and continue to cook for five minutes, making sure the herbs do not burn.
  • Add the tomato paste. Mix well. Add the chicken broth, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil.
  • Drain the soaked beans and add them to the broth. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally to make sure the soup has enough liquid. If you feel there is not enough liquid, add more broth or just warm water. 
  • Continue cooking till the beans are soft, about 1 hour. Mash some of the beans into the soup for added thickness.
  • Stir in the lime juice, cayenne pepper, salt, cilantro and remaining cumin. 
  • Ladle the soup into individual soup bowls and serve with garnishes of your choice.
Bouillabaisse

B is for Bouillabaisse

By / A to Z Challenge, Entrée, Seafood, Soups / 2 Comments /

Fish soup, anyone? Likely, you may not get many responses to that. Change the name to Bouillabaisse and it becomes an inviting dish with all the allure of French cuisine! So much for the power of words!

For that is what bouillabaisse is. A basic broth with vegetables and seafood. 

The name is composed of two words meaning ‘to boil’ and ‘to simmer’, supposed to describe how the dish is made. 

Bouillabaisse has its recorded origin in Marseille, being made by local fishermen using the bony fish which could not be sold to customers. The types of fish considered essential were rascasse, sea robin, and European conger. These are fearsome looking fish indeed, as seen from pictures on the net. 

An article in the New Yorker magazine ‘The Soul of Bouillabaisse Town’, by A. J. Liebling and published in 1962, talks about the importance of rascasse for a bouillabaisse and the search for it in the US. A very interesting read indeed. 

By and by there were so many versions of bouillabaisse in Marseille alone that in 1980 a Bouillabaisse Charter was drawn up by a number of prominent Marseille restaurateurs, defining the ingredients and method of preparation of this dish.

The identifying flavors of a bouillabaisse today are fennel and saffron. 

All ingredients except for the seafood are cooked in stock to form a delicious broth, which gets its beautiful color and enticing aroma from the saffron.

The vegetables are chopped small so that they blend well into the broth.

You can make your own stock. Any combination of fish bones and shrimp/ lobster shells will work for the stock. Just boil them up for about 30 minutes, in sufficient water with some garlic, celery, onions, black pepper – whatever you have on hand. Cool, strain and freeze, and there it is ready anytime you need it. I find using shrimp shells for the stock the easiest.

When making a bouillabaisse, I totally take advantage of the versatility of bouillabaisse and use pretty much any combination of white fleshed fish and shellfish. And any variety of scallops. Yum!

To serve, you can remove the seafood from the broth after it is cooked and serve them separately on a platter. I prefer to keep them in the broth to be ladled out into the soup bowls.

Bouillabaisse is traditionally served with thick slices of bread and a rouille made of olive oil, garlic, saffron, and red peppers. Cayenne can also be added to the mix to add an extra kick.

B is for Bouillabaisse
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B is for Bouillabaisse

Author: Ria Cooking Method:Stove-top Cuisine:French Recipe Keys:Seafood
Difficulty:IntermediateServings:4 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Soak saffron in a spoonful of stock or water. Set aside.
  2. Heat oil in a largish pot or deep skillet on the stove top.
  3. Add onion, garlic, celery, carrot, potato, and fennel to the hot oil.
  4. When the onion starts to turn transparent, add the stock, tomatoes and saffron (with the soaking liquid) to the pot.
  5. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook.
  6. When the vegetables are cooked, reduce the heat to a simmer.
  7. Add the fish to the pot and cook for two minutes.
  8. Add the shrimps and continue cooking for another two minutes.
  9. Add the clams/ mussels and cook till they open, about three to four minutes.
  10. Add the scallops and immediately turn off the heat.
  11. Serve hot along with slices of bread and the rouille.
Keywords:Bouillabaisse, Dinner, Fish, French, Soup, Seafood

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

By / Grains, Greens, Soups / Leave a Comment /

The main focus of this soup, the key flavour that dominates, is mushrooms. Their earthy, woody flavour stands out and if you like mushrooms, you will love this soup!

 
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That is one thing about mushrooms… you either love them or hate them. In biological taxonomy, mushrooms are classified as a kingdom, ‘fungi’, separate from plants and animals. Actually, the mushrooms that we see are the fruiting parts of the fungus. The common name of mushrooms is toadstools, though no one uses that name these days.

 

While reading about mushrooms, I was a bit surprised to find that genetic studies have shown that fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants. No wonder many vegetarians do not eat mushrooms!

 

Humans have been known to use mushrooms as food for a long time. Also, they have been used as leavening and fermenting agents in food preparation.

