Soups and Chowders

Cream of Fennel and Gruyere Soup with Sherry

Making soup is one of my most satisfying cooking activities and it is something that I do often. Most of the soups that I make start the same way with a mirepoix, which quite simply is a mixture of onion, carrot and celery. This particular soup, Cream of Fennel and Gruyere Soup with Sherry is unique in that it only includes two vegetables, and has a subtle flavour with a silky bisque-like texture.

This versatile soup can be served hot, warm, room temperature or cold in vichyssoise style. It can be made ahead and refrigerated. For longer storage, I freeze the soup base in FoodSaver pouches and add the cream and cheese when the soup is thawed and rewarmed for serving.

Cream of Fennel and Gruyere Soup starts with a fennel bulb | urbnspice.com

This is a Fennel Bulb – a delicious vegetable that provides completely different flavours when eaten raw, cooked, or roasted

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Roasted Butternut Squash and Caramelized Pear Soup

By Denise Pare-Watson

I am excited to share this recipe with you for Roasted Butternut Squash and Caramelized Pear Soup. I love this soup! It has just a few lovely ingredients that pair together in a magnificent way. It is fancy enough to serve to company. It is delicate in taste and silky in texture and is excellent served either hot or room temperature, which also makes this an excellent make-ahead soup.

Butternut Squash soup is the choice that my students ask for each time I set up a soup class. I ask my prospective students if there is any soup in particular that they would like to cover in my class. Butternut Squash Soup is always on top of their list. That makes me happy because it is one of my favourite soups.

But, first things first. Do you know how to cut and peel a butternut squash? It can be quite intimidating tackling such a roly-poly vegetable.

If you are not sure how to cut a Butternut Squash, I cover it step by step using photos in this post. Then, come back here and learn how to make this delicious soup. Roasting the diced butternut squash and pear really does amazing things to the flavour of these ingredients. Let’s do this!

Roasted Butternut Squash & Caramelized Pear Soup

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Chilly Day Soup – A Market Inspired Vegetable Soup

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Inspiration of Urbnspice Series

I love this time of year. There is a chill in the air meaning our daily walks require more of a brisk pace. Soup is always a menu possibility, and many folks who know me well know that I will likely have my large Dutch oven simmering on the stove with a seasonal potage, chowder or bisque. Today, it just seems like vegetable soup is in order due to an abundance of gorgeous Okanagan produce from our Naramata trip this week. Chilly Day Soup is my Market Inspired Vegetable Soup.

Farmer’s Market Inspiration | urbnspice.com

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HOME WELCOMING HEARTY BLACK BEAN SOUP

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Confident Kitchen Series

We have experienced typical March weather – in like a lion and out like a lamb. On one particular day this month, on a short drive home after a grocery outing, the weather patterns provided a complete flip-flop ranging from sun, rain, sleet, snow, slush, wind, and then rain again. My drive home ended with a beautiful rainbow. It was definitely an awe-inspiring moment. As beautiful as this scene was, the chill in the air made me long for something comforting and warm. No question that a hearty soup was in order – Home Welcoming Hearty Black Bean Soup.

This is a soup that is easily and quickly made using common pantry ingredients. It tastes even better the next day and it also freezes well. If you have never used cumin before, I encourage you to try this recipe. Cumin has a distinct fragrance and gives this soup its smoky earthy flavour. Cooking the cumin, paprika and cayenne first in the oil/vegetable mixture releases the spice oils and heightens the flavours of the soup. This recipe for Home Welcoming Hearty Black Bean Soup recipe with Fresh Tomato Herb Salsa is one of my favourites and ready to eat in 30 minutes. Serve with chunks of good hearty bread and Cheddar Cheese.

Hearty Black Bean Soup with Yogurt Swirl and Fresh Tomato Herb Salsa

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The Ultimate French Canadian Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Sea Salt

By Denise Pare-Watson

Urbnspice Ultimate Recipe Series

While spring is fast approaching, the evenings are cool and comfort food is still very much a part of the daily menu. This recipe for Ultimate French Canadian Yellow Split Pea Soup is one of my childhood favourites. Every Friday night was pea soup night. Mom and Dad would typically do their weekly grocery shopping on the way home from work and always buy a fresh loaf of unsliced bread to go with our soup. Hot bowls of fragrant soup with thick slices of fresh bread slathered with butter – yum! Oh, how I looked forward to that meal every week.

French Canadian Pea Soup

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The Secrets of Chicken Soup

By Denise Pare-Watson

There are Secrets of Chicken Soup. I read a lovely article from Chef Laura Calder about the secrets of making Chicken Soup. Her article confirms everything I stress in my Soup and Stocks Class. The “tweaking’ part of the soup making process is important and essential – and fun!

One of my students told me she was a bit shy to try making her own chicken soup after a failed attempt tasted like the chicken had run through the pot. She is now confirmed and confident soup maker. You will be as well after you read Laura’s Mom’s recipe for chicken soup.

