An Exaltation of Soups (5 page)

But professional soup bases, bouillon cubes, bags of powdered stock, concentrates, and canned stocks work, too—and produce wonderful soups that are well flavored and belie hours of kitchen work that never took place. No one would quarrel with the results. I swear.

I will give you the choice throughout this book whenever possible, although some traditional recipes insist on being started from scratch. By all means, when you are pressed for time, take the excellent shortcuts that are offered on the shelves of your local market. But when you’ve got the time and the place and are in the mood, I hope you’ll dig into the recipes below to get back in touch with your primordial self. Please note that you may halve or double these stock recipes according to your needs and achieve the same quality result.

• Because canned and cube stocks are usually saltier than homemade stocks, be sure to taste your soup before you season it—and reduce salt additions accordingly.

• As a matter of interest to weight watchers, canned chicken broth has twice as many calories as canned beef broth.

•
Stock
is the liquid extracted from foods slowly cooked in water and/or wine and used as a foundation for soup and other things. In olden days, it was the “never-ending” broth that was kept going year-round in the back of farmhouse fires, cooked in large iron kettles, with little bits of this and little bits of that meat and vegetable scraps added just about every day.

•
Broth
is an English term for the liquid extracted from meat cooked slowly with water, which is then concentrated and used either as a foundation for soup or as a simple soup itself (pretty much like the French
bouillon
and the Italian
brodo).

•
Consommé
is a double-strength stock “finished” into a clear soup.

•
Double consommé
is a consommé that has been clarified (for instructions). When the stock is boiled down further, it becomes, progressively, a
flavoring
, an
essence
, and a
glaze.

T
IP
: If you freeze stock in ice cube trays, you can pop the cubes into plastic bags and use as much or as little as you want at any time.

FISH STOCK

Makes 8 cups

Prep the ingredients as directed in the recipe list.

1. In a large soup pot, bring all the ingredients to a boil over medium heat, skimming as necessary. Partially cover and cook over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes.

2. Strain the stock, discarding the solids. If you’re not going to use the stock immediately, cool it down quickly, uncovered, and then either refrigerate it or freeze it for later use.

VEGETABLE STOCK

Makes 8 cups

Prep the ingredients as directed in the recipe list.

1. In a large soup pot, bring all the ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and cook gently, uncovered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

2. Strain the stock, discarding the solids. Season with salt. If you’re not going to use the stock immediately, cool it down quickly, uncovered, and then either refrigerate it or freeze it for later use.

N
OTE
: If you want darker broth, brown the vegetables in 2 tablespoons of oil for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat, then add the water and herbs and bring to a boil, scraping up any dark bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes, uncovered, then strain, discarding the solids.

N
OTE:
If you want more fragrance and complexity in the stock, add any combination of fresh tomatoes, fennel, mushrooms, or other aromatic vegetables to the browning process, then cook and strain as above.