Five Steps to Incredible Soup
Soup is the perfect remedy to a cold day, and contrary to popular belief, it is incredibly satiating. Its high water content helps you feel full, rehydrates you, and has low caloric density (in other words, it helps you get fell with fewer calories, which makes it great for weight management).
A well-made soup can be the most satisfying meal of the month. Let’s talk about some ways to make your soup better than Mr. Boyardee ever could have imagined.
I will one day devote a whole article to this topic alone, but store-bought stock is one of the most disappointing things the grocer can provide. If you freeze your old cooking bones and vegetable scraps, it’s super easy to make your own stock at home. With this tip alone, you can begin making the best soups you’ve ever had, but let’s go deeper.
If you’re making a noodle soup with a water / broth base, consider a quick-cooking meat like chicken breast or thin cuts of beef (something with less connective tissue).
If you’re making a potato soup or something that stews for a long time, consider a slower-cooking meat like chicken thighs or beef chuck (something with high connective tissue that gelatinizes over time and creates an amazing mouthfeel in the broth).
This tip is especially handy in chunky soups like chicken noodle soup, where you can really see the browning you add to any thick-cut ingredients.
Soups have a lot of broken down ingredients that are ultra soft and have evolved and dispersed flavors. Fresh ingredients add brightness and freshness back to the soup, which balances the flavor profile and enhances the aroma. Additionally, some ingredients like lemon and olive oil have the greatest nutritional value when uncooked, so leaving them until fresh doesn’t just boost flavor, but health.
4 chicken drumsticks
2 large russet potatoes
1 butternut squash
2 ears corn
1/2 red bell pepper
1/3 cup carrots, shaved
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1-2 quarts good chicken stock or water and chicken bouillon
1/4 cup rice or orzo pasta
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
cilantro, to garnish
salt, to taste
Directions:
Add Recipe to Cook'n
blog comments powered by Disqus
Start with Good Stock
Good stock (some people call this broth, but there’s a difference) is like the foundation to your home. Except for that’s a bad comparison because unlike the foundation to your house, everyone notices a good broth. In fact, if I don’t have an incredible stock, I don’t use stock at all. I would rather have salted water than cheap broth.I will one day devote a whole article to this topic alone, but store-bought stock is one of the most disappointing things the grocer can provide. If you freeze your old cooking bones and vegetable scraps, it’s super easy to make your own stock at home. With this tip alone, you can begin making the best soups you’ve ever had, but let’s go deeper.
Consider Cooking Times
Many vegetables (carrots, celery, shallots, tomatoes) can stew for hours, but not every ingredient should. While your tomato stews, the water content will reduce and the flavors will intensify while the acid tenderizes your beef. However, replace that beef with chicken breast and those hours will turn your chicken into shriveled bird jerky. Consider whether you’re going for a stew or a quick soup.If you’re making a noodle soup with a water / broth base, consider a quick-cooking meat like chicken breast or thin cuts of beef (something with less connective tissue).
If you’re making a potato soup or something that stews for a long time, consider a slower-cooking meat like chicken thighs or beef chuck (something with high connective tissue that gelatinizes over time and creates an amazing mouthfeel in the broth).
Vary Heat Application
This is a really quick tip that will blow your mind. Before throwing something into the soup pot, try blistering it over high heat on a pan with oil. This will apply the maillard reaction, adding some good new flavors to the soup that wouldn’t be there if you’d merely thrown it all in the pot.This tip is especially handy in chunky soups like chicken noodle soup, where you can really see the browning you add to any thick-cut ingredients.
Balance Stewed Flavors with Fresh Flavors
Finish your casuela with a generous squeeze of lemon. Garnish your chicken noodle soup with fresh-cut parsley. Mix good olive oil in with your lobster bisque after it has cooled down a little.Soups have a lot of broken down ingredients that are ultra soft and have evolved and dispersed flavors. Fresh ingredients add brightness and freshness back to the soup, which balances the flavor profile and enhances the aroma. Additionally, some ingredients like lemon and olive oil have the greatest nutritional value when uncooked, so leaving them until fresh doesn’t just boost flavor, but health.
Have Something to Chew
The reason most soup haters struggle with soup is because it feels too much like a beverage. As a rule, I always have something to chew with the soup, be it a nice, chunky beef-and-bean soup, a goulash served over boiled potatoes, or a creamy tomato soup served with crispy grilled cheese.Recipe, Please!
Let’s apply all of these principles by making cazuela. This is a traditional Chilean soup, and my favorite soup of all time. Not only that, it’s one of my top three meals ever. It is some of the ultimate comfort food, and its comfort food without the usual associated deep-frying and saturated fats.Matthew's Cazuela de Pollo (for stovetop and for Instant Pot)
This is my favorite soup. I made it as the main dish of a five-course meal I prepared for my wife the day I started seriously dating her. Cazuela is the national dish of Chile, and I make it at least once a year in commemoration of my time spent in that country. This soup is also VERY FILLING. It might be the most satiating meal I know of because there is so much to it. Despite all that, it's easy! You can cook the entire thing in one soup pot with nothing but a knife and a ladle or wooden spoon.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Yield: 4
Ingredients:
Cook time:
Yield: 4
4 chicken drumsticks
2 large russet potatoes
1 butternut squash
2 ears corn
1/2 red bell pepper
1/3 cup carrots, shaved
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1-2 quarts good chicken stock or water and chicken bouillon
1/4 cup rice or orzo pasta
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
cilantro, to garnish
salt, to taste
Directions:
Step One: Mise en Place
Peel each potato and cut it in half.
