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You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / I Made Soup

I Made Soup

by John Cole|  February 19, 20224:53 pm| 81 Comments

This post is in: Food & Recipes

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I Made Soup

Guess what kind and guess the ingredients. That was right after I made it, and I am letting it simmer for a couple hours so the flavors blend.

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Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 19, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    Guess what kind

    Nancy Pelosi’s Gazpacho?

  2. 2.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    February 19, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    John, hate to tell you, that is not soup, that is a veggie stew, still good but way too robust for soup.

  3. 3.

    RSA

    February 19, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    Nice. I see the chunky trinity of carrots, celery, and onion, to start.

  4. 4.

    J R in WV

    February 19, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    No clue, but I see lots of green leafy veges, canneloni beans (i dunno, white beans not navy) maybe Italian soup of some kind?

    Looks wonderful, hope you plan to drop ingredient list in a later comment. Is stew looking, also too what was said above.

  5. 5.

    pluky

    February 19, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    Italian wedding? If so, you need to work on your meatball technique; looks like they’re falling apart.

  6. 6.

    Jackie

    February 19, 2022 at 5:15 pm

    It looks delicious!?

  7. 7.

    Yutsano

    February 19, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    @pluky: It looked like some weird deconstructed Italian wedding soup to me as well. But as if Cole just fried the meat directly into the soup instead of making the meatballs.

    Also: inb4 someone tells Cole that he’s putting the tender greens way too early. Unless he wants them to disintegrate. I dunno, it’s his soup, I guess.

  8. 8.

    Martin

    February 19, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    So, I am home, negative test. Son is doing fine, also negative test.

    For the record, I slept in the same 1BR apartment as someone who was covid positive for a week, interacted with them face to face every few hours. Shared a bathroom with them. Did their dishes and laundry. And didn’t get sick. I also didn’t expose a single other person to the virus. I put all of the theory into practice, and the theory was right. Was it fun? Nope. Was it terrible? Nope. It was annoying, at worst.

    Now, that’s the product of a lot of decisions, all designed to compound the odds in my favor, and I had a willing accomplice engineer, and it worked. That could have happened for the US 2 years ago, but we said ‘fuck that’ and are now in a situation where a million people have died, and covid is unlikely to be a thing we don’t have to deal with to some degree for at least a decade.

    If anyone needs to care for a Covid infected loved one and would like to not catch it themselves, my plan isn’t foolproof (no stochastic system can be made foolproof) but the odds can be tipped VERY strongly in your favor.

  9. 9.

    Scout211

    February 19, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    Italian sausage soup with white beans (cannelloni) and spinach? Plus all the base veggies like carrots, onions, celery and red peppers. Yum!

    ETA:

    Here’s one version.  There are many versions of this soup, several that I have made over the years.

  10. 10.

    oldster

    February 19, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    Looks delicious.

    I would have given the celery and carrots a longer sauté before adding, but this is going to be delicious anyway.

  11. 11.

    Sure Lurkalot

    February 19, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @Martin: It’s good to hear that you and your son are both well. Continued good health!

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    February 19, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    It’s easy enough to turn vegetable stew into soup, just add more stock. What I do may be considered cheating, I use the vegetable stock that comes in a box.

    Whatever Cole made (I agree it looks like Italian wedding soup or a close relative), it looks delicious and like enough servings to freeze half of it for next month.

    Right now, I am trying out a crockpot Greekish stew. Maybe in another hour it will be ready? The recipe is from a book I took out of the library this past week. The Covid numbers here are finally low enough here that I felt comfortable browsing the shelves.

    I already made the book’s one pot Mediterranean chicken and rice. That one’s a keeper.

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    Beans ‘n’ brains?

    ;)

  14. 14.

    John Cole

    February 19, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    @Scout211:  YOU WIN

    And yes, I put the kale and half the spinach in early too cook the kale down to edible, and will add the other half of the spinach later.

  15. 15.

    Scout211

    February 19, 2022 at 5:41 pm

    @John Cole:

    Oh my. I can’t believe I won!

    I’d like to thank the academy . . .  ?

    It is a very yummy soup.  Sometimes I use hot Italian sausage to add some kick.

  16. 16.

    Mousebumples

    February 19, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    I made a veggie/bratwurst soup today for lunch. Great time of year for soups and stews. ?

  17. 17.

    Baud

    February 19, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    @Scout211:

    Guess John Cole’s Soup is the new Wordle.

