Cream of whatever soup
To make a cream soup base you need to make a white sauce. You can make this one of two ways:
The basic formula from scratch for it would be (1 part fat+1part flour + 2 cups liquid (a combo of milk + broth(x) or milk+ veggie(x) of choice = cream of x soup ))
or
Quick and easy way: 2 cups liquid (milk/broth combo) + 2tbsp cornstarch. Mix cornstarch and milk together when milk is cold, be sure its fully combined, pour into sauce pan and bring to a simmer to thicken.
Example recipe using rue ~ Cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp fat (butter, olive oil, bacon if you want to go wild)+
2 tbsp flour = rue (natural thickener for sauces/soups)
Melt butter, add flour whisking it in to break up the bits. Cook flour and butter until light golden brown.
1.5 (if adding meat broth for flavor) or 2 C (for cream of whatever veggie soup) milk/half and half (for richer soup add full fat milk or part full fat milk and heavy or whipping cream)
wisk milk in slowly so that there are no lumps in your soup/sauce. Bring sauce to a simmer, almost boiling and adjust thickness as needed, by adding more milk to thin or keep simmering to reduce liquid to make it thicker. If adding a meat based broth add the broth before making it thinner to test texture.
1/2-1 cup chicken stock/broth or equal amounts bouillon cube or concentrated broth paste ( you can find organic broth paste at costco for around 7 bucks makes 72 1 cup servings!)
For veggie cream soup
rue + 2 cups milk + veggies bits
or
2 tbsp cornstarch + 2 cups COLD milk + veggie bits
veggie bits I use for cream of x veggie soup
- broccoli stalks, peeled and cut into small pieces, save floret heads for adding crunch to the rest of the soup, if desired. Or if you have frozen broccoli that works fine too
- woody asparagus pieces and leftovers that were too tough to serve steamed or grilled or leftovers I froze from a previous night’s dinner.
- dried mushrooms, rehydrate in hot water, strain through double layer of cheese cloth to get all dirt out, reserve liquid and add to soup to make a mushroomy broth. Or add fresh or frozen sliced mushrooms
- less then steller carrots, meaning they are still good..just sorta floppy and on their way out.
- less then steller celery, meaning they are still good..just sorta floppy and on their way out.
~ frozen spinach if desired…i like it some don’t
While soup is boiling to thicken add veggies that have been cut into bit sized pieces, say a rough dice. Cook until soft, soft enough that a fork pierces it easily. Once soft the veggies are soft, blend the heck out of it until you have the texture you desire.
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