I want as many shoulder chunks as we can get!
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Friday, 20 October 2023 19:37 (ten months ago) link
I could use some soup advice. I need to be getting a lot more veggies into my diet, appetite is a problem due to a medication, and I thought soup would be my solution. I got a vitamix and I’ve made two soups so far that have been edible but v v disappointing.
1. Tossed brocc, cauli, onions in oil, a lil MSG, smoked paprika, Italian herbs and roasted. Also roasted chickpeas, carrots and potatoes in just paprika, and then a head of garlic. Blended with stock (BTB concentrate) and it was missing something so I added a little vinegar since I didn’t have any citrus. Mistake! Also added fresh spinach. It was just kind of blah. Edible mostly only because it was completely silky smooth.
2. Roasted Kabocha squash and onion with ground sage, roasted a garlic head and carrots and a little bit of Japanese sweet potato plain. Blended with white beans and some nutritional yeast and stock. Same thing! Just kinda blah.
I get that these aren’t like proper soups or whatever but as a lover of mush/baby food, I really thought I was on to a good thing and it sucks!
― just1n3, Friday, 20 October 2023 21:11 (ten months ago) link
Are you looking for some thinner soup or chunkier stews?
― Jane Eyre Jordan (Leee), Friday, 20 October 2023 21:35 (ten months ago) link
Maybe lightly fry a little curry paste to kick start the base flavor profile? I like the Mae Plom brand and they last forever in the fridge
― Jaq, Friday, 20 October 2023 21:51 (ten months ago) link
Def no chunks - I like a thick sort of silky purée. It’s easiest for me to tolerate eating.
― just1n3, Friday, 20 October 2023 22:02 (ten months ago) link
I’m thinking potato leek?
― brimstead, Friday, 20 October 2023 22:32 (ten months ago) link
my approach is always the same - sautee the vegetables, add herbs/spices for a few minutes, then add stock for another 10 minutes or so, then blend
in terms of herbs and spices it depends on the veggies but ground coriander is often good, salt n pepper obv.. you'd be surprised how far a little white pepper can go
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 20 October 2023 23:25 (ten months ago) link
kind of crazy your soups are bland with an entire head of garlic in them though
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 20 October 2023 23:27 (ten months ago) link
Also salt?
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Friday, 20 October 2023 23:27 (ten months ago) link
Everything tastes bad without salt.
i sort of assumed just1n3 was adding salt at some point but reading back yeah that could be a problem if not
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 20 October 2023 23:28 (ten months ago) link
i've made various versions of this zucchini soup more times than i can count
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/italianstylezucchini_9833
Potato leek soup can be amazing, I swear by this one: https://food52.com/recipes/87209-potato-leek-soup-with-spiced-chickpeas-recipe
Also, you can really goose the flavor with peanut butter (substitute if you're allergic -- pretty sure tahini would work too), as in this Vegan Gambian Peanut Stew: https://rainbowplantlife.com/wprm_print/5657
― Jane Eyre Jordan (Leee), Friday, 20 October 2023 23:33 (ten months ago) link
the best thing about autumn vegetable soups is that you can make them up as you go along from a base of carrots/celery/onion fried in butter and whatever veg you have. I always add sweet potatoes, chilli flakes and garlic and hope for the best!
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 23:33 (ten months ago) link
yeah potato leek is great, even bog standard potato leek.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 23:35 (ten months ago) link
grated parmesan and creme fraiche added to potato leek is so good.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 23:39 (ten months ago) link
something good to add to calzino's carrot base soup is some roasted butternut squash. and i'm not gonna lie i squeeze just a lil dollop of honey into the carrots when they're cooking.. sometimes a strip of bacon if i'm feeling, as the kids say, extra
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 20 October 2023 23:41 (ten months ago) link
the point where I thought I was becoming way too much of a sophisticate here was when I started seeing bacon as more of an ingredient or a pancetta proxy than summat to be wapped in 2 slices of bread, lol
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 23:47 (ten months ago) link
Lol salt is a given, guys, I’m not a heathen!!
