Soups are a perfect Intro to Fridge Foraging

I have been thinking a lot lately about cooking without recipes. For my daily home cooking, I still use all those techniques and methods I learned as a chef. Back in the days when we had the restaurant, we practiced recipe-free cooking daily. We would come in and do a visual assessment of what needed to be moved in the inventory. Since we bought mostly fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh meats and seafood, there was always something to use up during its peak freshness. Soup du Jour was one of those things that we made every day and we were known for our soup. We drew crowds to buy it because it was made from scratch and always nourishing. Our secret to its success was having the basics on hand so we could be creative with ingredients. Staples such as onions, carrots, peppers, and garlic were always the starting point for our tasty soups. Our customers craved vegetables so we made sure the stock was chocked full of chunky, flavorful vegetables.

I have some tips if you want to explore the world of recipe-free cooking. Soups are a great place to start- you have the option of making 3 styles of soup- a traditional thin brothy style soup, a Stoup which is something in between a soup and stew, or a Thick, rib-sticking stew.

Here are the steps for making a recipe free soup-

1. Take an assessment of what is at peak quality in the fridge. Make sure you have enough base vegetables called the mirepoix in French kitchens. It's a mix of 2 parts onion, 1 part celery, and 1 part carrots. These are sometimes called aromatic vegetables because they are so flavorful and aromatic when cooked. If you are making a Cajun or Mexican soup, you will want to include peppers in the mix. Garlic is also a good idea to have on hand for optimum flavor profiles.

2. When you have decided on what ingredients you have to use, then you want to pick a flavor profile. If you are not sure what flavors marry well together, do a little research on what you like. As a chef, these are things that are learned early in one's career and a chef never stops experimenting with different flavors. The trick is to layer flavors. If you layer your flavors and taste your soup every time you add a flavor, you then get a good idea about what it tastes like in the dish and it will teach you how to distinguish different flavors in a dish individually.

3, When you have the flavor profile sorted out and you have the ingredients for the dish assembled, gather up all the equipment you need to make the dish before you start. This will save time and frustration once you start cooking. You will have everything you need to make the dish which will in turn speed things along.

4. Next step is to do your "mise en place" which in French means put in place. It simply means chopping your vegetables and getting everything ready to assemble or cook.

5. Once you have your mise in place organized, everything will come together quickly and easily. You will be amazed at how talented you really are with a little practice.

Because I am known for teaching methods and not recipes, I will share with you a good formula for making Vegetable soup on the fly.

Base Parts to a soup:

Aromatic Vegetables

onions

celery

carrots

peppers

garlic

ginger

scallions

herbs- thyme, parsley, bay leaves

leeks

Fennel

Soup is made in stages- The first is to cook the vegetables in a bit of fat- this could be olive oil, a little bacon fat, or butter.

If you are using olive oil or a high heat oil such as avocado oil, heat the pot and then add the oil. If you are using butter, put the butter in a cold pan, because you don't want to burn the butter by throwing it in a hot pan. You will want to cook the vegetables until soft. Remember garlic should be thrown in last so it does not burn, it only takes 2 minutes to cook garlic so add it after the other vegetables. As far as the amounts, a pound of aromatic vegetables to a half-gallon of stock is a good place to start.

When the vegetables are cooked, add your stock or water. A couple of tablespoons of tomato paste make a flavorful stock when paired with dry Italian herbs. If you buy stock or make it yourself, it does not matter as long as it's got flavor and not too salty. I try to keep frozen stock on hand for soups but if I don't have it I use a good quality base with no msg and low salt. There are LOTS of options in the soup aisle these days of the grocery store for stocks and broths. Stock up when they are on sale.

Here are some additions you can add to make a quick soup into a nourishing meal.

Potatoes

Wild Rice

Brown Rice

small shaped kinds of pasta- orzo

Israeli couscous

Egg Noodles

Spiralized hard vegetables

Chopped canned jackfruit

Canned Artichokes

Canned Beans

Canned Tomatoes

Canned Pumpkin

Stay away from strong crops such as beets and Brussels sprouts

Add cabbage, kale, and other greens in the last 5 minutes of cooking

Top with a few fresh herbs for a delicious mid-week meal for one of those nights you are running short on time. Soup is usually done in 30 minutes and if you keep some staples on hand you don't have to leave the house to have a great nourishing meal for little money.

January is National Soup Month according to their website-National Soup Month is a registered non-profit organization founded in Toronto that celebrates the love of Soup in all forms through festivals, events, and fundraising campaigns across Canada to support local food banks, out of the cold programs, children food programs and community soup kitchens. While they are not as active because of the pandemic, there is a spot on the website where restaurants can register their house specialty soup to be promoted.