Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and soup

Catfish Tikka Death

sully75 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:02:00 -0800

I may be my own personal typhoid Mary. Food safety questions inside. 1) If I make a big pot of soup, lately this is Mark Bittman's African Chicken Peanut soup (which is friggin awesome), sometimes I make about 1.5 gallons of soup in a big pot. So, when it's done, it's usually hot (duh) and it's at night. So rather than decant it into tupperware things, I leave it in the pot on the stove to cool. In the morning I pour it into tupperware and put it into the fridge.

So question: is it ok that it's sitting out at night, probably after it's cooled down, for a couple of hours? If that's not ok, what should I do differently?

And how long can I eat this tasty soup for? Last time I froze half. After I unfreeze it, how long would it still be good for?

2) I'm going to try to do a chicken-tikka-masala recipe but using catfish instead of the chicken. Again, I will be making several portions, maybe 3-4 meals worth. Can I store this in the fridge or freezer? What's my best practice for not poisoning myself or my friends?

How do I remove the fat from chicken broth?

esprit de l'escalier — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:19:08 -0800

How do I remove the fat from chicken broth? I boiled 5 pounds of chicken backs and necks for 3 hours. The last couple times I did this, I put the broth in the fridge, and was able to remove a thick layer of fat. This time I made a lot more broth than usual, so maybe it cooled more slowly in the fridge? The result is that the broth is very fatty, but so homogenized that I can't skim any fat off of it.

I tried reheating some of the broth and putting it in the freezer, but I couldn't figure out if I was skimming fat or gelatin.

Halp save my oyster stew!

thatbrunette — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:16:02 -0800

The milk in my oyster stew boiled over. Is it salvageable? I've got an oyster stew on the stove, ingredients are half and half, a tonne of butter, oysters, shallots and celery. I left it (I know, I know) in the care of a roomate for two minutes, and it boiled over. Now the milk is a little clotty. Is there a fix, or has this been ruined?

Traditional-schmaditional

owtytrof — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:49:42 -0800

RecipeFilter: Seafood stew stumper! A local Italian restaurant serves a fantastic bowl of cioppino, which I would like to try to replicate at home. The problem is that the dish I'm trying to make is not cooked in the traditional tomato and garlic broth, which is all I can find via Google, but a creamy lemon butter version.

I'm fairly handy in the kitchen, and not afraid of improvisation, but I need a starting point. Any tips, ideas, or actual recipes for this apparently rare version of cioppino would be greatly appreciated!

Recipe for truly succulent, traditional Jewish brisket?

roxie110 — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:01:41 -0800

How do you make truly tender, succulent Jewish-style brisket? I've had a craving for brisket-like-my-grandmother-used-to-make for about a year now. I finally got the meat and my mother's recipe and cooked it today. The taste is great and the thin end of the meat turned out close to what I was hoping for; the thick end is cooked through but not moist and falling apart like brisket in my world should be, and when I stick a fork in it gives a lot of resistance. I don't know if I over- or undercooked it. I should mention that my "dutch oven" (really a stockpot) was too narrow so I used a Calphalon deep covered 13" nonstick skillet instead--maybe a big mistake? I am such a brisket novice.

Below is a quick recap of how I cooked it. I've looked up a ton of recipes but each one is slightly different, and life's too short to try every one. My question is this: who has a foolproof (mostly) recipe for truly tender, traditional Jewish brisket!? And just as important, how do you know how long to cook it and when it's done? (Can you overcook a brisket, as long as there's still liquid in the pan?)

Recipe I used for half a first-cut brisket, about 3 pounds, fat trimmed:
Preheat oven to 350. Place thickly sliced onions, carrots, and a couple chopped garlic cloves in bottom of Dutch oven. Rub ketchup, ground pepper, paprika, and one envelope onion soup mix on all surfaces of brisket. Add liquid to 3/4 inches deep (I used 1.5 cans low-sodium beef broth; most of liquid was absorbed by the end of cooking). Place chunks of potato around meat. Cover tightly and roast for 2.5 hours. Baste two or three times during cooking. Remove from heat, cool meat, and slice across the grain.

Help! And thank you!

Soup Me Up.

lpsguy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:42:08 -0800

Soup Me Up. Can anybody tell me how to make killer chicken soup? Okay, so a day or so ago I have the best bowl of chicken soup I can remember (from a cafeteria at that). As it's pretty damn cold here in Philly this time of year, it was just about the best thing. So I think I should be able to make some myself. But, wow, chicken soup is everywhere and there's a bajillion (okay, a gadzillion) chicken soup recipes out there and it's overwhelming. And by experience, some just tastes, well, chickenier than others and I don't know why.

So, Hive Mind, I need your experiences with chicken soup. Who has a great recipe they can endorse? Who has the secrets for making killer chicken soup for this man's soul?

Bean me, Soup Nazis.

dinger — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:30:36 -0800

Winter's here, and I have a hankerin' for some good bean soup. Help me out. I have:
1. A craving for some decent, homemade bean soup.
2. A magnificent ham bone from Christmas frozen in the fridge.
3. A decent stock pot.