  18. 18.

    Gravenstone

    February 19, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    So did I. Unfortunately it’s supposed to be stew. Step aside corn starch slurry, it’s roux time.

  19. 19.

    Martin

    February 19, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    @Baud: Shit. If the New York Times buys John Cole, we’re fucked.

  20. 20.

    Wag

    February 19, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    My wife was planning on making this for our dinner tonight. Looks every bit as good as my wife’s version!

  21. 21.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 19, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    @Martin: That’s good news.

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    @Gravenstone

    Potato starch is your friend.

    ;)

  23. 23.

    jeffreyw

    February 19, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    I have one working.

    Got broth? pic.twitter.com/olJqOFJUjL— jeffreyw (@imjeffreyw) February 19, 2022

  24. 24.

    Mike E

    February 19, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    I roasted a 12 lb turkey for Xmas for my daughter and myself (she went home with copious leftovers) knowing I’d make 3 quarts of chowder, aside from the sandwiches of course… that was a nice 5 weeks of soup!

  25. 25.

    Pavlov'sMan

    February 19, 2022 at 6:06 pm

    @NotMax:

    I like arrowroot. A lot more neutral than cornstarch or potato starch. I use it for thickening pie fillings, too.

  26. 26.

    BretH

    February 19, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    Beans -n- Greens. With ground turkey (or better, turkey sausage). Our daughter’s favorite.

  27. 27.

    Salty Sam

    February 19, 2022 at 6:14 pm

    @Baud: Guess John Cole’s Soup

    I FOUND MR. FROG!!!

  28. 28.

    J R in WV

    February 19, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    I have part of a roast chicken I bought at Kroger’s the other day…

    now I’m thinking chicken soup…. maybe with dumplings?

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    February 19, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    @Pavlov’sMan: Reminder: with an apostrophe in your nym, every single comment has to be manually approved before anyone can see it.  Looks like maybe you remembered there was something tricky about your nym, because you seem to have removed the space between the two words.  The space is fine, it’s the apostrophe that’s the culprit.

    You could use an * instead of apostrophe and we would all know what’s up.  Or just use Pavlovs Man, and we will forgive no apostrophe because we would also know what’s up.

  30. 30.

    Ruviana

    February 19, 2022 at 6:17 pm

    @Ohio Mom: What cookbook? It sounds promising!

  31. 31.

    gwangung

    February 19, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    @John Cole: Actually, it looks like YOU won as well.

    Yummmmm……

  32. 32.

    satby

    February 19, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    I didn’t make it, but a guy at the market sells Polish food, so for lunch or dinner tomorrow I bought sweet and sour cabbage soup. It’s probably similar to the Lithuanian sauerkraut soup I used to get in Marquette Park.

  33. 33.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    I don’t know about that spinach. I made a transcontinental Cockaleekie soup with Noodles last week. Very successful. Judged one of my best soups yet. Then I dumped in my husband’s aging salad, and nobody but me will eat it. Spinach had a surprisingly strong taste/ smell and many people don’t like it if not garlicked up. Include me in that group. I ruined my glorious soup.

  34. 34.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @Martin: I’m glad you’re well!

    We get tested every week at work, and I always love to see that Negative, even if we haven’t been knowingly exposed. Just hanging out at P/T twice a week (not to mention the classroom) is making me nervous.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2022 at 6:31 pm

    @satby

    Made that in the Instant Pot last week. Yummy.

    If it doesn’t already come that way with them already cooked in, stirring in some caraway seeds before reheating brings it up several notches, IMHO.

  36. 36.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    @Salty Sam: lol

  37. 37.

    delk

    February 19, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    I made beef barley.

  38. 38.

    dexwood

    February 19, 2022 at 6:34 pm

    Soup, stew, whatever. Around here, Cole, someone will always say you’re doing it wrong. I often use soup and stew interchangeably. Who cares as long as the end result is delicious and satisfying. 

  39. 39.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    Making my husband adjust to unstuffed cabbage tomorrow. I love the meal but I hate trying to stuff those fragile boiled cabbage leaves. Same ingredients. What is yor problem!

    Same thing our parents always told finicky eaters. Okay to mix now since it is all mixed in your stomach. Not a greatselling point, since selling food is about appetizing.

  40. 40.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    February 19, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I laughed out loud too

    But here’s my question for Cole: did you use the magic stone?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    @dexwood: It looks like soup to me. The broth is thinner than what I would call stew.

