'Soup Whisperer' offers secrets of tasty winter soups

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If you don't make soup in the winter, don't call yourself a cook. It's a winter rite of passage. There's hardly a kitchen task that is easier or more rewarding than making a pot of soup from scratch. The essentials: favorite recipe, fresh ingredients, sharp knives, good vibes. Whistle while you work.You brown meat and bones, chop vegetables, add broth to cover and set the pot to simmer on the back burner. By suppertime, the windows are misty, the house smells wonderful and a hearty meal is all but complete. The family, only recently inside from the snow, hover contentedly over their soup plates in a homey tableau worthy of Norman Rockwell.That's the myth, anyway.Unfortunately, even with the best intentions and ingredients, many a soup falls far short of the delicious brew intended. Bland, watery, fatty, boring are a few of the shortcomings.In search of "long comings" -- flavor, body, heartiness -- we pored through James Peterson's new cookbook, "Cooking" (Ten Speed Press, $40) to pick up tips for success and troubleshoot problems. The weighty book (6 pounds) has 600 recipes. Thirty-five pages are devoted to soup.But wait a minute. I remember that Peterson, a French-trained chef turned author and teacher, also is the author of "Splendid Soups: Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World's Best Soups," first published in 1993 and updated in 2000. That book devotes 500 pages to soup.Either way you read it, the chef delivers a master class on the subject. We've shopped the 535 pages of both books, diced the chapters and simmered the information to give you his top suggestions for successful soup making.Now pay attention to James Peterson, the Soup Whisperer.-- Homemade broth. A rich and flavorful broth, Peterson says, begins with only enough liquid to barely cover the solid ingredients. The exact amount of liquid is variable, but as a general rule, figure on a pint of liquid to a pound of solid ingredients.People don't often think of using drumsticks, according to Peterson, but there's a lot of flavor there, and they aren't all that expensive. To make 3 1/2 quarts of chicken broth, use six pounds of chicken drumsticks, backs, necks and bones and 4 1/2 quarts of water, or enough to cover. For the fullest-flavored broth, roast the meat and bones with vegetables in a 450-degree oven for 45 minutes before adding to the water in the stock pot. If, as the broth cooks, the liquid evaporates so that solid ingredients are sticking out above the surface, add just enough cold water to cover.-- Canned broth. You can doctor canned or boxed broth with the fresh flavor of a few herbs and vegetables. Try this. Coarsely chop a small onion, half a carrot and half a celery rib for each quart of broth. Add fresh herbs and simmer everything together slowly, partially covered for 45 minutes. Strain out the solids. Don't bother making soup from bouillon cubes; they usually taste stale and salty and can ruin the flavor of good ingredients.Find wonderful chicken broth at most Jewish delis and grocery stores. Chinese restaurants will usually sell homemade chicken broth, too.-- Bright, fresh-tasting soup. Chopped herbs such as parsley or basil will give the soup freshness. But those qualities are lost if the soup sits too long on the stove, so stir in, or sprinkle on, the herbs just as the soup is being ladled into the bowl. Next time you make pesto, freeze some in ice cube trays. Then stir heaping tablespoons of pesto right into a minestrone or other vegetable soup to give it vibrance.Peterson suggests adding a couple of tablespoons of good wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice to bring all the flavors into perspective. When vegetable soups taste heavy and flat, try adding a half cup of white wine or sherry and cook the soup for just a minute to get rid of the alcohol. The raw fruitiness and tartness of the wine often lighten the soup.-- Add salt. Please add salt, Peterson pleads. It's often just what a flat-tasting soup lacks. As for pepper, when it's added early in the cooking, the result is a harsh, sometimes bitter flavor. The whole point of grinding fresh pepper is to release its volatile, flavorful oils, so always add it at the end of the cooking, or pass the mill at the table.-- Make a bouquet garni. Too many cooks make their bouquets so small that they don't have a chance of improving the flavor of the broth. A traditional bouquet garni is a selection of fresh herbs tied up in a bundle with string to keep them from floating randomly around in the soup. (Some people wrap the herbs in cheesecloth.) For a generous pot of soup to serve, say, 12, make the herb packet as big as a fist. It might consist of not a few sprigs but a whole bunch of parsley, 10 sprigs of thyme, a bay leaf and a whole leek cut into strips all scrunched together and tied with string. Be careful when using bay leaves, however. California bay leaves are so intense they overwhelm all other flavors. Use just a small piece, even a chip of a leaf, until you find a level you like.