Cut the butternut squash in half down its length and scoop out the seeds. Cut it into pieces each about the size of your pieces of potato. Set aside four pieces of squash for the cazuela.
Peel each ear of corn, then grab each in two hands and break them in half (this is easier than trying to saw it in half with a knife).
Deseed your 1/2 bell pepper and dice it into small cubes.
Step Two: Sear on High Heat
Set your stove burner to medium high or your instand pot to saute.
Once you feel heat radiating from the surface, add your oil to the pot.
Once the oil begins to shimmer, add your chicken to the pan. Your goal is NOT to cook the chicken---you are only trying to get a brown sear on the outside.
Once the chicken is seared, remove it from the pot and add the potatoes.
Follow the steps above for the chicken, potatoes, squash, and red bell pepper. Don't bother removing the bell pepper from the pot once it is seared.
Step Three: To the Pot
Add the chicken, potatoes, squash, corn, bell pepper, carrot, and chicken stock to the pot. If you are cooking with an instant pot and using rice, add the rice to the pot now, too.
On the stove, turn the heat to medium or medium low---the goal is to simmer the soup without a rolling boil. Set a timer for 30 minutes.
If you are cooking with an instant pot, set the pot to pressure cook on high for 8 minutes.
Note: Good chicken stock makes a really big difference. If you only have access to store bought chicken stock, then don't buy it. Just use water and one cube of chicken buillon.
Step Four: Almost Done
If you are cooking on the stove, then once 15 minutes have passed, add your rice to the pot. If you are cooking with orzo, then once 22 minutes have passed, add your orzo to the pot.
While your cazuela cooks, finely chop your cilantro.
Step Five: Add Fresh Ingredients
If you are cooking on the stove, then once 30 minutes have passed, remove your pot from the heat.
If you are cooking via Instant Pot, then allow your pot to naturally pressure release for 5 minutes, then manually release the pressure and open the lid once safe.
Add your lemon juice and cilantro to the broth and stir.
Step Six: Don't Burn Your Mouth
This soup is traditionally served in shallow, wide-mouthed bowls with a plate underneath.
Serve each portion of cazuela with one piece of each of the major ingredients and a generous helping of broth with rice and peppers.
Some families enjoy the soup as is while others remove the large ingredients from the bowl and eat them on the side as they enjoy the flavorful broth. This is why the plate is helpful.
Peel each potato and cut it in half.
Cut the butternut squash in half down its length and scoop out the seeds. Cut it into pieces each about the size of your pieces of potato. Set aside four pieces of squash for the cazuela.
Peel each ear of corn, then grab each in two hands and break them in half (this is easier than trying to saw it in half with a knife).
Deseed your 1/2 bell pepper and dice it into small cubes.
Step Two: Sear on High Heat
Set your stove burner to medium high or your instand pot to saute.
Once you feel heat radiating from the surface, add your oil to the pot.
Once the oil begins to shimmer, add your chicken to the pan. Your goal is NOT to cook the chicken---you are only trying to get a brown sear on the outside.
Once the chicken is seared, remove it from the pot and add the potatoes.
Follow the steps above for the chicken, potatoes, squash, and red bell pepper. Don't bother removing the bell pepper from the pot once it is seared.
Step Three: To the Pot
Add the chicken, potatoes, squash, corn, bell pepper, carrot, and chicken stock to the pot. If you are cooking with an instant pot and using rice, add the rice to the pot now, too.
On the stove, turn the heat to medium or medium low---the goal is to simmer the soup without a rolling boil. Set a timer for 30 minutes.
If you are cooking with an instant pot, set the pot to pressure cook on high for 8 minutes.
Note: Good chicken stock makes a really big difference. If you only have access to store bought chicken stock, then don't buy it. Just use water and one cube of chicken buillon.
Step Four: Almost Done
If you are cooking on the stove, then once 15 minutes have passed, add your rice to the pot. If you are cooking with orzo, then once 22 minutes have passed, add your orzo to the pot.
While your cazuela cooks, finely chop your cilantro.
Step Five: Add Fresh Ingredients
If you are cooking on the stove, then once 30 minutes have passed, remove your pot from the heat.
If you are cooking via Instant Pot, then allow your pot to naturally pressure release for 5 minutes, then manually release the pressure and open the lid once safe.
Add your lemon juice and cilantro to the broth and stir.
Step Six: Don't Burn Your Mouth
This soup is traditionally served in shallow, wide-mouthed bowls with a plate underneath.
Serve each portion of cazuela with one piece of each of the major ingredients and a generous helping of broth with rice and peppers.
Some families enjoy the soup as is while others remove the large ingredients from the bowl and eat them on the side as they enjoy the flavorful broth. This is why the plate is helpful.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Matthew Christensen
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2023
Email the author! matthew@dvo.com
Sources:
- www.bodyfusion.com
- www.islandinthenet.com
- www.myketokitchen.com
- www.pexels.com
