Making Soup

Soup is a liquid fluid mostly made by boiling and/or simmering an assortment of different types of vegetables, fish, meats, and other spices usually achieved in some type of broth. Since soup is one of my ultimate favorite meals, I thought that I would include 3 different recipes that I learned and have mastered with practice over the last weeks as well as years.

Broccoli soup is an admixture I thoroughly enjoy year round. This cost friendly soup has an immense amount of texture taste and aroma satisfying your palate immeasurably, thus why I appreciate the making of this soup. When making broccoli soup for the first time, I remember it being the beginning of a soup adventure I had never endured before. It was the end of summer and the beginning of fall on a crisp Sunday morning; I woke up feeling the need for something hardy and satisfying. My mind began to wander into the contrasting possibilities of concoctions. With that, pureed broccoli soup came into mind. After looking online at a vast amount of diverse recipes, I decided to take chunks here and there from multiple recipes. Playing and experimenting with countless combinations and different flavourings. After numerous attempts I came up with the following recipe.

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Pureed Broccoli Soup; Enjoy this easy to make healthy soup; keeping you warm on a brisk autumn day.

Ingredients 2 tbsp butter 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 white onion - roughly chopped 2 stalk celery - peeled & chopped 1 garlic – chopped 2 small yellow potatoes 1 Sweet potato 1 tsp thyme - chopped or grinded 1 Bay leaf 4 Heads of Broccoli - Chopped (stems and florets) 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk 4 cups vegetable broth 1/2 cup cashew milk 1 tsp salt 1 tsp Freshly ground pepper to taste

Equipment

Pot Knife Cutting Board Measuring Cups Peeler Blender

Directions

Dice onion, celery, potatoes and finely chop garlic. Heat 2 tbsp butter & 2 tbsp of oil in a pot until liquefied, add in onion (sweat until translucent) Then add the celery. Stir and cook until delicately softened (about 2-3 minutes). Add in the finely chopped garlic and potatoes, cook for another 5-8 minutes. While the mixture is cooking, begin to cut up broccoli into small heads (do not cut off stems!). Add broccoli to pot along with milk(s), and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, add thyme and bay leaf salt & pepper then reduce to a simmer (simmer about 20 minutes) Let cool (about 10 minutes) then puree mixture in batches in a blender until achieving a smooth constancy (no lumps!) While I began the cooking process of this soup, the scent of onions filled the air which is something I truly enjoy. You could hear the onions crackle as they simmered in the oil over medium heat, realizing the inner sweetness of the onion. After I added all the ingredients and brought the mixture to a boil the smell of the kitchen was overwhelming, I wanted to eat the air! (hehe) Once cooled and fully blended, the consistency of the soup was luminous and thick in which stuck to the back of my spoon when I dipped in for a little taste. I brought the broad broccoli soup to my mouth for a taste and immediately tasted salty and sweet delicious aspects of broccoli, garlic and onion all in one. After the soup was made, I had one of my friends try it to see what they thought. He couldn't believe that it was a more healthier version of broccoli soup and stated it tastes just as good as the soups usually created with heavy cream or milk. He said the soup was smooth and flavourful with a creamy texture that he quite enjoyed. I think the biggest challenge I endured while creating this soup was incorporating tasteful exciting flavours while using healthier ingredients while doing so. Finding combinations without using heavy creams, loads of butter or tons and tons of salt, I found was the most difficult to overcome. Overall I feel as if my soup was a complete success, I loved the savoury notes within the soup as well as the texture I had while eating it. If I were to make this soup again, I think that I would try keeping some cut pieces of broccoli crowns whole and add it afterwards while still hot to have a little more of a crunch in the soup. I also would consider adding something like real cashews to the soup before mixing it in the blender to see what flavours I could get from the nut. After making this soup I discovered that it is possible to make yummy tasting soups with healthier ingredients and that anything can be possible if you put your culinary creativity behind it. I look forward to applying this inspirational aspect I indured towards my every day cooking.

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Spicy Sweet potato soup; Get your taste buds ready for one spicy adventure! Ingredients 1/2 onion 1/2 carrot peeled 1 leek 2 celery stalks peeled 2 garlic gloves peeled & chopped 2 sweet potatoes 1/2 cup vegetable broth 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 1 tbsp margarine 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tsp fresh grated ginger Spice mix; 1 tsp garlic powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander Pinch of thyme 1/4 tsp fresh crushed red pepper flakes 1 tsp Salt & fresh cracked pepper Equipment Chefs knife Peeler Grater Wooden spoon Ladle Deep pot Measuring cup Cutting board Blender

Directions Cut onion, carrot, leek, celery & sweet potato into a small dice. Once chopped, take vegetable oil and place in a large deep set pot. Place over medium-high heat place in the diced onions and sweat until translucent. Once translucent add in the carrots, celery, leek and sweet potato; sweat another 5 minutes. Add in chopped garlic, and freshly grated ginger. Sweat another minute then begin to add 1/2 cup vegetable broth and 1 cup of almond milk (make sure there is enough liquid to cover vegetable mixture at least 1 inch). Bring to a boil (approx 5 minutes) then add in your spices & herbs. Turn down heat and let simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally making sure no vegetables stick to the bottom of the pot. After 20 minutes add in 1 tbsp of margarine along with salt and pepper, stir & turn off heat. Remove from burner and let cool ( approx 20 minutes ). Once cooled ladle mixture to a blender (I used my nutri-bullet) - blend until smooth. Place in container; when ready to serve add fresh cracked pepper & Parmesan cheese for garnish. I decided to make this soup after my lab in which we made soup, on a late, cold Tuesday evening. I decided to embark on making this soup because there was sweet potatoes in my fridge that needed to be used and have never used sweet potatoes before in a soup. So, after researching a little bit I began to collaborate a recipe that would entail sweet yet spicy winter notes.

