Soup recommendation for hoity toity dinner party

[WT]

I make an extremely easy roasted cauliflower and shallot soup (essentially four ingredients) that is very good (it's my wife's favourite). It's also vegan (doesn't have to be of course), so no dietary issues for anyone if that's a concern.

Can make it extra fancy by adding a crostini on top and a drizzle of some quality truffle oil.

KT

Just when you think you know a guy ... don't tell me you have an apron with your name on it too ??

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Good onion soup would be a winner, I'd think.

 

[tfinch2]

Chicken Tortilla

 

[Iron Woode]

simple soups can be a knockout when made properly.

French Canadian Bean Soup is simple as a stone but very tasty and hardy. You have to like white/navy type beans though.

Cream of Onion Soup is fantastic when made right.

what about the soups' cousin? Stews are my favourite. Beef, lamb or chicken stews are great.

 

[laxie16]

Go to Walmart and buy 8 Cup o' noodles. Will cost you less than a dollar!

 

[Fritzo]

I'll give you my personal Butternut Squash Soup recipe. Squash soup is very in-vogue right now, and it's delicious:

You need:
Blender
2 butternut squash (remove the seeds and cut into strips)
Sea salt
Unsalted butter
Pepper
honey
fresh ginger
heavy cream
fresh nutmeg (dried is OK too)
1 qt chicken stock (broth is fine)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and roast the strips of squash on a pan, brushing with butter and sprinkling with salt. Roast them until they're tender (about a half hour or so).

Scrape the flesh from the skin into a large stock pot. Add the stock, 1/3 cup of honey, a few pinches of pepper, and grate some ginger into the pot (about 1 tsp or so).

Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes or so, then pour the mixture into a blender and blend it until smooth. You'll need to add/replace the mixture several times until the entire pot is blended. If you have one of those "blender wands", that works well too.

Add 3/4 cup of heavy cream and reheat. Add more salt and pepper to taste, and finish with a few pinches of nutmeg.

I made this during the holidays every year and the family loves it. If you want to be REALLY fancy, serve this in hallowed out baked acorn squashes like this:

 

[allisolm]

Butternut Squash Bisque

This or sweet pea soup or cream of asparagus.

 

[disappoint]

Lentil soup.

Mulligatawny soup.

 

[TXHokie]

Corn and crabmeat chowder...with big honking pieces of fresh crabmeat.

 

[AmerDoux]

It really depends on the amount of time you want to spend making the soup and the amount of money. There are some wonderful lobster bisque's and chowders but they can be costly. I have a lobster corn chowder recipe but it will run you anywhere from $50 to $100 for a pot of soup (depending on the price of fresh lobster in your area) and takes 2 days to make.

However, there are some really nice recipes on FoodNetwork that are not going to put a huge dent in your pocket book or time. The nice thing about soup is making it a day or so ahead actually enhances the flavors.

Ina Garten has a really flavorful French Onion soup recipe. Giada has a wonderful Butternut Squash recipe. If neither are available still online, I do have them saved in Word docs. I also have a couple of recipes from Americas Test Kitchen for Cream of Mushroom and Potato Leek. PM me if you would like copies.

 

[Oyeve]

Vichyssoise. :awe:

This.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Good onion soup would be a winner, I'd think.

I absolutely love a good French onion soup. In fact I make delicious French onion soup. But I don't see it as something that fits in if OP is worried about "hoity toity" cuisine. If you're worried about image I'd go with something fancier like a roasted butternut squash soup with vanilla creme fraiche. It won't be any harder to make, but it will look like it was.

 

[Iron Woode]

Kharcho looks very interesting, too.

 

[notposting]

A good French onion soup, but has to be served in the hoity toity bowls

Have some links to post when I'm off my phone...

 

[Fritzo]

A good French onion soup, but has to be served in the hoity toity bowls

Have some links to post when I'm off my phone...

Caramelizing onions takes 3-4 hours and stinks up the place.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

+1 for potato leek soup, easy to make (rather quick also) and it's sooo tasty with bacon bits in it.

I have some in the fridge for tomorrow.

I have a really good potato leek recipe, so maybe I'll go with that + one other.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Damn..many of these sound really good...now I'm hungry...

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I'll give you my personal Butternut Squash Soup recipe. Squash soup is very in-vogue right now, and it's delicious:

You need:
Blender
2 butternut squash (remove the seeds and cut into strips)
Sea salt
Unsalted butter
Pepper
honey
fresh ginger
heavy cream
fresh nutmeg (dried is OK too)
1 qt chicken stock (broth is fine)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and roast the strips of squash on a pan, brushing with butter and sprinkling with salt. Roast them until they're tender (about a half hour or so).

Scrape the flesh from the skin into a large stock pot. Add the stock, 1/3 cup of honey, a few pinches of pepper, and grate some ginger into the pot (about 1 tsp or so).

Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes or so, then pour the mixture into a blender and blend it until smooth. You'll need to add/replace the mixture several times until the entire pot is blended. If you have one of those "blender wands", that works well too.

Add 3/4 cup of heavy cream and reheat. Add more salt and pepper to taste, and finish with a few pinches of nutmeg.

I made this during the holidays every year and the family loves it. If you want to be REALLY fancy, serve this in hallowed out baked acorn squashes like this:

Yum. That looks really good!

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Bisque doesn't have to be lobster, ya know. Crab is good too.

She Crab Soup is another great one.

Problem is neither I nor my wife like seafood of any kind. So, most bisques are out, as are most chowders.

 

[Phoenix86]

Whatever you decided, chicken and stars at the first for a gag would probably go over well.

Especially if you dressed it up by serving in inside one of those hallowed out baked acorn squashes.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Caramelizing onions takes 3-4 hours and stinks up the place.

Are you cooking them with a Zippo? Cutting and caramelizing enough onions for a big pot of soup to serve at least a dozen would take perhaps 90 minutes. You can go from a bag of onions to bubbling cheese on top of dark brown onion-y goodness in under 2 hours.

And it doesn't stink up the place unless you don't like the smell of cooking onions. I think well caramelized onions have a wonderful aroma, it makes me hungry.

 

[Fritzo]

Problem is neither I nor my wife like seafood of any kind. So, most bisques are out, as are most chowders.

I know how to make a roasted corn and red pepper bisque.

 

[SP33Demon]

Pee soup.

Seriously, what KeithTalent said.

 

[Fritzo]

Are you cooking them with a Zippo? Cutting and caramelizing enough onions for a big pot of soup to serve at least a dozen would take perhaps 90 minutes. You can go from a bag of onions to bubbling cheese on top of dark brown onion-y goodness in under 2 hours.

And it doesn't stink up the place unless you don't like the smell of cooking onions. I think well caramelized onions have a wonderful aroma, it makes me hungry.

To make fresh onion soup, you have to basically go one step below burning onions, and to do a large quantity you need to roast them. You can do it on a stove top with a frying pan, but you'll only get 3-4 servings that way (if you add too many onions to a frying pan the onions will boil instead of fry and you'll get a watered down flavor).

There's "easy" recipes out there, but if you want to do it right there aren't any shortcuts.

 

[Vincent]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozole