nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (09/10/85)
> Any good recipes for Beef Barley and Cream of Chicken soups???? > Thanks in advance. There are four basic ways to thicken soups that I know of. One is to add corn starch, dissolved in cold liquid (as in egg drop or hot and sour soup). This produces a clear, thick soup without overloading your calorie counter. However, it is not appropriate for a cream of x soup. Another way is to add thickening veggies, and cook & mash them (like potatoes or beans), producing an opaque, relatively low-fat, thick soup. Okra can be used if a more translucent soup is desired. Again, nogo for cream soups. Third way is to actually add cream to the stock. It will thicken (as will your midriff), but the soup will have a distict cream flavor that I find distracting in most cases. The soup will also be pale and opaque. Finally, you may add a roux or a bechamel sauce to the base, adding fat & calories but not as much as cream would. The result is not as pale as the cream-thickened variety, nor does it have the dairy taste to it. You can make the roux quite dark (even to black in some Creole recipes), but this is not what you want to do for a cream soup. Generally, for the liquid part you want about half stock & x liquid and half milk with the same amount of roux you would use to make a thick bechamel sauce if you only used the milk. The stock can be vegetable (potatoe peel, artichoke, asparagus, etc), or meat (chicken, turkey, ... haven't tried beef or pork. Maybe guinea pig broth would do...). The x can be the same stuff you used for the broth or some veggie (esp. leftovers that are likely to turn to mush when you reheat them, like cauliflower). A little salt & pepper are usually all the seasonings needed, although a pinch of nutmeg will sometimes do wonders. Sample recipe below : Cream of Brocolli Soup 1 cup (over)cooked, mashed brocolli 1 cup chicken stock 1 cup milk 1/2 stick butter 3-4 Tbsp flour salt pepper Cook the brocolli if it is not a leftover already. Cook until it is past bright green and getting soft. Mash with potatoe masher (or you can toss it in the blender with the stock and puree it) until the lumps are acceptably small. If there are fibers, remove them at this point. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add enough flour so that it is not runny, but not so much to make a paste. Cook on low, stirring gently, until it stops foaming. Add warmed milk and stir vigorously with a whisk. Add stock and mashed veggies. Stir over medium heat until it has thickened. Do NOT boil, but get pretty close to it. Adjust seasoning. Serves two. For cream of chicken, boil a piece or two of chicken in the stock for 20 min. until cooked, remove & cool. Cut meat off bone & discard skin & bones (or use for more stock). Cut meat into small chunks. Add to soup after the roux, milk and stock have been thoroughly combined (ie: don't try to stir the chicken while you are still using a whisk!) It is important for the aesthetics of the soup to remove the fibers you are likely to get if you use asparagus, brocolli, celery, etc. as the veggie. This may be done by putting them through a food mill, or mashing through a strainer. Or you can just kind of pick them out if they are large enough and there aren't too many. Enjoy, Nemo -- Internet: nemo@rochester.arpa UUCP: {decvax, allegra, seismo, cmcl2}!rochester!nemo Phone: [USA] (716) 275-5766 work, 232-4690 home USMail: 104 Tremont Circle; Rochester, NY 14608 School: Department of Computer Science; University of Rochester; Rochester, NY 14627
eac@drutx.UUCP (CveticEA) (09/12/85)
A helpful tip for thickening things with roux (gravies, soups, etc.) The first rule of thickening is to use a hot roux with cold liquid or hot liquid with cold roux. In the latter case I have found the following to be quite handy: Make a lot of roux by melting 1 cup of butter (unsalted) and cooking 1 cup of flour in it, just like you would for any white sauce. Cool this mixture until it gets a bit thick. Pour 1 T globs of it on waxed paper and freeze until set. You can then store these in a freezer bag or a plastic container. Now when you want to thicken something hot, just plunk in the appropriate amount of roux chips. About 2 per cup of liquid will produce the consistency of a medium white sauce. You can keep adding roux until you have the desired consistency. This is extra handy if you have just made a gravy with the hot roux/cold stock method, it is bubbling, and you didn't get it quite thick enough--just pop a little roux from the freezer into it and the problem is solved. If you want to get really fancy, you can season the roux to taste, but this of course, may limit its uses. Betsy Cvetic ihnp4!drutx!eac
