At Cook House, our soups are full of flavour and often topped with tasty oils or fresh herbs, seeds or nuts to create texture. I often serve them as a small course at our supper clubs in little cups, often with a Butter and Cardamom Bun (page 272) on the side, or a truffle cheese toasty. Soup doesn’t have to be dull – it can bring joy!
Your base stocks will give real depth of flavour to the soup and they really do make a difference. If you are poaching a chicken for a pie or a salad or simmering a ham, then keep the leftover stock in labelled old cleaned-out milk bottles or yoghurt pots in the freezer. This takes all of the work out of a soup.
To make stock specifically for soup you need to be gentle. Chop onions, carrots, celery, leeks and add to a pan of cold water, then add black peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves. For vegetable stock just stop here and simmer this very gently for about 40 minutes. For chicken stock, add a whole chicken or chicken wings along with the vegetables and simmer so it is only just moving, for an hour or so. If using a whole chicken, you can use the resulting poached chicken for another dish. If you are cooking ham hocks, then the leftover stock is also great to use for soup or if you prefer to make a ham stock just for soup, then simmer some ham bones very gently for an hour.
Season your soups carefully – it can make all the difference. A large pot of soup will often need a little more salt than you think. If it is too rich, add a squeeze of lemon juice or if it seems bland, add a pinch more spice, pepper or salt. A spoonful of sugar can lift a pepper or tomato soup. Take a bit of time over these tweaks at the end and you will be rewarded.