Is It Soup Yet?

On Tuesday the 22nd, six friends are coming over for 3 - 4 hours of soup making and lunch. I put together this list of possibilities taken straight from the recipes I gathered into a series of Excel worksheets a few years ago.

• U.S. Senate Bean Soup
• Vegetable Soup (w/ and w/out beef)
• Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup
• White Chicken Chili
• Creamy Carrot Soup
• Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
• Potage Sainte-Germain (the Magic Pan's pea soup--remember that crepe place!)
• Chile Verde (no beans, very meaty)
• Baked Potato Soup
• Black Bean Soup
• Toscana Soup (Macaroni Grill)

They are part of the recipe collection I printed on beautiful vellum and inserted into the above lovely recipe book, first for my daughter and daughter-in-law, and later for friends BB and RvH when they co-hosted a shower for JE's first baby.

 

I've decided that in the morning session, we'll make Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup, Chile Verde, and Chicken Pot Pie (an addition because the ingredients are almost identical to the CCPS). I'll teach the techniques of making homemade Chicken Stock (Silver Palate's Berta's), composing and properly browning a roué (Chile Verde), and peeling button mushrooms (both chicken recipes).

 

Since there are six attendees, 3 will sit at the counter while 3 assist in the prep. Don't worry--I plan to give the sitters a couple of tasks. We'll switch off for the afternoon session.

 

We'll break for a lunch of Creamy Carrot Soup (I'll pre-prepare), White Corn Bread, Sour Dough Rolls, and two cheeses with a side of Fig Preserves.

 

In the afternoon, we'll make U.S. Senate Bean Soup and Potage Sainte-Germain. The techniques I'll demonstrate will involve a quick trick to peel and crush fresh garlic, and the use of a mortar and pestle to make a paste of the garlic cloves and salt.

 

Each person will go home with a quart or two of three soups and a Chicken Pot Pie to serve 2 generously.

 

I've already got quarts and quarts of homemade chicken stock in my freezer. Now, I need to organize a grocery list, printout recipe copies (flash drives for the tech-savy), write a step-by-step pre-class itinerary, as well as a class-time itinerary. By Tuesday early morning, I'll have made the Creamy Carrot Soup and cornbread, browned the lean ground pork (Chile Verde), peeled and sliced a ton of carrots, and chopped a dozen sweet onions and a few celery bunches.

 

Don't worry... This is the kind of stuff where I excel. However, I will be wasted for at least three days after!