The List Of Soups
Pozole is a soup made from hominy and braised meat with a handful of variations. It is commonly served for New Year’s Eve as well as other holidays including Christmas and Easter. Though it originates in Mexican cuisine I learned how to make it from Salvadorans I worked with in Seattle. You can change the protein from the traditionally used pork to chicken, add an enchilada sauce base to make it a Pozole Rojo, or adding tomatillos and making a Pozole Verde to name some. This is one of those soups that the gets better the longer you cook it, as the meat becomes more tender, and the flavors blend together.
Broccoli & Cheese soup is one of those soups that warms the belly as well as the soul. It reminds me of when I was young and the richness of it just makes me smile. I first started making this soup out of the professional kitchen, and more as a winter soup for the home. As time went on I started making it at work and changed the ingredients to use up the items on hand.
This is one of those soups that can change every time you make it. The meatballs, the pasta, and the vegetables can vary based on what you have on hand, or what direction you want to take it. I like fennel in it, but you can make it heavier with peppers, more celery, use artichokes, pretty much anything that's your hearts fancy and a great way to use up leftovers. I normally make meatballs because I am making a sub, or pasta dish, and I always make extra to use in my wedding soup.
I started making this soup, minus the pickled onions, when I was working at Chez Shea in Seattle. We offered a coursed chef's meal and this was a nice light soup, that complimented our other flavors, and highlighted the local cauliflower that you would get late summer to early fall.
This is a soup that I started making primarily based upon product on hand. I wanted to make a nice vegetable soup, but wanted a slightly different take on a classic minestrone. I opted for a Mediterranean skew because I had the chick peas, fennel, and peppers on hand. With a soup like this there any number of variations you can do. The vegetables are always up for a change, though I like to vary my colors, textures, and shapes to give it a unique feel. The pasta is also something you can change as mini shells, ditalini, really any small soup sized noodle can be used.
This is a classic soup that can be made a variety of ways. One of the main things you need to make it an authentic version, is to use smoked ham hocks. You can keep it vegetarian by omitting the hocks and changing the stock, but you'll have to tweak out the spices to enhance the flavor.
I started making this soup in Seattle at Chez Shea as one of our tasting menu variations. It's a nice vegetable soup that is a quick and easy soup to make, yet bursts with flavor.
I love the sweet, tangy, spicy flavor of a good bulgogi dish. When I thought about the components I realized I could take them and turn them into a soup while still retaining the distinct char flavor.
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Many ponzu sauces contain gluten, just check when purchasing if you want it gluten free.
This is a soup that isn't well known outside of Buffalo, NY. One of the women I worked with at the Avenue was from Buffalo and brought it to my attention. It's odd, because my brother actually went to school in Buffalo and I visited a number of times. The balance of the sweet, spicy, salty, and tangy flavor balance was incredible. If you've never heard of this soup, I strongly suggest you try it out.
This is a well rounded cream of chicken soup, just heavier on some of the seasoning, and finished with sour cream for a light tang. The flavor of this soup comes from a couple of the steps, but the longer you marinate the chicken, the stronger the flavor becomes. If you don't feel like making the dumplings you can always put pasta or rice in there, or even just eat it as is, because it can also stand on it's own.
This is a very hearty richly flavored soup. The bacon, potatoes, corn, and marinated chicken blend into a beautifully balanced soup. If you don’t want to grill the chicken or roast the corn to save time, you can go straight into the soup with diced up chicken and shaved corn and the soup will still be good. You will get a more flavorful soup if you cook the chicken and corn separately because you are adding the charred and roasted flavors to your final product.
When I grew up I spent a lot of time in New England because my mom's side of the family is from there. The regional cuisine from there has a special place in my heart, especially the Chowder. There is nothing quite like a rich, creamy, but not too thick clam chowder.... provided it's New England style.
This is a variation on a dish my roomate used to cook frequently. It's a simple white bean chicken chili with the addition of cilantro, green chilies, and tomatillos to give it a nice tang. There are a couple of steps I include to deepen the flavor profile, such as using chipotles to cook the beans, blistering the tomatillos for a light char flavor. Essentially just rounding out the flavor so it's a little more complex.