Making soup is one of my life’s greatest pleasures. I make soup when I am happy, or stressed, or when there is a chill in the air, and for no reason at all. My own Mom’s soups were famous in the neighbourhood full of wholesome, hearty ingredients from my father’s gardens to feed a gaggle of little girls and their friends.

I also love soup classes – it is one of my favourite classes to teach. Most of the comments that I have received have been from this class. Students went home with litres of soup, a booklet of recipes and a whole new perspective on taking their soup making to a whole new level.

In the meantime, try this fantastic easy recipe for chicken soup. You might learn a secret or two, too!

Five Minute Chicken Soup - really! | urbnspice.com

Five Minute Soup – really! | urbnspice.com

LEARNING TIPS:

Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:

Tweaking
Ice Baths
__________

Please share this article and comment on your soup adventures.

Other Urbnspice Soups You Will Enjoy:

Urb’n’Spice’s Five Minute Soup

Roasted Butternut Squash and Roasted Pear Soup – an elegant soup fit to serve company

Chilly Day Soup – A Market Inspired Vegetable Soup

Home Welcoming Hearty Black Bean Soup

The Ultimate French Canadian Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Sea Salt

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urbnspice Chef

Follow me on Social Media

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram

The Five Minute Soup

By Denise Pare-Watson

For those busy winter evenings or weekend lunches – something quick and nutritious is always a bonus. This Five Minute Soup will become one of your ‘go-to’ favourites. All you need is 4 cups of broth, a few dried vegetable flakes and leftover chicken, beef or other meat of your choice.

Five Minute Soup – really!

The Five Minute Soup

Try this super quick soup recipe and enjoy it in just five minutes. It uses dehydrated vegetable flakes, which are now available everywhere.

If you follow my Urbnspice blog, I use these vegetable flakes for many recipes, particularly when developing gluten-free recipes. Gluten Free Rock Star Veggie Burgers is just one example of how this unique ingredient can make a flavour punch in preparation of a dish.

The Five Minute Soup

Yield: 4 – 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 litre (4 cups) rich chicken or beef broth
1/4 cup dehydrated vegetable flakes
2 cups diced leftover chicken or roast beef
A handful of cooked noodles or rice, optional

METHOD:

Pour the broth into a 2-quart saucepan
Add the dehydrated vegetable flakes and bring the broth to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer.
Add the diced meat (chicken or beef or even tofu) and the noodles if you are using them.
Once the meat is heated through, taste the soup and season to taste, if necessary with salt and pepper
Ladle the five-minute soup into warm bowls and enjoy.

NOTES:

Match the broth to your meat: for example: chicken stock with diced chicken, etc.
For a Gluten Free version of this soup, use rice instead of the noodles or use gluten-free noodles
If your broth is not rich enough, tweak the soup by adding Worcestershire or Soya sauce or bouillon cubes/paste.
Grate some Parmesan Cheese or Romano Cheese on top

You Might Also Like:

Tweaking: A Study in Flavour Amendment

Gluten for Punishment

Gluten-Free Veggie Burgers using dehydrated vegetable flakes

Stuffed Whole Cabbage

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urbnspice Chef

Follow me on Social Media

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram

How To Cut A Butternut Squash

By Denise Pare-Watson

THE CONFIDENT KITCHEN SERIES

Soup Classes seem to include, due to popular demand, a recipe for butternut squash soup. When I send out the initial confirmation for soup classes, I always ask my prospective students if there is any soup in particular that they would like to cover in my class. Butternut Squash Soup is always high on that list. That makes me happy because it is one of my favourite soups. But, first things first. How does a person cut such an unusual looking vegetable? It can be quite intimidating to tackle such a roly-poly vegetable. I am going to show you How To Cut A Butternut Squash.

A beautiful Butternut Squash…

A Super Soup Day – Pork Lentil Soup

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Inspiration of Urbnspice Series

It is a soup kind of day today………….what shall it be? Creamy tomato? Pantry soup? Crisper soup? Or perhaps Beef, Barley and Lentil? Today, it will be Pork Lentil Soup. It is comfort in a bowl. A Super Soup Day it is.

To quote one of my favourite chef personalities, James Barber, who left his footprint on my culinary path.

“I love making soups – I could make bathtubs full of soup”.

James Barber

I will always remember that he left us the same way he inspired us: reading a cookbook at his dining room table with a pot of chicken soup bubbling on the stove. Thank you, James Barber!

A Super Soup Day: Pork and Lentil Soup …

Favourite Kitchen Tools – My Immersion Blender

By Denise Pare-Watson

Favourite Kitchen Tools Series

“The best twenty bucks I have ever spent” applies to this small kitchen tool. This time, I will review a somewhat smaller appliance – powerful in its versatility and convenience – the hand blender, otherwise known as the Immersion Blender in my series, Favourite Kitchen Tools.

I now prepare many more pureed soups and sauces since the purchase of my immersion blender. I utilize the blender in the production of a wide range of food items, for example, baby food, pureed soups, pan sauces, applesauce, and morning breakfast drinks. This is a sequel to the recent post regarding my favourite kitchen tools (see “Time Saver, Money Saver, Food Saver”)

: Immersion Blender – A favourite Kitchen Tool

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