Recreating Restaurant Dishes

morning glory said:
I made my version of this soup yesterday. Quite right re the walnuts. I toasted them the bring out the flavour. And I added a swirl of walnut oil on top. I'll post the recipe and photo as a new thread and link it back here. :thumbsup:
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I am looking forward to the recipe. But first, just conceptually, so you didn't just use walnut oil. You did toast some actual walnuts? And then, what? Presumably you blitzed them in a processor before adding them to the soup?

And I am dying to know. Did you like the result? Did anyone else have it? What did they think?
 
Ken Natton said:
I am looking forward to the recipe. But first, just conceptually, so you didn't just use walnut oil. You did toast some actual walnuts? And then, what? Presumably you blitzed them in a processor before adding them to the soup?

And I am dying to know. Did you like the result? Did anyone else have it? What did they think?
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I used the walnut oil to garnish (swirl). I think it may be a bit too strong to cook the mushrooms in it. But perhaps a little could have been added when frying the mushrooms. I confess it wasn't until after I made the soup that I thought about the walnut oil!

I toasted all the walnuts and ground them in a spice grinder (coffee grinder would suffice).
Did I like the result? I'm afraid I can't take creamy soups or sauces - but of course I taste tested it all the way through. It is very earthy & mushroomy.
I fed it to partner and son who both declared it a hit. Neither had tasted mushroom soup quite so strong in flavour.

I'll post the recipe and photo later this afternoon (it takes a while to write recipes up!).
 
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Cinisajoy said:
You use the bones to get all the rich marrow flavor. Now most people add celery, onion and carrot to their stock pot. You can use the scrap meat too. Then strain well.
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Slightly off-topic :D but about 10 years ago I invited a new male friend round to my house for dinner one Sunday. As I was popping in and out of the kitchen, I took the opportunity to make some stock as well. The stockpot was simmering away nicely for a couple of hours by which time our dinner was ready. After we'd eaten, he said he would do the washing up. When he'd finished, I went back out there to attend to the stock, and the stockpot was nowhere to be found - he'd tipped all the stock away and washed the saucepan. He even had to the nerve to say that he thought it was left in soak and that the stock was "washing-up water". He became an ex-male friend very quickly :facepalm:
 
I've found that there are people who can make an ok soup, and then there are people who have a gift at making SOUP!

This reminds me of a restaurant in Pine Hill, N.Y. that makes awesome soups.

We've been going there every year on skiing trips for a decade now, and every year they have a soup or two on the menu that is just outstanding.

The two that stick out in my mind are their wild mushroom soup, and the African carrot soup.

I would love to recreate them, but outside of the obvious, I wouldn't know where to start. I mean, I'm no slouch in the kitchen, but these were exceptional in depth, richness, and complexity.
 
buckytom said:
I've found that there are people who can make an ok soup, and then there are people who have a gift at making SOUP!

This reminds me of a restaurant in Pine Hill, N.Y. that makes awesome soups.

We've been going there every year on skiing trips for a decade now, and every year they have a soup or two on the menu that is just outstanding.

The two that stick out in my mind are their wild mushroom soup, and the African carrot soup.

I would love to recreate them, but outside of the obvious, I wouldn't know where to start. I mean, I'm no slouch in the kitchen, but these were exceptional in depth, richness, and complexity.
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African carrot soup? Sounds interesting. What do you think was in it it?
 
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buckytom said:
I've found that there are people who can make an ok soup, and then there are people who have a gift at making SOUP!
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I love making soups, especially thin soups, that have plenty of flavour. Although I make my own stock from meat, bones etc, I find this is more suitable for use in other dishes, and the best stocks to flavour soup that I have found are vegetable-based. My favourite at the moment is stock made from the pith of butternut squash, using a lot of pith with very little water and absolutely nothing else except maybe a dash of black pepper. What I put in the actual soup, however, is another story.
 
morning glory said:
OK - The thready bits you mean? I'm not keen on squash as I find it too sweet for my taste but I'm wondering if the stock made from pith is sweetish too?
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I've never found it sweet - at least not like sugar. I just like the taste of it especially as a base for soup
 
Elawain, I'm going to have to try that with the bitternut squash pith. My family loves squash.

morning glory said:
African carrot soup? Sounds interesting. What do you think was in it it?
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Beyond carrots, cumin, salt and pepper, I couldn't venture a guess. It was more savory than sweet, very rich and silky. Perfect for apres ski.
 
Speaking of soups, I work just a few blocks from where the "Soup Nazi" of Seinfeld fame had his little storefront.
I even got yelled at him once to wait my turn to order. It was busy and I didn't hear him tell me to wait the first time, lol.

But his soups weren't anything that special. Good, but salty.
 
For a light meal after skiing, before going out for the night?
 
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