-- Greasy soup. It happens. One common error is letting soup boil, not simmer. With boiling, any fat rendered by the meat or bones will be churned back into the broth instead of floating to the top where it can be skimmed off. Broth that has been boiled turns cloudy and has a greasy taste and feel.If you are making a long-cooking soup, it's easier to cook the soup, covered, in a 275-degree oven.There's no reason not to make homemade soups that are "mmm-mmm-good."Take that, Campbell's.A few of Peterson's soups that singGARLIC SOUP WITH POACHED EGGSThere's something wonderful about the warm egg yolk melting into the broth that makes this soup especially satisfying. Now would be the time to use purchased homemade chicken broth from a kosher deli or grocery. This version uses marjoram or thyme. A Mexican version could be made with fresh oregano.4 heads garlic1 bunch marjoram or thyme (about 30 sprigs) 2 quarts rich chicken broth 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1-inch strip orange zest (optional, but good)Salt and pepper6 slices slightly stale French bread, toasted 6 poached eggs (can be poached in advance and held) Extra-virgin olive oil, for swirling on the soupBreak the garlic heads into cloves and put the unpeeled cloves in a pot with the marjoram and the broth. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the garlic is soft.Work the soup through a food mill or a strainer, pressing against the solids with the bottom of a ladle. Return the soup to the pot, bring to a simmer, and add the lemon juice and the strip of orange zest.Season generously with salt and pepper. Put a slice of toast in each soup plate, top each toast with an egg, and ladle the broth over it. At the table drizzle with good olive oil.Makes 6 servings.-- "Cooking" by James Peterson (Ten Speed Press, 2007)TUSCAN-STYLE MINESTRONE SOUPThis recipe is long, but reputations have been made on this soup. It features beans in two forms -- whole, as one of the vegetables, and pureed to give the soup body and texture. This batch makes a lot, and if you don't have the family to finish it, send a container over to a neighbor. Good soup makes good friends.3 quarts water 1/2 head of cabbage 1 large red onion, chopped 1 celery rib, chopped 1 leek, sliced 1 large carrot, sliced 4 garlic cloves, peeled 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves cut into strips, about 3 cups tightly packed 1 large waxy potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes 6 cups chicken broth 4 medium-size tomatoes or 1 cup drained, canned tomatoes 1 bouquet garni (1 rosemary sprig, 8 thyme sprigs, 1 bunch parsley) 1 cup dried cannelloni beans, soaked and cooked, about 3 cups (or use canned) 1 bunch spinach, tough stems removed and chopped, about 1 cup packed Salt and pepper Slices of French bread Grated parmesan cheesePrecook the cabbage to eliminate some of the strong taste and prevent it from taking over the flavor of the soup.Bring the water to a rolling boil. Cut the cabbage into quarters through the core. Cut the core out of two of the quarters and discard the cores; then slice the quarters as thinly as possible. Boil the sliced cabbage for 5 minutes and drain it in a colander. Rinse with cold water and set aside.In a 4-quart pot, cook the onion, celery, leek, carrot and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the blanched cabbage, kale, potato, broth, tomatoes and bouquet garni. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.Strain half the cooked (or canned) beans through a food mill or puree in a blender or food processor. Add the puree and the whole beans to the simmering soup. Simmer the soup for about 5 minutes more. Reach in with a spoon and taste a few of the vegetables to make sure they are completely soft.Add the spinach. Simmer soup for 1 minute more. Add salt and pepper to taste.To serve: The soup can now be ladled into hot bowls, but if you want to present it in the traditional style, layer it in a tureen with bread slices, alternating a ladle of soup with a slice of bread and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Pass the cheese at the table along with a cruet of extra virgin olive oil to swirl over the soup.-- "Splendid Soups" by James Peterson (Bantam, 1993)Devote a Sunday afternoon to make this simple broth and stock the freezer. It will be the cornerstone for many a delicious soup. Even though it involves an extra step -- roasting the bones and vegetables -- it comes out perfectly clear and appetizingly brown.BASIC CHICKEN BROTH6 pounds chicken drumsticks, backs, necks or bones 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped 1 celery rib, coarsely chopped 4 1/2 quarts cold water or enough to cover 1 bouquet garni (including herbs such as rosemary, thyme and parsley)Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Trim extra fat off the chicken parts and spread them in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan or large skillet with the chopped vegetables. Roast until they're well browned, usually 45 minutes to an hour. Do not let the bottom of the roasting pan burn.Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the chicken and vegetables to an 8- to 10-quart pot, and pour or ladle off any grease in the bottom of the roasting pan.Discard the grease. Pour 2 cups water into the roasting pan and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to dissolve the juices adhering to the bottom.Put the bouquet garni into the pot with the chicken and vegetables and pour over the contents of the roasting pan. Add the rest of the water, or slightly more or less if necessary, to barely cover the chicken parts.Heat over medium heat until the water comes to a simmer. Turn the heat down low enough to keep the broth at a slow simmer and cook for about 3 hours. Never allow it to boil.Every 30 minutes, skim off any fat or froth that comes to the surface.When the broth is done, strain it into a clean pot or heat-resistant plastic container. Let it cool, uncovered, for an hour before refrigerating.The next day, when the broth is cold, spoon off and discard any fat that has congealed on its surface.Makes 3 1/2 quarts.-- "Splendid Soups" by James Peterson (Bantam, 1993).(Marlene Parrish can be reached at mparrish(at)post-gazette.com. For more stories, visit scrippsnews.com.)