Easy Soup Recipes | Free Soup Recipies

The best time tested and easy soup recipes online, free soup recipies for most major soups dishes including Campbell soup recipes, ideal for those on soup diets.

Instructions for Cooking Soup

Consomme (see beef consomme recipe), or beef stock, forms the basis of all meat soups, and also of all main sauces. It is, therefore, essential to the success of these culinary operations to know the most complete and economical method of extracting from a certain quantity of meat the best possible stock, or broth such as in mutton soup broth.

Fresh, uncooked beef makes the best stock especially for a beef soup recipe with barley, with the addition of cracked bones, as the glutinous matter contained in them renders it important that they should be boiled with the meat, which adds to the strength and thickness of the soup. They are composed of an earthy substance, to which they owe their solidity, of gelatine, and a fatty fluid, something like marrow. Two ounces of them contain as much gelatine as one pound of meat; but, in them, this is so encased in the earthy substance, that boiling water can dissolve only the surface of the whole bones, but by breaking them they can be dissolved more. When there is a lot of it, it causes the stock, when cold, to become a jelly. The flesh of old animals contains more flavor than the flesh of young ones. Brown meats contain more flavor than white.

Mutton is too strong in flavor for good stock, while veal, although quite glutinous, furnishes very little nutriment.

Some cooks use meat that has already been cooked; this renders little nourishment and destroys the flavor. It may answer for ready soup, but for stock to keep it is not as good, unless it should be roasted meats. Those contain higher fragrant properties; so by putting the remains of roast meats in the stock-pot you obtain a better flavor.

The shin bone is generally used, but the neck or "sticking piece," as the butchers call it, contains more of the substance that you want to extract, makes a stronger and more healthy and nutritious soup, than any other part of the animal. Meats for soup should always be put on to cook in cold water, in a covered pot, and allowed to simmer slowly for several hours, in order that the essence of the meat may be drawn out thoroughly, and should be carefully skimmed to prevent it from becoming turbid, never allowed to boil fast at any time, and if more water is needed, use boiling water from the tea-kettle; cold or lukewarm water spoils the flavor. Never salt it before the meat is tender (as that hardens and toughens the meat), especially if the meat is to be eaten. Take off every particle of scum as it rises, and before the herbs and vegetables are put in.

Allow a small amount of less than a quart of water to a pound of meat and bone, and a teaspoonful of salt. When finished, strain through a colander. If for clear soups, strain again through a hair sieve, or fold a clean towel in a colander set over an earthen bowl, or any dish large enough to hold the stock. As stated before, stock is not as good when made entirely from cooked meats, but in a family where it requires a large joint roasted every day, the bones, and bits and underdone pieces of beef, or the bony structure of turkey (see turkey soup recipe or chicken that has been left from carving, bones of roasted poultry, these all assist in imparting a rich dark color to soup, and would be enough, if stewed as above, to furnish a family, without buying fresh meat for the purpose; still, with the addition of a small amount of fresh meat it would be more nutritious. In cold weather you can gather them up for several days and put them to cook in cold water, and when done, strain, and put aside until needed.

Soup will be as good the second day as the first if heated to boiling point. It should never be left in the pot, but should be turned into a dish or shallow pan, and set aside to get cold. Never cover it up, as that will cause it to turn sour very quickly.

Before heating again, remove all the fat from the top. If this is melted in, the flavor of the soup will certainly be ruined.

Thickened soups require nearly double the seasoning used for thin soups or broth.

Coloring Soup

Coloring is used in some brown soups, the chief of which is brown burnt sugar, which is known as caramel by French cooks.

Pounded spinach leaves give a fine green color to soup such as in cream of spinach soup. Parsley, or the green leaves of celery put in soup, will serve instead of spinach.

Pound a large handful of spinach in a mortar, then tie it in a cloth, and wring out all the juice; put this in the soup you wish to color green five minutes before taking it up.

Mock turtle soup, and sometimes veal soup and lamb soups, should be this color.

Okras, as in okra soup, gives a green color to soup.

To color soup red, skin six red tomatoes, for tomato soup recipes, squeeze out the seeds, and put them into the soup with the other vegetables — or take the juice only, as directed for spinach.

Soup Ingredients & Flavoring

For white soups, which are of veal, lamb or chicken, none but white vegetables are used; rice, pearl barley, vermicelli, or macaroni (see macaroni soup recipe), for thickening.

Grated carrot gives a fine amber color to soup; it must be put in as soon as the soup is free from scum.

Hotel and private house stock is quite different.

Hotels use meat in such large quantities that there is always more or less trimmings and bones of meat to add to fresh meats; that makes very strong stock, which they use in most all soups and gravies and other made dishes.

The meat from which soup has been made is good to serve cold thus: Take out all the bones, season with pepper and salt, and catsup, if liked, then chop it small, tie it in a cloth, and lay it between two plates, with a weight on the upper one; slice it thin for luncheon or supper; or make sandwiches of it; or make a hash for breakfast; or make it into balls, with the addition of a small amount of wheat flour and an egg, and serve them fried in fat, or boil in the soup.

An agreeable flavor is sometimes imparted to soup by sticking some cloves into the meat used for making stock; a few slices of onions (see onion soup recipe) fried very brown in butter are nice; also flour browned by simply putting it into a saucepan over the stove and stirring it constantly until it is dark brown.

Clear soups must be perfectly transparent, and thickened soups about the consistency of cream. When soups and gravies are kept from day to day in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cool cellar. In temperate weather, every second day may be enough.

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