Ugh I didn’t want to fuck around cooking stuff, I just wanted to roast a bunch of stuff and dump in the blender 😖
― just1n3, Saturday, 21 October 2023 00:07 (ten months ago) link
that's all soup is really!
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Saturday, 21 October 2023 00:09 (ten months ago) link
i don’t even roast anything usually, seems like too much work tbh
― Tracer Hand, Saturday, 21 October 2023 00:30 (ten months ago) link
i have a great simple carrot / lentil soup that is easy good -i hate all the veggie soups i make except this one, i love it so much it doesn’t look like much but its good orange lentils are key bc they’re softer & blend up really smooth. 3 carrots chopped1 onion choped3 cloves garlic 2 sticks celery chopped 1 parsnip or 1 potato chopped (i dont do potatoes) 1 diced tomato or 1/2 can drained diced tomatoes 2 cups orange lentils 8 cups chicken stock heat oil, add chopped veg except garlicsaute for 5 min on medium heat then lower heat & sweat veg covered for 10 min (don’t brown them)return heat to mediumadd tomato & garlic cook for 1 minadd lentils & chicken stockbring to boilturn to low heat & simmer gently for 45 minstir occasionally remove from heatuse a stick blender & blend until smooth finish with pinch cayenne & pinch or two of cumin
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 21 October 2023 00:55 (ten months ago) link
Thanks everyone. I gotta avoid potatoes as a main ingredient and I really need to get in more leafy greens (except I hate bitter greens). If I’m adding spinach should I be blanching it instead of just blending it in raw? I didn’t think too hard about it but I guess cooking reduces the oxalates or whatever, which is probably preferable.
RE roasting - that’s my favorite way to cook: chop, toss in oil then bang in the oven and wait. My minimal soup research before this said that roasting was a great base for soups. I roasted a whole head of garlic and a whole medium onion (along with the other veg) thinking that would really up the flavors, but both soups were seriously the most blah soups I’ve ever made.
I like being able to blast it in the blender because then I can add beans or lentils, which I normally can’t deal with the texture of.
― just1n3, Saturday, 21 October 2023 03:57 (ten months ago) link
― Tracer Hand
I’m roasting it so maybe that’s why it’s not adding enough punch?
― just1n3, Saturday, 21 October 2023 04:02 (ten months ago) link
Kabocha is by far my favorite squash/pumpkin but I don’t cook it often because it’s so hard to cut. During my soup research I discovered you just microwave it for like 2-3mins and then it’s super easy.
― just1n3, Saturday, 21 October 2023 04:06 (ten months ago) link
I do think the key is getting some pan browning going on your mirepoix or whatever yr base is, like frying the curry paste etc, then going to the blender
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Saturday, 21 October 2023 04:06 (ten months ago) link
― just1n3, Saturday, October 21, 2023 12:06 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Best method for cooking winter squashes like butternut for soups is cut in half lengthwise, place cut side down in a rimmed baking dish, pour about 2 cups of water in the baking dish (the water should be about a quarter or a third of the way up the side of the squash), and bake in the oven at 350F for 45 minutes. Take it out, flip over or remove the squash to cool, then you can remove the roasted flesh from the skin with a spoon. You won't even need to puree it.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Saturday, 21 October 2023 12:53 (ten months ago) link
My favourite is a curried parsnip, lentil and apple https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/curried-lentil-parsnip-apple-soup
I do it in the slow cooker but you can also just simmer for 30 mins. You gotta have the yogurt, cilantro etc with it!
kind of crazy your soups are bland with an entire head of garlic in them though― Tracer HandI’m roasting it so maybe that’s why it’s not adding enough punch?
I made a pasta sauce that had loads of roasted garlic in it and it was still not very garlicky. Disappointing - need to find the perfect amount because roasted garlic is so nice.
― kinder, Saturday, 21 October 2023 13:26 (ten months ago) link
I don't know if there are nutritive or even taste reasons for blanching, but I never do it because it's an extra step for what I think is just an aesthetic thing (it makes the spinach look brighter green).