vch@rruxo.UUCP (Kerro Panille) (09/13/85)
>> Any good recipes for Beef Barley and Cream of Chicken soups???? >> Thanks in advance. > >... >Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add enough flour so that it is not runny, >but not so much to make a paste. Cook on low, stirring gently, until >it stops foaming. Add warmed milk and stir vigorously with a whisk. ... What nemo is describing here is a standard white sauce. This is a great alternative if you tend to break your soups. I usually use half & half or heavy cream because the fat in them gives the soup a creamier texture, as well as making it quite thick. (I love a good THICK soup.) ... >It is important for the aesthetics of the soup to remove the fibers you >are likely to get if you use asparagus, brocolli, celery, etc. as the >veggie. This may be done by putting them through a food mill, or mashing ... Very true. If you haven't made cream of asparagus, you don't really have any idea of fibers. Asparagus has a lot of fibers in it. This can be quite a pain when making soup. (but, oh, is it ever worth it!!) Now, a recipie: CREAM OF SPINACH SOUP (for those who *thought* they didn't like spinich) 1 bag spinach 3 or so tbs butter 2-3 tbs flour 1 qt chicken broth (hot) 1 pint cream (half & half may be substituted, but it's just not the same) 1 egg yolk salt white pepper Make a light roux in a soup kettle. (Melt the butter in the kettle, add flour, cook over low heat until it changes consistancy, do not burn butter) Dice spinach, which had been cleaned (stems removed, washed), then add to kettle and cook over low heat until well cooked. It should almost be like steaming the spinach. When cooked, (about 5 mins), beat hot broth into the contents of the kettle, make it smooth by adding a little at a time. Simmer 10 mins. Meanwhile, beat egg yolk until bright yellow; add cream, stir. Take approx. 1 cup of liquid from the kettle (hot) and *a little at a time*, beat it into the eqq-cream mixture. Pour the eqq-cream mixture into the kettle, stir. Heat, do NOT boil. Season with salt and white pepper. ENJOY!!!! This soup has been known to cause intense orgasms. -- Vince Hatem ---------------- A Bell Communications Research | UZI |----------|_ _ _\/ T Raritan River Software Systems Center | |----------| /\ & 444 Hoes Lane ---------------- ROGER GUTS T 4D-360 / /\ DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' Piscataway, NJ 08854 / / TIES (201) 699-4869 /-----/ ...ihnp4!rruxo!vch TRUE GRIT MYSTERIES - The detective series for those who NEVER eat quiche! (WARNING - MAY BE EMOTIONALLY DISTURBING TO HAMSTER LOVERS)
vch@rruxo.UUCP (Kerro Panille) (09/13/85)
>Make a lot of roux by melting 1 cup of butter (unsalted) and cooking 1 >cup of flour in it, just like you would for any white sauce. Cool this >mixture until it gets a bit thick. Pour 1 T globs of it on waxed paper and >freeze until set. You can then store these in a freezer bag or a plastic >container. Now when you want to thicken something hot, just plunk in the It is not necessary to freeze roux. It keeps for at least a week at room temperature. If you plan to keep it longer, refrigerate it. Cold it will keep for up to two months. >you have the desired consistency. This is extra handy if you have just >made a gravy with the hot roux/cold stock method, it is bubbling, and you For gravies, which I like quite dark, burn the roux. Bruning roux is akin to burning butter. It turns a deep brown. This does not harm the roux, it just makes it very dark brown, which darkens your gravy very well. -- Vince Hatem ---------------- A Bell Communications Research | UZI |----------|_ _ _\/ T Raritan River Software Systems Center | |----------| /\ & 444 Hoes Lane ---------------- ROGER GUTS T 4D-360 / /\ DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' Piscataway, NJ 08854 / / TIES (201) 699-4869 /-----/ ...ihnp4!rruxo!vch TRUE GRIT MYSTERIES - The detective series for those who NEVER eat quiche! (WARNING - MAY BE EMOTIONALLY DISTURBING TO HAMSTER LOVERS)
billw@Navajo.ARPA (09/17/85)
Roux and browned roux are also excellent for greasing cake pans - (remelt it and) apply with a pastry brush. BillW