This soup is different from a lot of my soups because not only are you making sure the ingredients that go into the broth are cooked and seasoned properly, the broth is what carries the dish. The broth is a sweet sour base with 5 spice undertones throughout the dish. The main ingredients that you add to the broth are pork, soba noodles, and cabbage.
Since I was in high school, I have been fortunate enough to be able to travel to the Yucatan Peninsula every other year. The food there has always been excellent but one of the dishes that I took away from there is Yucatan Chicken and Lime soup. This soup has poached chicken breast with julienned peppers served in a rich chicken broth with a heavy twist of chili and lime.
This soup is variation on a classic French Onion. One of the main things I do is use different types of onions in the soup. I also use a heavy amount of cooking sherry, sherry vinegar, and mustard powder. One of the best parts of this soup, is the broiled cheese topping that goes over the soggy bread. Ideally you have the proper vessel to bake or broil the soup off, but if not I have included a way to serve it.
When I was working at the Avenue this soup and we had soup of the day on the menu, this was a staple. There are many variations that you can do to it that makes it your own, but the base is simple. In addition to changing the ingredients like adding white beans, or changing the chicken to pork, you can adjust the thickness of the soup as well. If you are wanting a thinner, brothier soup, cut down the masa by half and follow the same directions. You’ll still get a full-flavored soup but it will come out a touch lighter on the palette.
The first time I came across this soup was when I was working at Tersiguel's. As soon as I tasted the broth and the fish, with the crostini and rouille, I fell in love with it. It is exceptionally light, and the saffron gives the broth a nice bright floral flavor. It is a classic French soup from Marsielle that utilizes various types of seafood that are on hand, especially those that weren't as easy for the fishermen to sell.
Tomato soup is one of my favorite soups both to make, and to eat. It reminds me of being a kid, especially when paired with a grilled cheese sandwich. This particular soup is a rich, elegant, and immensely flavorful version. It's an amalgam of different versions that I've made over the years, with some elements from various chefs I've worked with over the years.
I came across this soup on a trip that I took around Jamaica. It seems that there are endless variations, some vegetarian, others with tripe, and other ingredients which vary as well. In Jamaica there are two ingredients that are consistently included, scotch bonnet peppers and callalo. Scotch bonnet peppers (similar to habaneros but hotter) are a local pepper and callolo is a leafy green, similar to spinach (which you can substitute) but firmer and a very slightly more bitter flavor.
Over the years I've made this soup a number of times. It wasn't until I took a vacation in Italy and we drove through Tuscany, that I had an authentic version in Sienna. It was rich and hearty, with lots of root vegetables and a nice salty broth that was thickened with bread. The recipe I've included here is a great remake, though you can add more and different vegetables if you have them on hand. You can also make it vegan (if that's your thing) by omitting the pancetta and changing the stock to vegetable rather than chicken.
This is one of those soups that almost every restaurant makes. Frequently it is with butternut squash, though you can vary it with any of the other winter/fall squashes.
I have memories from almost every restaurant I've worked at including Tersiguels, Chez Shea, Buck's, additionally when I visited a buddy in Nepal, the host family he was staying with made a beautiful pumpkin soup when I visited.
This is a variation of a soup we frequently used at Chez Shea for our tasting menu. It was a buttermilk corn bisque without the cheddar that focused on the flavor of the corn in season. It was a very good soup, but I wanted to give this a richer body and a stronger flavor. If you wanted you could omit the cheddar, add some heavy cream and you would have a replica of our tasting menu soup.
Gazpacho is one of those soups that is easy, quick, and bursts with flavor. You really only make this during the peak season of tomatoes, unless you have a specific request for a party or something. Ideally using fresh tomatoes that are slightly overripe (you can normally pick them up for a steal at markets, especially when the season is almost over and they are overflowing). There are tons of variations that you can do for this soup, and almost every chef I've worked with has their own version.
