The Soup Thread

[George Garnett]

Thank you for that, Mort. But here I have to admit that my sanctity outdoes even that of St Fergus. My fridge doesn't even have an ice box.

St Findus the Lesser

[Morticia]

WHAT!! And I was so looking forward to
:'(

[martle]

Stock will go off if it's not frozen, George. Why don't you buy a little separate freezer?

[George Garnett]

Stock will go off if it's not frozen, George.

Ah, that's what I had rather feared.

Why don't you buy a little separate freezer?

It's the New Asceticism, Martle. I've been holding out against any new electrical items but I suppose I had better succumb sometime. When this fridge finally packs up I'll definitely get one with a small ice-box anyway.

[Morticia]

It's soup weather. Gloomy and cold. The local shop had some fine looking leeks. Ah, leek and potato soup, I thought. Then I spied some very handsome looking cauliflowers. Change of menu. Leek and cauli soup with a smidge of smoked paprika and maybe some white beans added. Not sure. I'll see how it shapes up. I just have to stop nibbling the cauli before it gets to the pot

[Selva Oscura]

Change of menu. Leek and cauli soup with a smidge of smoked paprika and maybe some white beans added. Not sure. I'll see how it shapes up.

Eye of newt is always good.

[Morticia]

Are you crazy?! At the prices they're charging for them now?

[...trj...]

Gosh! A Soup Thread! I didn't know we had one.

(Funny, I googled 'bear soup' and got all sorts of pictures of hirsute gentlemen in baths.)

Yeah. I recommend putting 'Safe Search' on when you google 'Cock-a-Leekie' as well.

Now then, I have an embarrassingly basic question about stock. Suppose you have made yourself a nice big bowl of stock along the lines of trj's receipt above, how long can you keep it for? And if you are a simple hermit who doesn't possess a freezer, what is the best way to keep it? Just in a bowl in the fridge? in a sealed jar in ditto? or does it have to bubble away constantly in the 'stock pot' on top of the Aga (which in my case I also have not got)?

I would pop it in the fridge and use within a few days. At castle rj the pattern is usually roast chicken on Friday eve, make stock over the weekend, possibly soup/risotto too; at the latest make soup/risotto by Tuesday.

[Brassbandmaestro]

Covent Garden Smoked Haddock Chowder or Brocoli & Stilton, yummy. Also, any homemade soup that MrsBBM makes!!! Cae MrsBBM!

[George Garnett]

I would pop it in the fridge and use within a few days. At castle rj the pattern is usually roast chicken on Friday eve, make stock over the weekend, possibly soup/risotto too; at the latest make soup/risotto by Tuesday.

Ah, thanks trj. That sort of timescale looks good for most of my modest purposes. It's not dissimilar, come to think of it, to the lifespan of my three day winter stews which I've survived more or less unscathed so far. I'm looking forward to the joy of puttering. 

[...trj...]

I wonder myself about the wisdom of thrice-cooked chicken (roast, stock, soup, possibly reheated after that too), but I'm still standing.

[Chafing Dish]

I wonder myself about the wisdom of thrice-cooked chicken (roast, stock, soup, possibly reheated after that too), but I'm still standing.

Isn't Thrice Cooked Chicken a standard item on every Chinese restaurant menu?

[Chafing Dish]

Soup yesterday turned into risotto unexpectedly when I added a pint of rice instead of a cup.

A lot of risotto. And not the kind you get in restaurants. The kind with celery and potato.

[Chafing Dish]

Soup tonight will be a French Onion soup. Really.

This involves caramelizing the onions in the oven for almost 3 hours, then continuing on the stovetop until they beg for mercy and threaten to immolate themselves.

Only then do you relieve their agony with cooking sherry, beef broth, a bunch of thyme and a bay leaf. Pepper to taste.

click

[oliver sudden]

This involves caramelizing the onions in the oven for almost 3 hours, then continuing on the stovetop until they beg for mercy and threaten to immolate themselves.

You sap-thirsty cutstem!