Soups

It’s hard to go wrong with soups. Not only are they easy to make, but with good ingredients and a little imagination you will be constantly surprised and delighted at the many varieties of soups you can make.

How to make better soups

• Flavour is always better if you stir-fry soup vegetables in butter before adding the stock.
• Thicken green soups such as lettuce, leek, spinach or watercress by adding a diced potato to the pan. Use a floury maincrop variety.
• Cut vegetables small so they cook more quickly and simmer the soup gently to slowly release the flavour. Soups should never be boiled fast or they will just evaporate and reduce.
• A meat bone or chicken carcass boiled up to make a simple stock will improve the flavour of any soup, but the lack of one should not deter you. Vegetable soups can be made with water; you can also use vegetable cooking water or a chicken stock cube with water.
• Add milk to soups after the soup is puréed and before reheating to avoid the risk of milk separation, especially if vegetables are acid, such as tomato and watercress. Soups with milk added will easily boil over, so watch the pot.
• Soups passed through a food mill or sieve have more character, but use the blender when you want them very smooth and creamy.
• Season soups carefully and recheck seasoning before serving. Soups served cold will need more seasoning than those served hot.
• When making puréed soups to serve chilled, keep butter to a minimum and make sure you skim off every particle of fat before refrigerating. Or avoid butter altogether by using oil.
• A tablespoon of cream added to any soup will make it richer, and a liaison of egg yolk and cream makes it satiny smooth. A blend of 1 egg yolk with 2–3 tablespoons cream to 2 pints (1.1 litres) soup is the usual proportion. Add cream or a liaison at the very end after the pan has been drawn off the heat.
• Soups thicken as they cool, especially pulse soups. When reheating do not add extra liquid because the soup will thin again with heating. For serving soups chilled, however, add extra cream, stock or milk to make a thin consistency.
• Some soups taste better the day after making, particularly vegetable soups. Allow soup to cool to room temperature, then chill. Reheat just before serving and check seasoning.