  42. 42.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    @delk: I always forget about that one! I think my recipe came from Tamara. It’s really good.

  43. 43.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    @sab: I do miss my late ex-mother-in-law’s stuffed cabbage so bad.

  44. 44.

    dexwood

    February 19, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Looks good no matter what you call it.

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2022 at 6:40 pm

    @delk

    Yum. The workhorse of soups. Never bad, oft times spectacular. I keep some beef bones stashed in the freezer specifically to use when making that.

  46. 46.

    delk

    February 19, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I forget it too! Can’t remember the last time I made it and it’s never soup of the day at any places we go to.

  47. 47.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Don’t tell my husband either. He complains my soup is too thick. For twenty years I have been saying “oops!”

  48. 48.

    Peale

    February 19, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    I’m making soup myself tonight. Cock-a-leekie ala Chef John. I’m wondering why glade doesn’t market a “home cooking” scent. It smells great in here.

  49. 49.

    Ruckus

    February 19, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    I learned to be a pretty good cook and could make up stuff from what was on hand. Sort of like mom, although I learned more from my sister.

    But. And it’s a big, firm, round but, when you lose your sense of smell – about 6 yrs ago – food just doesn’t have the draw, because so many things have an amazing smell but really have very little taste. The list is way too long but believe me it’s true. I now eat to survive, not that we all don’t do that but pleasure while cooking or eating, is for all intents and purposes just gone.

    I tell you this so if this happens to you, you’ll know what’s going on, why food mostly doesn’t excite you any longer and eating becomes strictly for survival. On the other hand now I can eat foods I didn’t use to like…..

  50. 50.

    Dan B

    February 19, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    @sab: How about doing it like lasagne with layers of Cabbage and spiced ground meat.  Maybe add some dry bread crumbs to hold the “filling” together when slicing.  Topped with tomato sauce and in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes (maybe more)

    You’d need a very sharp knife to cut it cleanly.

  51. 51.

    Dan B

    February 19, 2022 at 7:03 pm

    Just had a delicious Black Bean and Green Chilies soup.  I’m not wild about green chilies but they were perfect in this.  Store bought from our fancy Co-op grocery.

  52. 52.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:05 pm

    “Outlander” writer Diana Gabaldon has a machaca recipe n the resources tab on her website.

    I have been making it for years. Boiled then shredded beef spiced up with green and red peppets, onions and garlic. Serving it on rice.

    This year I made it in enchiladas. Very very  good. Then I made it with Costco rottiserie chicken. Just as good, but prep time is much  much shorter.

  53. 53.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:08 pm

    @Dan B: That sounds very good. My knives are very sharp. Point of pride. Dull knives cause finger slices.

    Did I tell you your napa cabbage recipe was a hit, and Acme in Akron even had the ingredients?

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2022 at 7:08 pm

    Speaking of barley, found online and on the list to try sooner rather than later.

    Krentjebrij

    1/2 cup of pearl barley
    1 1/2 cup of water
    1 cinnamon stick
    1/4 cup of raisins and currants
    1 strip of lemon peel, no pith
    4 cups of fresh mixed berries, chopped
    1 cup of mixed berry juice
    2 tablespoons of sugar
    .
    Rinse the pearl barley and bring to a boil with the 1,5 cups of water. Turn down to a simmer, add the cinnamon stick, the lemon peel, the dried fruits and a quarter cup of the fresh fruits, stir and let it simmer for forty minutes, or until the barley is soft. You may want to keep a little bit of water on the side to add, in case it needs more liquid.

    When the barley is cooked (soft, with just a bit of a bite), add in the blended fruits, the sugar and add enough water to cover the barley, and simmer for another ten minutes. Taste (watch out, it’s hot!), adjust the sweetness to your liking and remove the lemon peel and cinnamon stick.

    Serve hot or cold. A splash of heavy cream will make this dessert even lovelier.

  55. 55.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    @NotMax: Sounds delicious. What ethnic label would you slap on that, since we apparently always have to do that.

  56. 56.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    @Ruckus: So do you just eat to keep alive, or does visual appeal still mean something? Also too, maybe texture?

  57. 57.

    HinTN

    February 19, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @Dan B:  I’m going black beans with chorizo plus mirepoix, all to go over rice manana.

  58. 58.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    @sab

    Wikipedia says Dutch.

  59. 59.

