Thick Soup

A_Sober_Paddy

Hey all

Just looking for advice re soup. Basically i have a big beard and a messy eater:rolleyes: So i wanna try and cook soup but it needs to be thick. How can i make the soups thicker, is it just less water more vegtables and blend blend blend

Speedwell

Red lentils cook quickly and dissolve into a soup, giving it substance and extra nutrition.
Add a handful of pearl barley to suck up some of the water.
Use dried potato flakes as a simple thickener.
Use a stick blender to puree some of the soup solids.
Work butter and flour together into a paste (beurre manie) and stir some into simmering soup to disperse and thicken.
Do the same with a small amount of cornflour and cold water slurry.

Counterintuitively, make your soup brothy and thin, and sip it from a mug.

Keane2baMused

To get a thicker soup it's best to go with veg that has a lower water content and also don't go mad on the stock. You can always add more stock at the end (or milk/cream) if it's too thick!

Celery, tomatoes, courgettes and spinach all have a high water content.

So root veg like spuds, sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnip will create a much thicker soup.

A_Sober_Paddy

Keane2baMused wrote: »

To get a thicker soup it's best to go with veg that has a lower water content and also don't go mad on the stock. You can always add more stock at the end (or milk/cream) if it's too thick!

Celery, tomatoes, courgettes and spinach all have a high water content.

So root veg like spuds, sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnip will create a much thicker soup.

Whats broccoli like? Was thinking of broccoli and mature chedder soup

Alun

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Whats broccoli like? Was thinking of broccoli and mature chedder soup

Lovely, or use a blue cheese, even better. Cauliflower with cheese is another good one.

Speedwell

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Whats broccoli like? Was thinking of broccoli and mature chedder soup

Cheese soup is based on a white sauce. If you want your soup particularly thick, make your white sauce thicker (you can always thin it a little with milk if it is too thick). Stir in shredded cheese off the heat. You'll want to steam your broccoli so it doesn't get gray, then add it to the soup once it is done (don't cook it in the soup). Nice idea, yum.

Alun

I just make broccoli or cauliflower soup exactly the same way I make any other vegetable based soup, and add some grated cheddar or crumbled blue cheese at the end after blending and let it melt into the soup.

Dizzyblonde

There's a really nice recipe for broccoli soup in the Souper Soup thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=68984613&postcount=35
You could crumble in a nice strong cheese.

The thickest soup I've ever made is scotch broth - you could trot a mouse across it

A couple of handfuls of leftover ham, chopped (I've also made it with lamb)

A quarter of a mug of barley (roughly 2 oz)

A half a mug of lentils, rinsed (roughly 4oz)

2 chicken stock cubes

A good sized carrot, diced

3-4 slices of turnip, diced

Half a leek, diced (or an onion)

A good handful of shredded cabbage

Salt and pepper

A small pinch of mixed herbs

1.5 litres of hot water (a full kettle)

Boil the barley and lentils with the stock cubes in the water for 40 minutes.
Add the meat, carrot, leek, turnip, herbs and salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the cabbage and boil for another 10 minutes.

lazeedaisy

If I want thicker soup, I add floury potatoes, which in turn melts into the soup,

the beer revolu

OP, you really did answer your own question.
All sound advice given above but in simple terms, more veg, less water will always make your soup thicker.

RebelButtMunch

Spuds and red lentils

Billy86

Beer and Cheese Soup

Sounds borderline horrific, right? I made it on a whim from something I saw online, and thinking it would suit well for a Superbowl party a few months back... it's so good, it's basically crack.

200-300g cheddar cheese (I use red cheddar)
60-70g (4-5 tbsp) flour
1 can of beer (blonde works well - technically only about 400ml so you can steal a mouthful or just leave it in)
1 onion
1 carrot
2-3 garlic cloves
Milk or cream
Olive/vegetable oil
750ml chicken stock

- Put a glug or two of oil in a large pot, add the onion and carrot (both diced) and fry for 3-5 minutes on high. Add the garlic for a minute or two.
- Pour in the beer, stir and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer (low/medium heat) and leave for 20-odd mins.
- Put in a blender with half the chicken stock (375ml), blitz for a good solid minute or until as smooth as possible.
- Mix half of the remaining chicken stock (180-200ml) with the flour in the now-empty pot (still on med heat) and combine for 1-2 mins until it's a thick paste.
- Pour the blender contents and the remaining stock back into the pot with the flour mix in it, stir like crazy - electric whisks recommended! Simmer about 10 mins.
- Add the milk and simmer another 10-15 mins until it's a bit thicker (tines of a fork are an easy way to gauge thickness - is it sticking between them?)
- Throw in the cheese, stir around for a few more minutes until completely melted, and serve.

You can whack in some hot sauce with the milk or cheese too, if you want a bit of kick behind it. Crumbled crispy bacon is unbelievable on it (popcorn of all things is nice too), but can throw pretty much any meat in it if you want a quick, hearty meal - it looks rank when it goes cold because of the flour, but 2-3 mins in the microwave or on the pot and it's back to normal, it reheats extremely well.

Preparing everything beforehand only takes 5-10 minutes, and apart from the first bit (frying onion/carrot/garlic) and last (cheese) you can pretty much forget about it while you do other things around the house.

And yes... it is thick (if you want thicker, add a little more flour at a time until you are happy).

Carawaystick

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Spuds and red lentils

And Pearl Barley

gucci

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Hey all

Just looking for advice re soup. Basically i have a big beard and a messy eater:rolleyes: So i wanna try and cook soup but it needs to be thick. /QUOTE]

Surely thicker soup is harder to brush out of your beard? :rolleyes:

Spanish Eyes

Get a baby beaker and then you can have any soup you want. Beard not affected, Sorted! Lol

Mellor

Also have a beard and prefer thick soups and sauces.
Potato starch, or tapioca starch, mixed with cold water and stir through is a good way to thicken I find.
I also use it for thickening coconut currys like massaman, thai red etc.