― Jane Eyre Jordan (Leee), Saturday, 21 October 2023 14:23 (ten months ago) link
started off making a basic ragu today and fancied some heat so threw some chilli flakes and green/red chillies in there. Added some bacon because why not. Added some lentils for that nice texture. Added some capers and olives then some fresh basil/parsley. It was haphazard make it up as you go along cooking that was sort of like puttanesca but I didn't have anchovies, but it worked out beautifully.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Saturday, 21 October 2023 16:21 (ten months ago) link
Restaurants blanch to help expedite servuce imeXpost
― matcha man (outdoor_miner), Friday, 3 November 2023 20:06 (nine months ago) link
hi dere I now have 91 lbs of pig parts in the chest freezer
I thawed out a pound of the bacon but it's a lot to sort through. anyone have thoughts on how long I can just leave it in butcher paper vs bagging it all in freezer/storage bags?
― dead precedents (sleeve), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:16 (seven months ago) link
so much ham
― dead precedents (sleeve), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:17 (seven months ago) link
Is any of it smoked? Bag it in a hurry if so or everything in your freezer may be smoked soon.
― that's when I reach for my copy of Revolver (WmC), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:37 (seven months ago) link
thank you - the hock is def smoked
― dead precedents (sleeve), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:38 (seven months ago) link
My father raised a hog for butchering around '79-80, whoever smoked it OVERsmoked it, plus zipper seal bags and vacuum sealers didn't exist back then iirc, and we wound up tossing a huge amt of food.
― that's when I reach for my copy of Revolver (WmC), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:42 (seven months ago) link
Actually I think Ziploc bags were around but my parents didn't bother, which was a bad choice.
― that's when I reach for my copy of Revolver (WmC), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:43 (seven months ago) link
If it's wrapped in plastic under the butcher paper, you're good to chuck it straight in the freezer.
― Jaq, Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:43 (seven months ago) link
it is!
I bagged some of the unique ones, the back rib/tenderloin/bacon end stuff
helloooo big bags of fat and bones
― dead precedents (sleeve), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:49 (seven months ago) link
https://peaktoplate.com/pork-lard/
― dead precedents (sleeve), Saturday, 27 January 2024 23:50 (seven months ago) link
Oh heck yeah. I render mine in a low oven instead of using the stove - less chance of burning/scorching imo. I also make ghee that way.
― Jaq, Sunday, 28 January 2024 02:10 (seven months ago) link
yeah I'm gonna use the crockpot!
― dead precedents (sleeve), Sunday, 28 January 2024 16:23 (seven months ago) link
t/s chest vs upright freezers
― gbx, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 21:47 (seven months ago) link
chest for me
― dead precedents (sleeve), Wednesday, 31 January 2024 22:02 (seven months ago) link
it's basically convenience (upright) vs efficiency (chest), I went w/the latter
― dead precedents (sleeve), Wednesday, 31 January 2024 22:03 (seven months ago) link
Hmmm yeah I've heard uprights will essentially 'dump' cold air when you open them but the convenience seems pretty great
― gbx, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 22:05 (seven months ago) link
chest freezers try to increase their convenience by adding various racks and 'baskets', but efficiency is their whole reason for existing. when you calculate the decrease in electrical consumption over the life of the unit it becomes a very good reason.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, 31 January 2024 22:35 (seven months ago) link
i got a chest freezer last fall, no regrets. i just get anxious about tracking whatever is in it but that's what spreadsheets are for.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 1 February 2024 01:39 (seven months ago) link
ha I had not considered that re: the pig above, but I should!
― dead precedents (sleeve), Thursday, 1 February 2024 01:43 (seven months ago) link
Due to limited square footage, I went with an upright freezer. Thanks to spreadsheet contents tracking, it gets opened once every week or two and I move the packages for the next set of meals to the fridge freezer. It holds 1/2 a pig and over 1/8th of a cow, 6 chickens and an assortment of Costco sausage packages.
― Jaq, Thursday, 1 February 2024 03:37 (seven months ago) link