 

There are so many varieties of mushrooms, both cultivated and growing wild, in different sizes and shapes and colours. The most common variety available in the markets will be the white button mushrooms which are widely cultivated commercially. Shiitake, portobello, oyster, cremini, chanterelle… these are other common varieties used in cooking.

 

One of the most expensive food items in the markets today, truffles, are a variety of mushrooms that do not sprout above ground. Highly prized by chefs the world over, they have been known since ancient Roman times. Trained pigs and dogs are used in hunting for truffles growing below the soil surface.

 

There is a branch of biology devoted to the study of fungi, known as mycology.

 
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Enough about mushrooms… let’s talk about the soup. I wanted to make it a real mushroomy soup and used two types of mushrooms in it… fresh sliced baby portobellos and dried shiitakes. The water in which the shiitake has been soaked, should be added to the soup as well.

 
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If you do not want the intense mushroom flavour, you can omit the dried shiitake, which is the stronger flavoured variety, and use just the portobellos. Or even use white button mushrooms instead.

I have used a wild rice mix for this soup. Instead, if you prefer, you can use either quinoa or barley with very tasty results. Whichever grains you are using, you have to cook it separately before adding it to the soup.

 
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The main part of the preparation is the chopping of the veggies. Once that is done, the rest is easy.

 
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I have used chicken stock as the base, as I love the chicken-mushroom combination. If you want to keep this as vegetarian, you can use vegetable stock or just plain water. However, in the light of the studies mentioned above, I don’t see much point in that! 🙂

 
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A very versatile and tasty soup, that can be enjoyed regardless of vegetarian or non-vegetarian!

~Ria

 

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup
Print
Ingredients
  • ½ cup wild rice mix
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup baby portobello mushrooms
  • ½ cup dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 large red onion
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 2 medium sized carrots
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 4 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp dried herbs (mix of thyme, basil, and parsley)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. In a small pot, bring one cup of stock and one cup of water to boil.
  2. Add the wild rice, bay leaves and enough salt. Cover and cook on medium heat, till tender.
  3. Soak the shiitake mushrooms enough water to cover them.
  4. Slice the onion lengthwise, into thin wedges.
  5. Chop the celery.
  6. If the carrots are slim, slice them thinly; if they are fat, slit them lengthwise and then slice them.
  7. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion, celery and carrots.
  8. When the onion turns transparent, add the tomato paste and continue stirring for two minutes.
  9. Add the remaining stock, mix well and bring to a boil.
  10. Add the cooked rice along with the bay leaves.
  11. Add the soaked shiitake mushrooms along with the soaking water.
  12. Add the fresh sliced mushrooms and check that there is enough liquid in the soup.
  13. Allow the soup to simmer for 20 minutes.
  14. Check the consistency and add more water, if required.
  15. Add the dried herbs and season with salt and pepper.
  16. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
  17. Remove from heat and serve hot.

 

Red Beans and Green Pumpkin Soup

By / Soups, Vegetarian / 2 Comments /

October is a time of change…
 
Most noticeably, the trees change. What was green till yesterday starts turning into yellows and oranges and bright reds…
 
Temperature goes from warm to cool…
 
Sweaters and scarves begin to emerge from storage…
 
Dawn and dusk move towards each other making days shorter…
 
Early birds start on their migrations south; squirrels get real busy gathering the last of the nuts…
Winds pick up… trying to shake loose the leaves from the trees, getting them ready for the coming winter…
 
Beaches get deserted; movies and malls get crowded…
 
Thermostats go from Cool to Heat…
 
That reminds me of a funny story. Once I was travelling by train to Canada, in the middle of summer. Inside the train, it was freeeezing! Considering the season, all that I had packed were summer clothes. Not a single sweater or jacket in sight! Finally, I approach the conductor and request that the thermostat be turned up a bit. And she goes… “This train has only two settings; heat or cool. Now it is on Cool. And you know what will happen if I turn it to Heat. Do you want me to get beaten up by the other passengers?” Of course, with a smile. The question that came to the tip of my tongue was, “So you think I can’t beat you up?” but considering that I had to spend a few more hours on the train, I pushed that question right back down. And went back to my seat to look at the warm outside world passing by my window, shivering all the time… Did not made that mistake again; Canada always finds me arriving with a jacket, even at the height of summer!
 
But I digress… we were talking about changes…
 
Octoberfest and pumpkin ale reign supreme before making way for robust red wines…
 
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And the produce… oh boy, what an abundance of pumpkins and squashes… In all shapes and sizes and colours. The market is so full of them. And they make such wonderful displays. And so many ways of cooking them!
 
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Before the ripe, orange pumpkins in their varieties get to the market, there is a small window of time when, if you are lucky, you will come across the green ones, likely in a farmers’ market. They are nothing like their later selfs; these are more akin to potatoes in their mealy texture. Though you can cook pretty much anything with them, they excel in soups and stews.
 