In the completion of blending my soup, I noticed the consistency of the mixture was thicker liquefied texture that entailed a great scent of "fall". With that said, there was smells of delicious sweet onions as well as, spicy garlicky tons that flew through the air. While cooking the soup I could hear the crackling of the vegetables as it simmered in the oil at the bottom of the pot. Furthermore popping and bubbling as the soup began to boil. After the soup was blended and cooled I got to taste the bright orange liquid and with no surprise, my taste buds embraced a complexity of flavours. Such flavours as, sweet yet spicy, and almost a little umame tastes. The flavours within this soup reminded me of the butternut squash soup I made preciously. Both soups had the same type of texture while eating and reminded me of the season of fall. I brought the soup to school that following Thursday for my lunch and had one of my fellow classmates taste the soup to let me know what they thought. As a result, she comments that the soup was very tasty with an abundance of intensified flavours. Since she enjoyed spice as much as I did, she thought that it was the perfect spice level, though I know for others may be a little too spicy.

Some challenges that I faced while creating this soup was getting the sweet potatoes in a uniform size for cooking. Since sweet potatoes have a very interesting shape to them, not perfectly oval to having lumps and bumps throughout, this made it a little difficult to cut. Overall, I personally felt that this soup was a complete success because of the smooth frothy texture it entailed when introduced into the mouth. The senses and tastes that I embraced while eating this soup were complex and very tasteful. If I were to make this soup again I think I would attempt at making the soup perhaps sweeter rather than spicy, bringing out the sweetness that naturally came while cooking the sweet potato.

After making this soup I learned different techniques that can be involved when experimenting with a vast amount of spices. I learned how a little can really go a long way; what I mean by that is, the very small amount of red pepper flakes I added to my soup emulsified and became very intense during the cooking process. Experimenting with these flavour combinations can help benefit me in my future culinary experience by guiding me to realize what spices can really work with one another.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butternut Squash Soup; Thanksgiving, family, friend’s soup & love

It was thanksgiving morning, as I helped my mom with the preparation of our thanksgiving feast; she went on to ask me "Is there a soup we can make along with the salad?" My mind went on to wander as the possibilities could be endless; I then came to the conclusion that using the produce that was in season would be the most considerate thing to do. With that said, I then responded to her "Butternut squash soup it is!" I went on to look up recipes for butternut squash soup and debated between multiple recipes and came to the conclusion that making my very own recipe would be the best...

Recipe 2 medium sized butternut squash 1 sweet potato 1 yellow flesh potato 2 gloves garlic 1 large white onion 2 cups low sodium vegetable stalk 1 cup unsweetened almond milk 2 small carrots 2 celery stalks 1/8 tsp curry powder 1/2 tsp chopped rosemary 1/2 tsp sage 1/2 tsp thyme 1 tbsp vegetable oil Salt & fresh ground pepper to taste (about a tsp) Fresh Parmesan; (of your choice!) Equipment Knife Peeler Cutting Board Pot Baking pan Blender

Directions Preheat oven to 350 Bake both squashes whole in 350 degree Celsius oven for about an hour or until soft. While squash is baking, roughly chop garlic and the onion. Peel and cut celery, carrots and both potatoes (yellow skin & sweet). Once squash is baked let cool, and removed the other skin then cut into cubes. Place vegetable oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic sweat until onion is translucent then add potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes then add carrots. Cook another 5 then add celery. After about 10 minutes add squash, vegetable stalk, almond milk as well as herbs and spices. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer (simmer for 20 minutes) Remove from heat, transfer to a blender (I used nutri-bullet) & blend until smooth. Add salt, pepper and freshly grated parmesan when ready to eat; taste & serve! As the butternut squash soup simmered, I could smell a mixture of flavours releasing within. Sage, thyme, rosemary and curry powder filled my nostrils intensely as the mixture amalgamated. I went on to stir the mixture and noticed the heightened colour of oranges that came forth. While I continued cooking, I could hear the movie Elf playing in the background, making me smiles with joy. Just the fact of knowing that Christmas was just around the corner made me extremely happy. I turned off the heat and let the soup cool before I went on the blend. When the mixture was cooled I blended it to make a thicker velocity. After blending I poured the hardy thickened soup into a large deep bowl for my family and I to enjoy. I took out a spoon, with excitement and started to taste. When tasting the butternut squash soup, my tongue was embraced with sweet yet savory flavours the warmed my insides. There were very delicious notes of squash with an after taste of pleasure. I poured the soup for some of my family to try, eager to see their reactions. Since my family doesn’t enjoy the types of food that I do, I wasn't too surprised with their reactions. They enjoyed the soup, but it wasn't a soup they would prefer, or go out of their way to ask for. The biggest challenge I think I embarked while making this soup was getting more flavour within. Since I don't enjoy cooking with a lot of salt, I noticed I had to add a large amount in to bring out the flavours within the squash. Overall I think the recipe was a success because of the consistency, texture and taste that this soup had. When I cook this soup again, I would add in more spices and herbs to bring out more intense flavours within the soup. In result of making this soup I have learned how to experiment with different flavour combinations as well as textures and flavours. I can't wait to continue making soups now that I understand the basics of what goes into a soup and how easily accessible it can be.