I do not have:
1. Much soup-making prowess, although I am a marginally talented cook.
2. A dependable recipe.

I once experimented, with questionable success, with the ubiquitous Senate Bean Soup recipe, thickened, as I recall, with mashed potatoes. I'd like to try something different, or hear about your treasured recipes, innovations, and variations. To give you a starting point I will somewhat abashedly admit that I find the Campbell's concentrated version not bad on an occasional basis. I'd like to make it better.

What are your favorite bean soup concoctions, and your best homemade soup-making tips, techniques, and secrets?

When has good stock gone bad?

leahwrenn — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:44:02 -0800

How do I tell whether beef or chicken stock/broth, that has been refrigerated, has gone yucky? I usually just give it no more than a week, like the box says (say, if I've opened a carton of broth but only used half of it), but is there a way to tell if it's gone bad, if it still looks/smells ok? (and what would not looking ok be, anyway, absent, say, mold?)

Why should I never boil my stock?

jedrek — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:38:42 -0800

Why should I never boil my stock? Reading Anthony Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook", there's a couple page at the beginning about making stocks. One of the key points - as it's repeated twice - is to never bring my stock to a boil. Why is that? Does it affect the taste? The clarity?

Any other stock-related hints would be great as well, thanks!

Soup Stock Cube Ideas?

Aquaman — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:51:55 -0800

Now that I've got my delicious vegetable soup stock frozen into cubes, I need some suggestions on utilizing them! Making soup from stock is great, but I've also got a couple of bags of frozen stock blocks (made in the ice tray) waiting for inspiration. Help me use these little cubes of awesome in new ways! (Vegetarian suggestions only, please.)

Help me source some high-quality bouillon cubes

rossination — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 11:55:43 -0800

Help me source some high-quality bouillon cubes. In her book How To Eat, Nigella Lawson often mentions using bouillon cubes for quick soups and sauces. I know that the bouillon cube is oft-despised by other cookbook writers (Mark Bittman, for isntance, says you're better off with water and a couple extra onions and celery stalks), but Nigella talks a lot about their prevalence in modern Italian kitchens, and she mentions "high-quality" cubes.

I consider myself a pretty accomplished home cook, and I definitely know how to make a good stock. I also know when it's totally appropriate to use canned broth, and I'm not above throwing in a cube of Knorr into a soup if the taste is a little bland. But I can't help but think that there's something better out there. Are there really "high quality" bouillon cubes that are really as good (and useful) as canned broths, that I could use when I don't have homemade stock on hand?

I'm in Seattle, but I'm totally fine with mail ordering from wherever if I can get my hands on some good bouillon cubes. I'm probably mainly looking for chicken, and maybe a good beef or vegetable as well. But in my cooking, they're all pretty interchangeable.

Help! I lost my spice!

unSane — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:48:36 -0800

Identify this cookbook, or give me the potato/chili soup recipe I yearn for. Years ago (mid 80s), I bought a cookbook, probably in England, but possibly North America. It was a small, Penguin*-sized paperback and was full of recipes for spicy food. I think they had chili ratings for how hot they were (but maybe not). It might have been called "The Chili Cookbook" (yes, I've googled, but nothing rings a bell) but it might not.

Thing is, it had the recipe for a potato and poblano chili soup which I made once and, in retrospect, was the most divine thing I ever tasted. I remember it contained enormous quantities of garlic, plus chilis, potatoes and cream. I don't know what else.

In one of my transatlantic movies, it disappeared.

Can anyone identify this cookbook, or point me at the recipe??

*the book not the flightless bird

Help me make some delicious soups!

PetiePal — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:46:53 -0800

It's that time of year again...it's getting cold and I'm craving soup more and more. The only problem is I'm sick of canned soup and I'd rather make most of it homemade. Lay your best soup recipes on me, ingredients/prep the works! Any type of soup accepted! Hot, cold, lukewarm! Chicken, cream-based, potato leek, broth-based etc. I want to start a good collection of new recipes to try!

Duck, duck, frozen chicken

hamster — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:55:09 -0800

I have three pounds of frozen chicken stew meat. What should I do with it? It's great stuff, from what I can tell: organic, free-range and from a local farm. Problem is, it's just me and sometimes a friend, and it all has to be thawed at once. I'll definitely make a simple chicken soup in my small crock pot, and if I do that once or twice, I'll have some to freeze and save. I've never made chicken soup "long-hand," on the stove, but I'm open to trying. Is stew meat good for anything else--can I use it in place of cubed chicken in recipes, or stir-fry it?

SOUP!

punkbitch — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 17:15:33 -0800

Soupfilter: I just made the most fan-F***ing-tabulous soup in the history of mankind. Of course, no one else was around to taste it. The soup was not some wacky creation. I started by simmering onions and then bell-peppers and then tossed in some garlic. Then tomatoes and water and some wine (I live in Argentina and good wine is cheap) and a bit of oregano. Then salt. then spinach. Good hell, it was delicious soup. But I fear that never again will I make as good a soup. My plea is for excellent soup recipes. Anybody, anybody. . .Bueller, Bueller. . .?