This is one of those amazing soups that I have yet to make this soup in a restaurant setting, but the few times I've had it it's been amazing. I personally avoid using peanuts in restaurants (unless needed), because it's one of those allergies that is normally fairly severe and more common than a lot of the ones out there now. Aside from that, this is an amazing soup. There are a lot of variations to the soup, from using french fries, to throwing rice in there, but the one that I created had all the base items, while focusing on a couple of the components.
This is a version of one of the first soups I ever made in the business. When I worked at Calhoun's while I was in undergraduate we had three soups on the menu. Chili, beer & cheese, and black bean. I don't follow the original recipe, as I've learned many steps and lessons in how to approach my food, but the idea is the same. This is a vegan soup, barring the garnish, that is fortified by spices & vegetables, vegetable stock, and tomatoes. Since you aren't using meat or fat, you need to puree some of the beans to give it a heartier mouthfeel, as well as season a little heavier to give it a little more depth.
This soup is a variation of an entree dish we used to serve at 6th Engine. I bulked up the vegetables, and added a couple others, as well as made it brothier. The end result was a filling soup, that has a rich spicy flavor. One thing to mention is that you can make this easily with chicken or tofu. If you are not a fan of shrimp you can substitute the protein, and obviously not use the shells in the broth. You will get a nice soup just not seafood based.
This is one of those soups that I make almost every year when winter starts to come on. There are normally a couple of variations when I make it but consistently it's a thick barley soup with chunks of crunchy vegetables, seared mushrooms, and chicken pieces that have been marinated and cooked separately. The underlying flavor in every bite is the rich dark chicken broth that everything is cooked in, as well as the lightly toasted flavor of the barley.
Borscht is one of those soups that I have been making for years. It's a hearty winter soup, that uses root vegetables, and normally has a beef base. Though I use beets in mine, which is found in the Ukrainian version, there are a number of different ways to make this soup. For this particular version, there were two things I did that are completely optional, but add a richness of flavor you don't normally have. Firstly, I short smoked the pot roast prior to cooking it, and secondly I roasted the beets.
This is one of those soups that I grew up eating. When we went out to eat we frequented the multitude of Chinese food restaurants in the Northern Virginia area because my parents worked and lived overseas for a number of years. One of the nice things about a soup like this, is that the ingredients vary significantly in each version. At the end of the day, what you are looking for is a soup that is lightly thickened with cornstarch, balanced heat from pepper & chili oil pepper, and sour from black vinegar. This base carries the various ingredients that you are using. This soup can be made vegetarian by changing the broth and omitting the pork, but if you are doing so you would want to bulk up the vegetables and seasonings.
I've made this soup a few times in a restaurant setting, though normally when I pair these flavors I make it as a main course. With apples being abundant and the weather dropping I wanted to make a warm, and filling soup that highlighted the apples while not being overwhelming. This is a fairly simple soup that simmers for awhile, but as always, the longer you cook it, the more the flavors develop.
This is a soup from the area that I grew up in. The blue crabs from the Chesapeake are abundant during the late summer/fall and even into the early winter. For this particular version I used claw (back-fin works as well) for the majority of it, and finished it with lump meat for added crab flavor. You can also vary the vegetables used in the soup, but you will want to include the base of tomatoes with carrots, onions, celery, corn, potatoes and lima beans.
When I worked at Sixth Engine I was introduced to Golden Curry brand Japanese curry. It comes in differing heat scales but has a nice earthy rich flavor with lots of umami or mouthfeel. For this particular stew, I served it with a simple rice that I flavored with togarashi and a little rice wine vinegar. The vegetables I chose to use in this were a blend of carrots, onions, peas, and some parsnips (mainly for some added texture as well as a touch of sweetness)
I always enjoy making soups that are a touch different. For this particular soup I wanted to use up my leftovers from Thanksgiving, but I wanted it to stand out. I had preserved some lemons a couple of months ago, and thought that the blend of roasted garlic, preserved lemons, and pickled peppers would create a nice balanced base for the soup.