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This soup is a quick and easy one. Starting with a base of Mirepoix, you build the soup by simply throwing things into the pot.
 
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I have used a banana pepper as well, just for the reason that it was sitting lonely in the refrigerator and I did not have any other use planned for it. That is precisely how my recipes grow most often. 🙂
 
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Among the spice mix, I’ve added a bit of chilli powder which is totally optional. Also, you can either soak dried red beans and boil them or get them out of a can. Tastes equally good either way.
 
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Once you have sautéed the chopped stuff, you will have to move it to a large pot, or start with a pot in which you can do the sautéing as well.
 
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A hunk of crusty bread is all you need to make a great meal!

~Ria

Red Beans and Green Pumpkin Soup
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
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Ingredients
  • 2 lb green unripe pumpkin, cut into ½ inch pieces
  • 2 cups cooked red beans
  • 2 red onions, chopped fine
  • 2 ribs celery, sliced thin
  • 1 carrot, slit lengthwise and sliced thinly
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup chopped tomato
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp chilli powder (optional)
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1 small bunch cilantro (coriander leaves), minced
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. In a large pot, heat the cooking oil and sauté the onion for 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. Add celery, garlic and carrot and continue sautéing for another 3 to 4 minutes.
  3. Add the red beans, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, cumin and chilli powder, if using. Stir together.
  4. Add 5 cups of water to the mix and bring to boil.
  5. Add the pumpkin pieces and chopped tomato.
  6. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
  8. Adjust seasoning and add the minced cilantro.
  9. Remove from heat and serve hot with crusty bread.

Pumpkin Soup – tasty and healthy

By / Soups, Vegetarian / 1 Comment /

P1 Pumpkin soup Pumpkin and papaya were two of the vegetables I detested most during my childhood, but once I started cooking that slowly changed. Pumpkin found its way into my culinary escapades as my husband was very fond of it and papaya was only made appealing to me by the lovely Pawpaw man. P2 Pumpkin Soup Now, I love pumpkin almost as much as my husband, not only because it is actually really delicious but also because it's really healthy. Pumpkin is good source of vitamin A, B, C and E. A 100 gram pumpkin provides 100% of the daily recommended Vitamin A while containing only 20 calories. Even the seeds inside the hollow of the fruit when dry roasted with some salt are a good low calorie snack. P3 Pumpkin soup Pumpkins are so versatile that they can be used in both sweet as well as savoury dishes.  My favourite way of making pumpkin has to be pumpkin soup which is a big hit with my daughters. It's always on the list of things they want me to make for them when they come to visit me. The last time I made my pumpkin soup, I made a very large batch and decided to freeze half of it to save me the trouble of making it twice. It worked really well and I would definitely recommend it as it's always nice on those lazy days to simply heat something up and have a great, healthy meal with no fuss. P4 pumpkin soup Here I’ve used fresh pumpkins as it’s easily available but canned pumpkins can also be used. The soup is already full of flavour especially with all the roasted cumin and paprika, but you can always tweak it to your taste by adding more garlic or chilli flakes or whatever else you think might make a good addition to the soup. When making the soup for my girls, I always use cream as it is best suited to achieve the smooth, creamy texture but full cream or semi skimmed milk make adequate substitutes when considering the calories.

 P5 Pumpkin Soup

~Min

Pumpkin Soup – tasty and healthy
Recipe type: Soups
Print
Ingredients
  • Pumpkin 250 grams (3 cups) - peeled and cut into cubes
  • Onion 1 medium sized – sliced
  • Garlic 6 cloves
  • Chilli powder ½ tsp
  • Paprika 1 tsp
  • Roasted Cumin powder 1-1 ½ tsp
  • Bay leaf 2
  • Vegetable stock cube 1
  • Cream / full cream milk ½ cup
  • Salt to taste
  • Chilli flakes 1 tsp (optional)
  • Olive oil or any refined oil 1 tbsp
Directions
  1. Heat a thick bottomed pan with oil.
  2. Add garlic, sliced onions, bay leaf and sauté till onions are transparent.
  3. Add chilli powder and half of the cumin powder and sauté for 2 minutes.
  4. Add the cut pumpkin cubes, sauté for another 3 minutes, pour 1 cup of water, crumble stock cube and salt, cook till the pumpkin pieces are tender.
  5. Blend this after removing the bay leaf into a smooth puree.
  6. Heat the puree. You can add more salt and chilli flakes, if required, at this point.
  7. Once it starts simmering, add cream and the remaining cumin powder and remove from the heat.
  8. You can add more milk or hot water to the soup to attain the required consistency.
  9. Serve with a small dollop of cream or some croutons.