    Suzanne

    February 19, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    I did not make soup today, but I made a big crockpot of pumpkin oatmeal yesterday and I had some for lunch.

    Ordered Chinese food tonight, including hot and sour soup and some Mongolian beef.

  60. 60.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    @Suzanne

    In Mongolia, is it just called “beef?”

    :)

  61. 61.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:23 pm

    @NotMax: With an Indonesian influence. Dutch w/ Indonesian is amazing food.

  62. 62.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    @NotMax: Canada: “All our bacon is Canadian.”  For tourists who want back bacon but don’t know its name.

  63. 63.

    delk

    February 19, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    @sab: what about peameal?

  64. 64.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    @John Cole: Such a relief that green stuff was kale. Much much better results.

  65. 65.

    Dan B

    February 19, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    @sab: Wow, cool!

    I made a new easy peasey butternut squash.

    Halve, seed, steam.

    Cut into serving sizes.

    Drizzle ghee or melted butter.

    Drizzle Maple syrup.

    Sprinkle dried Peri Peri or similar spice.

    Salt.

     

    It’s so delicious and reheats beautifully in the microwave.

  66. 66.

    Ohio Mom

    February 19, 2022 at 7:31 pm

    @Salty Sam: Yeah, whatever happened to the Mr. Frog pics we were promised?!

    @Ruviana: The Weeknight Mediterranean Kitchen by Samantha Ferraro. Her bio says she has a blog, Little Ferraro Kitchen. Haven’t been there yet.

    The stew was fine, probably needs another hour or two in the crockpot but we ate it anyway, we were hungry.  Letting the second half continue to cook.

  67. 67.

    Dan B

    February 19, 2022 at 7:33 pm

    @HinTN: I would have thought Chorizo would be better but this green chili was irresistible.  It had mirepoix, cilantro, jalapeño, thyme, etc.

  68. 68.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:36 pm

    @delk: Yikes. I Googled it. Takes some thought.

  69. 69.

    Ruviana

    February 19, 2022 at 7:37 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Thanks! I’m off to check it out.

  70. 70.

    oatler

    February 19, 2022 at 7:42 pm

    It’s Ramen Mk VII.

  71. 71.

    Suzanne

    February 19, 2022 at 7:42 pm

    @NotMax: I assume so!

  72. 72.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:50 pm

    @Ohio Mom: February. That frog is sound asleep under pond mud, or dead.

    I am going for still hibernating.

  73. 73.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 7:54 pm

    @HinTN: Before I read Balloon Juice I didn’t even know that I knew what mirepoix was. Cooked wit it but did not know the label.

  74. 74.

    Dan B

    February 19, 2022 at 8:03 pm

    @sab: I larned it in cookin’ skuul!

  75. 75.

    Ohio Mom

    February 19, 2022 at 8:06 pm

    @sab: I distinctly remember Cole promising us he would go through the gobs of photos Mom Cole took of Mr Frog and share them with us over the long, cold, dark winter. And then we never saw them.

  76. 76.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 8:16 pm

    @Ohio Mom: I remember that also. Cut her some slack. Blogmaster is her kid, and she downloaded 100,000 pictures on him one weekend.

  77. 77.

    sab

    February 19, 2022 at 8:18 pm

    sab is here too much, which is a bad sign for a thread. Going to be now instead.

  78. 78.

    Ruckus

    February 19, 2022 at 8:36 pm

    @sab:

    Eat for nutrition, yes to stay alive. Seems like a good thing…

    Visual appeal doesn’t hurt though.

    And it does save time and clean up to not worry about it. And less salt is good so there’s that.

    I’ve never thought about texture in this context. So I’d say maybe not.

    I only actually mention this because it’s so different in eating, something we do for our entire lives and hopefully every day, and we don’t realize all the ramifications. And I thought that the navy could make food bland. Not close. Although there were days when one would swear they were trying their damnest….

  79. 79.

    Jim Appleton

    February 19, 2022 at 8:48 pm

    @Baud:   How long before it goes behind the FTFNYT paywall?

  80. 80.

    Frans

    February 20, 2022 at 5:07 am

    @sab: The only thing remotely Indonesian is the cinnamon, but that standard would mean that the the average apple pie also has Indonesian influence.

  81. 81.

    Shana

    February 20, 2022 at 1:40 pm

    @zhena gogolia: My favorite is the sweet and sour stuffed cabbage from Joan Nathan’s Jewish Cooking in America.

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