This is a soup that evolved from a dinner entree I have run in the past. The soup itself is vegetarian until I am ready to plate it. I finish it with marinated pieces of salmon, simmered in the finished soup. The benefit of doing this is that you can keep the soup a touch longer, and if you aren't a fan of salmon, you can use tofu, chicken, or shrimp, and still have an awesome dinner/soup that matches your taste.
This soup is a staple in almost any restaurant, especially if they serve baked potatoes regularly or as a special. This is a great way to utilize day old bakers that might be left over from the previous night service. One of the benefits of a soup like this is the versatility that you have with it. You can make it with chicken stock, or dairy, or vegetable stock to get a well flavored soup that can cover almost any dietary restriction.
This is one of those soups that I honestly can't remember when I started making it. The components of this soup are ones that I frequently use as entrees or appetizers, so making a soup of it is pretty much a no-brainer. For this soup (as well as most of the dishes that I add lentils to) I use carrots and celery to cook the lentils, then fennel and onions as the vegetables for the soup. You can alter these how you like but they compliment the lentils and sausage very well. As for garnish on this soup I made a quick salad of pickled onions and sauteed fennel to add a little texture and round out the flavor of the soup.
This is another one of those soups that I don't make too often, mainly because I don't keep lobster on my menus. I normally will plan it when I am going to run specials that showcase lobster, especially during the week of Valentines, or New Years. If I know that I will be putting this on the menu as a prix fix option or a weekly special, I will also save my shrimp shells for the weeks leading up to when I will run it, to help fortify this soup as well.
Gumbo is a hearty, warming stew that can be made in numerous ways, and with numerous proteins. It's perfect on a cold day, or on a day when you might be feeling a little worse for wear from the previous evening, or really just if you're hungry.
Chili is one of those dishes that a lot of people make. There are so many different approaches to making chili, from vegetables, types of protein, ground or cubed meats, spices, heat, extra smoke, etc. but I wanted to include a recipe that I make fairly often. This chili is still made the same way as most chilies, but there are a couple of things make it stand out. The mole style that I do is a heavy hand of cocoa powder, extra chilies and differing chili powders & spices, then a splash of orange juice at the end to round out the sweetness and acid balance.
This is a soup that when made correctly is light, slightly spicy, acidic, and saltly. The balance of crab with asparagus floating in a rich chicken broth that is finsihed with egg whites is almost ethereal. The amazing part of this dish, is that if you have a good chicken broth on had, it's amazingly easy and quick to make. Enjoy
When I was working at Calhoun's Brewery in Harrisonburg we had three soups on the menu. Vegetarian Black Bean, Chili Con Carne, and Beer and Cheese Soup. I had never had this soup prior to that experience, and when made properly, it's awesome. It's a simple soup to make, really a set and forget thing, then puree at the end. This recipe is similar to the one I used to make then, just tweaked out a bit to make it more stable and less likely to break.
This is a soup that is almost always different. From the vegetables used in the soup to the ingredients that make up the balls, the variation is immense. This particular version has light matzo balls made with preserved lemon and chicken skins in a rich chicken broth fortified with dill and crunchy vegetables.
A simple and flavorful puree of blistered peanuts, celery, and onions cooked in stock and cream. Though I used chicken stock when I made this, this would be a great vegetarian soup if you changed the stock base.
Though there is not complete consensus as to where New Brunswick Stew originated from, one thing for certain is that it is a classic Americana recipe. Both Virginia and Georgia claim the creation of this dish though similar soups, like Burgoo, can be found in different regions in the US. This is a version of the Virginia style, which normally means a touch more barbecue sauce. Frequently this soup is made with rabbit or squirrel, but for this particular recipe I stuck with chicken and pork.
This is a soup that I was introduced to at Tersiguel's in Ellicott City. Though this recipe is different, it was one of the first exposures I had to this classic French soup. The final product of this is a silky smooth, rich, and full flavored soup that has a distinct leek and potato flavor. It's an easy soup to make, you just need the right equipment. A blender is key, as is a chinois (a conical fine mesh strainer) to get the right consistency in the end product.
A flavorful soup from Mexico that consists of broth, potatoes and Queso Fresco. Fortified with roasted peppers, preserved lemon and spices.
