William Penn Life, 2013 (48. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2013-01-01 / 1. szám
4 Soups made easy FÁRADJON BE A MAGYAR KONYHÁBA! Last month, I received many requests for soup recipes. In November 2007,1 wrote an article on that very subject. Here is that article, along with favorite recipes Chef Vilmos and I have served to our friends and family. On a sad note, Chef Vilmos and I offer our condolences to the Radvany family on the passing of Frank. I had the pleasure of knowing him while serving on the National Auditing Committee and Board of Directors. He was very proud of his Hungarian heritage. May God grant him eternal rest and comfort. Speaking as a chef, this is the best time of the year to get into the kitchen and make as much food as you can. Not only is the atmosphere in the kitchen warm and cozy, but the cold weather outside makes your body burn more calories to stay warm. On that note-and because all my housekeeping is done for this month, let us get into some soup making. But, first, here is the trivia question: Wlmt do Herberton Williams and Cornell football have in common? This answer amazed me because of its simplicity, impact and longevity. And now into the kitchen.... A liquid food, soup is made by combining ingredients such as meat, vegetables, legumes and noodles in a stock or hot water until a certain specific flavor is obtained. Soup can be hot or cold. Soup is classified in two main categories: clear and thick. If you want to go further, the French classify clear soups as Bouillon or Consommé, while thick soups are classified as either Pnrées or Bisques, but that is for another day in the kitchen. Let us go into the background a bit more. Stock is a strained liquid that comes from cooking meat or vegetables in water. It needs to be seasoned. Most times, it is opaque, not clear, but has flavor and makes a good base for other culinary delights, one of which is soup. A good stock makes for a good soup base. Broth is the liquid that is taken directly from a stockpot without straining out any ingredients. In essence, broth and stock come from the same source. The big difference is that stock bas more flavor than broth because it has cooked longer in the pot. Chicken broth, which we all enjoy when we have a cold, is used in many culinary preparations. You can enjoy a broth by itself or with chunks of meat and veggies. Chicken noodle soup is chicken broth with pieces of chicken and noodles. "Scotch Broth" has mutton, barley and veggies. Another variety of soup is Chowder, which contains some salt pork, is thickened with flour and contains milk. Over the years, people have come to equate chowder with clam chowder if you live near any ocean. The components have changed a bit as well. Milk can be replaced with cream, the salt pork can be left out, and it does not have to contain just seafood. The most popular chowders are com chowder, clam chowder or seafood chowder. If chowder has a "New England" tag in its name, that means the chowder usually has a white base. "Manhattan" chowder has a tomato base. The word chowder comes from the French word "chaudiére" which describes the cooking pot. We will get more into chowder making in another column as that is a great category of food. A soup can be thin, liquid based or thick like chowder...or anything in between. Once you know what makes a soup thick or thin, you can make adjustments to get the best consistency your family will enjoy. When we mention hearty soups, we usually mean a soup with more contents. A hearty vegetable soup would contain much more than broth. It would almost be a stew, but because the base broth is thin, it is not. Soups and stews are very close in nature, but do have separate characteristics making them each a unique culinary delight. You can combine different broths to get a different flavor to your soup. French Onion soup combines onion, beef and sometimes chicken broths to get its unique taste. King Louis XV of 2013 0 William Penn Life The Hungarian Kitchen is a trademark of William S. Vasvary.
