Lobster Bisque

Alright, we’ve made it – it’s the final soup! I saved the absolute best for last, so today we’ve got lobster bisque. This rich delicacy has a smooth, creamy texture and a flavor profile that’s both sweet and savory. For the best results, I recommend using a whole, live lobster, rather than one which has been frozen since I’ll be writing the recipe out as though you have a whole one.

If you do choose to go the route of whole, live lobster, don’t boil it alive! The lobster will make an unpleasant sound, and it’s just not particularly humane. Instead, you should simply force your chef’s knife through the back of its head – that sounds even less humane, but it’s actually quick and painless. But that is the price of fine cuisine, is it not? Something has to die to become delicious food for us. And I promise you, your lobster’s sacrifice will not have been in vain, because there’s nothing quite like lobster bisque.

Potage Mulligatawny

Okay everyone, this one is quite an undertaking – but it also happens to be one of the most delicious soups I’ve ever tasted. Potage Mulligatawny is a thick, hearty offspring of Indian and British influences. It’s got a delicious curry base and comes loaded with rice, diced apple, and a garnish of poached chicken breast and crispy bacon lardons for a symphony of flavors that must be experienced to be believed. But make no mistake – this is literally one of the most labor intensive dishes I’ve ever prepared. It employs multiple cooking techniques and loads of ingredients, so be prepared to set aside the better part of your day to make it. Even so, I can not recommend it enough, and once you taste it, you’ll be a believer as well.

Potage Cultivateur

Sorry it’s taken so long for me to get to the next recipe. Between school and work, I don’t have a ton of time for posting these days! I’ll do my best to make more regular updates, but this is kind of the nature of the beast right now.

Anyway, Potage Cultivateur is a hearty vegetable soup and would normally not exactly belong on a site called Screw Your Diet. It’s actually quite good, and good for you. It’s not an especially difficult soup to make either, though it can be time consuming due to the type of knife cut it calls for. The cut is called paysanne, and basically that means you’re looking for relatively flat squares, about ½” x ½”. While you don’t have to cut your vegetables in this way, it certainly makes for a nice presentation and helps to ensure that they’ll all be cooked evenly - it’s worth the extra bit of effort.

Consommé Macédoine

For the 3rd soup in what I’ve dubbed “Soup Madness 2012”, I made a consommé macédoine (or as a friend of mine referred to it, Minecraft Soup). Consommé means “completed” or “concentrated” in French, which is a pretty accurate way to describe this one. The flavor of it is very rich and concentrated in a remarkably clear broth. Macédoine refers to the cut of the garnish vegetables that go into the soup – leek, carrot, and celery, all cut into 4mm x 4mm x 4mm cubes (or in the leek’s case, just 4mm x 4mm).

There are a lot of elements to work with in this soup, but if you’re careful and patient, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with it.

French Onion Soup

After a very successful New England clam chowder, I decided it was time to make a French onion soup. It’s flavorful and extremely popular, though I found my first couple of attempts to be lacking. I initially tried to make it earlier in the week, and was not pleased with my results. When I made it in class later in the week, I was still not entirely pleased with how it turned out. Not satisfied with my results so far, I gave it another shot - the third time proved to be the charm, as this batch came out pretty close to perfect. The key is simple: take your time. Don’t rush it.

Potato Soup

In my previous post, I demonstrated how to make julienne potatoes. The problem with julienne potatoes is that they leave a lot of excess potato, and there's no sense letting it go to waste, right? Rather than toss it out, I put the excess potato to good use in a creamy, cheesy, potato soup. It was my first time making soup from scratch, and it's not an especially difficult recipe either, so follow along and you'll have yourself some delicious soup in no time.