I just tasted my new pot of bean soup and got to thinking it would be fun to hear about peoples favorite soups. It has probably been done before, but we have a lot of new people. I will start with the one I am cooking today.

Bean with Bacon

Fry bacon in soup pot until almost crisp and drain fat. Add a hand full of all the different dry beans I have on hand, a couple hand fulls of soft wheat for extra thickness, a little pearl barley (I am just talking about what I did today, I don't always do it just like this) Fill the pot with water and cook for several hours uncovered. Replace lost liquid with canned tomatoes and add onion and celery. I forgot to say I add salt at beginning when I put the washed beans in. Correct seasoning as desired - we like fresh ground pepper - and eat with fresh baked bread when all beans are tender.(simmer covered after the tomatoes have been added)

Next.........

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 08, 2001

Answers

Dehydrated garden vegetables with country cured ham chunks. The dehydrated tomatoes and okra really make it with their concentrated flavor.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 08, 2001.

Buffalo & Cabbage soup -- fry up a pound of ground buffalo. Add 2 cans of beef broth (or homemade stock if you've got it) and 2 of water. Add in about 3/4 cup brown rice and cook til nearly tender. Shred a half a head (med) of cabbage, and chop up 1 medium onion and add to pot, along with garlic powder, parsley, salt to taste, and 1 T. (or more to taste) Paprika. Simmer til tender, but do not overcook cabbage. Like cabbage rolls in a bowl.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 08, 2001.

Last week I roasted a chicken with onions carrots and potatoes,A baked a squash,boiled celery and broccoliin just enough water to cover.Then all the veggies sans chicken went through the blender,add garlic basil a little curry whatever.Serve with those durkee fried dehyrated oninos ar croutons mmmmmmm.Be careful its thick and burns easy.I don,t want to make this long but if anyone wants I have a base recipe for cream soups of any kind.I was sous chef ...in my much younger days....teri

-- teri (mrs_smurf2000@yahoo.ca), January 10, 2001.

Our favorite is Spanish Bean Soup. Any good smoked ham bone with a some cut up leftover ham. Cover with water and cook. Add potatoes, onions and a few smashed garlic cloves, 1 or 2 cans of garbonzo beans(chick peas) and cook until the veg. are done. Add a couple of chorizo sausages cup up. You can use any smoked link sausage but the chorizo makes it authentic. Cook it for a while longer and serve with toasted cuban bread. Of course any chewy, course bread will do. There arent any set amounts of ingredients because it depends on how much soup you are making. I grew up in Central Florida and this was a common dish at home. Here in Tenn. its impossible to get the chorizo so I wait until someone is going south and get them to bring me back some. This is a soup that gets better every time you heat it up so we make lots and enjoy it for a couple of days. Oh yes and we always serve it with yellow rice. This is making me hungry. I'm gonna have to search the freezer and see if I have some sausage left. Blessings Peggy

-- Peggy Carr (wclpc@cookeville.com), January 10, 2001.

I have so many good soups that I make it is hard to know which one to post. But I will give you a very simple but very satisfying one.

Lentil Soup

1# of lentils washed well 8 cups water 1 onion, chopped Olive oil 2 stalks celery, chopped lemon juice salt and pepper to taste

Put about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot and saute' the onions and celery until soft, add water and lentils . Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until lentils are soft. Salt to taste and pepper if you like. Add about 2-3 tabblespoons of lemon juice and serve. Pass the olive oil at the table to pour into the soup. A large slice of homemade bread and you have some very satisfying fare. And so easy and inexpensive.

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), January 10, 2001.

