to make myself feel better

[quietann]

Yummy vegetables in a thick, tomato-based soup, from the cafeteria. According to the little sign by the kettle, it's really healthy, too!

The vegetables include green beans, yellow summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, yellow wax beans, carrots, and onions. The only one I'd object to is carrots, which I prefer raw.

And oyster crackers! (They are OU kosher and parve, and don't have oysters, obviously. Does anyone know why these are called oyster crackers?)

/must learn how to make soup like this. And share it with friends, because Ben won't eat it.

Comments

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Oyster crackers are called so because they are traditionally served with oysters. In the same way that duck sauce is served with duck, and has no duck in it. (And unlike oyster sauce, which often has oyster extract in it (the quality stuff, anyway).

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

I should share my recipe for riboletta with you (an Italian vegetable soup with beans for protein)

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

is this a smooth soup, where everything's gone thru a blender, or is it a chunky soup where you can see what you're eating?

[quietann.livejournal.com]

Chunky.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Oyster Bay, Long Island

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

Does that explain why they always seem to be served with *clam* chowder?

I have to say, this is one of those things I've always wondered about.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Ooh. I was wrong.... Why not Oyster Bay Crackers then?

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

I would suspect a roux for the thickening (or possibly xanthan gum, but I personally prefer a roux), but only put in after the veggies in the soup have had some time to simmer and soften.

(No garlic?)

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Or crushed soup crackers, as is traditional for NE (ie, white) chowda. Julia Child, in The Way To Cook has an excellent recipe.

Oyster crackers were traditionally served with oyster soup. Or so I heard. Perhaps that tradition started because oyster crackers were traditionally served with oysters. Which just begs the question: why were these crackers served with oysters and/or soup?

[quietann.livejournal.com]

The soup claimed to be vegan, so no roux.

If there was any garlic in this, it was too little to be really noticeable. It had a lovely fresh tomato-ey flavor and great mouthfeel with the soft but not mushy veggies.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Vegan soups can have roux. Roux can be made from any fat, not just butter or meat-based fats. I mean, roux or tomato paste (or both) are the most likely thickener subjects, as there weren't any lentils that you mentioned.

Mom used to make soups with fresh tomatoes and other veggies, but they were this.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

Isn't roux made with milk, too? (I will admit to being somewhat ignorant here, but every roux I've ever made has been milk, butter, and flour.)

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

No, you don't use milk in a roux. The roux itself is fat and an appropriate starch, like flour. I usually use butter but other fats can be used instead. I've used olive oil, for example, though I wouldn't waste the extra virgin on this most of the time.

Alton Brown has a good explanation for how it works, but to sum up: the hot fat basically releases the long chains of starches normally tightly bundled up in your dab of flour, thus turning a relatively small amount of flour into a very effective thickener. The key is not exposing the starch to the water - it's a high 'dry' heat that springs the starch open, and since oil has no water for the flour to absorb (which is what it normally does with water) it's the best method to achieve the spring.

After about 7-10 minutes or so you should be fine to slowly mix in your water (or soup) to the roux. I tend to start with roughly a quarter cup, whisking it in, then slowly (but steadily) pouring in more liquid. I do this with my Alfredo sauce as well as with chowder. I should do it to make gravy with chicken fat, really. Chicken fat, flour, some chicken stock - bam! However, I'm really a little lazy about that.

I also like adding some of my spices to my roux before I add the liquid, anyhwere from right after I put in the flour to about a minute before hydration. That's just because the fat helps release extra flavor in most herbs and spices.

[chhotii.livejournal.com]

Mmm, sounds good!

Perhaps I should join you for cafeteria lunch sometime. :)

[quietann.livejournal.com]

That would be nice. Unfortunately I usually don't know what soups they have until I go down for lunch... but if we can figure out a work-around, that would be great.