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to Newsletter ...for those that are having a little trouble with the math...that means if you are using 1 cup of chopped onion, you will need 1/2 cup chopped celery and 1/2 cup chopped carrot. In classical cooking, mirepoix usually is not eaten. The vegetables were meant to flavor the stock and were rendered pretty worthless because all of their flavor was now part of the stock. My mother used to say that about canned peas. "You might as well drink the water and throw out the peas", she said....It turns out that she was right. Today, we are more hesitant to discard those vegetables. We like more texture in our foods and will leave the vegetables right where they lay. Mirepoix should be sauté in a little fat. If you have a good stock, you could eliminate this process and just simmer the vegetables. However, the process of sautéing vegetables can be very important. This is the process that will change the starch in your vegetables to a sugar...hence...sweetness. Simmering will not sweeten vegetables; it will just cook it. The following recipes will give you some idea of how a mirepoix is used and help you spot the mirepoix in your recipes. The next one uses green pepper instead of carrot.
Carrot would make this soup too sweet. The moral of the story: If you keep onions, carrots & celery around the house you will be able to make just about anything! 2. The Mother of Invention...Pepper Pot Soup........ .....hometown of Philadelphia. This is definitely one of those recipes, that when you look at it and see "tripe", you just keep flipping pages. But for those of you that want to know more, stop in at the following and get the real low-down. |
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3. Cockaleekie.....You Guessed it...Not Quite! .......This traditional Scottish soup is said to have been a favorite of Mary Queen of Scots. Its name just may derive from the custom that the losing bird in a cockfight was plucked, dismembered, tossed into a pot with several leeks for flavor and stewed for the spectators to share following their sport. Cockaleekie requires long, slow cooking and according to good Scotsmen: a very old bird, preferably a rooster. The following is a simple recipe for this soup. Put enough chicken in it and it's a meal!
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4. Chowders....Change
can be good!
.....is also used to describe any thick, rich soup containing chunks of food. Even though chowders were "originally" fish based we have stretched the definition over the years to include all kinds of things, such as corn chowder, vegetable chowders and poultry chowders. Chowders aren't new. They were around long before the Mayflower struck rock. In fact, Native American cooks historically preferred adding food to their soup pots rather than roasting or baking them. In this way valuable natural juices became part of the meal instead of being burned off in the fire. Try some of these recipes.
In the following Artichoke Chowder, sub....Vegetable Stock for the Chicken Stock and you have a real winner for all you veggies! |
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Don't Waste the Fresh Broccoli on Cream of Broccoli Soup
.......The question might be asked, "which is fresher, the frozen vegetable or the fresh one off the grocer's shelf"? Give this some thought. If you grow broccoli in your back yard, it's fresh. No doubt about it. But if you purchase broccoli from the grocer...how long did it take to get to his product shelf? Was it locally grown or did it make its way from Mexico or Florida or California? Did it come by train, truck or did Aunt Martha bring it from her garden in the midwest? Most vegetables that are selected for freezing are picked in the field and then taken directly to the processing plant. In many cases, that processing plant is within a stone's throw of the field. Pound for pound, you will probably find that frozen vegetables are less expensive than their fresh counterparts. Also easier to handle....expecially if you are making soup. If you are still with me, take a look at the following recipes and think about the difference in producing each. Cream of Broccoli Soup with Fresh Broccoli Redibase Cream of Broccoli Soup (These recipes can be used for a host of other soups, especially if you have access to a variety of frozen vegetables....asparagus, spinach, etc.) Chef Tip: The only vegetable that we don't recommend that you use frozen are carrots. We have come a long way in culinary, but we still haven't figured out how to freeze a carrot and have it still taste like a carrot! |
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6. Hey, let's condense it, put it in a can and sell it...Only in America ....In 1894 Arthur Dorrance succeeds Joseph Campbell as President; Campbell retires and dies in 1900, ending the association of the Campbell family with the company. Go Figure. Well, Arthur reluctantly agrees to hire his 24 year old nephew, Dr. John T. Dorrance, as a company chemist at a token wage of just 7.50 a week. Proving that you can't judge a book by it's cover, Dr. Dorrance develops the formula for commercially condensed soups. By removing the water, the volume of a can of soup is reduced from 32 ounces to approximately 10 ounces, and the price lowered from about 34 cents a can to a dime. And the rest is history. If you would like to read more Dr. Dorrance future with Campbell's, stop in at History |
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