Teri, I would love to have your base recipe for cream soups since I do like them a lot. I have been making a lot of corn chowder since I froze six bushels of fresh corn last fall. Uhmmm is it good. For my recipe I have to cook the corn first because it is only blanched so I do that by cooking it in it's own juice on medium, stirring frequently, for about five minutes, then I add a little water to allow me to be able to keep cooking the corn. Then I add about a tablespoon of butter to finish up cooking the corn. When it turns from white to yellow, the corn is done. Meanwhile, I have cubed some potatoes and they are boiling in some water. In a separate pan, suitable to hold the whole chowder when done, I saute some onions and a piece of salt pork until the onions are translucent. You can substitute a couple pieces of bacon if you like. I then pour in some milk or half and half and warm it up to just below a boil. Then I add the cooked potatoes, and a little potato water, and the corn. I also add some salt and pepper. If the potato water doesn't thicken the soup enough I will add a little cornstarch to it. I then freeze this up in serving size, some for individual servings and some for family size, so I can grab them for quick meals.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), January 11, 2001.

My Mom made this for me when staying with us after birth of last child. I ate it like I was starving and it seemed to satisfy deeply. I can't describe the richnes of this soup and how satisfying physically and emotionally.

Scotch Broth, Alabama Style (From "Cooking Across the South", Southern Living) The veggie amounts are really up to you...I never make this the same way twice because I don't always have all the ingredients. Don't think I've ever put parsnips in. The meat and barley are a must though.

3 pounds chuck roast or other beef with bones 3 quarts water 1/2 cup pearl barley 1/4 medium head cabbage, chopped (optional IMO) 4 carrots, chopped 2 parsnips, chopped (optional IMO) 3 or 4 turnips, chopped (Optional IMO) 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (I never bother to peel them) 1 medium onion 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (dried works) salt and pepper to taste 2 cups fresh or frozen green peas (optional)

Place beef, water, and barley in soup kettle; cover, and simmer 2 hours, Add cabbage, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and potatoes. More water may be added as necessary. Cover and simmer 1 hour. Add remaining ingredients; simmer an additional 45 minutes, serve hot (duh!). Yield 12 servings (Not around here!)

Note: For a more traditional Scotch broth, use lamb instead of beef; saute' vegetables before adding; omit peas. ********************

We like it best with lamb and no peas. I use whatever lamb I could find on sale or "mangers special" at the store. I also add garlic and maybe chicken bouillion when making it with lamb. Don't use beef bouillion with lamb as it can over power the lamb flavor. I also like to add a cube or two of basil ice cubes. (That's basil that I processed over the summer and froze in ice trays then put in baggies.) Celery is good in this too.

This is one of those soups that is even better after it has set in the fridge overnight.

-- heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), January 19, 2001.

I was just listening to public radio the other night and they were discussing soup recipes. The chef they had on the program was talking about making a soup base by roasting vegetables along with meat in the oven -- carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, tomatoes, whatever you have/like (works with leeks too) and then pureeing the roasted vegetables in chicken stock as a base for many soups. It sounded really good. I was thinking of trying a roasted leek and potato base with some lamb whenever I can find the lamb and leeks at a reasonable price. My leeks didn't do anything this summer, they were too shaded. Have to try again this summer.

He was also talking about making some lovely meat stock by first roasting the beef or lamb soup bones in the oven, or chicken backs, wings, and necks also in oven, then putting them into a kettle with water and never letting it boil, just cooking at a very low simmer to extract the flavour. Roasting intensifies the flavour, and the precooking alters the meat juices so that you get a clear stock if you don't boil it. I'd known about parboiling meat for clear stock from Japanese broth recipes, but this might be a nice thing to do whenever you've already got the oven going for a roast or something.

I forgot to mention earlier about adding tomato sauce or canned chopped tomatoes to the cabbage soup recipe I posted earlier. Sorry.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 21, 2001.

Hey Julie, I thought my mom was the only one who "baked her bones". It does make a difference in a fuller richer flavor.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

I think the same principle is being invoked by baking the meat as when you sear it in a hot skillet before adding to the pot. The baking would be easier for bones and such.

My mom always peppered, floured, then seared her pot roasts before roasting and also the stew meat cubes before stewing.

Chicken is good if it is browned before adding to a "smothered" chicken recipe.

-- Heather, Cackleberry Acres, MD (heathergorden@hotmail.com), January 22, 2001.