Ladle & Pot: Lessons From Soup Class

adle &

pot

lessons from Dane Kuttler

soup class

soup for my family

Soup class began in the first true winter of the pandemic, when many people were still hunkered down and hungry for community and connection. We gathered online, each in our own little box, with a pile of ingredients and three pots apiece. I, the teacher, don't cook on camera; instead, I scrutinize those little boxes, calling out instructions and offering advice.

Soup class consists of two soups we all make together, and one soup that is just your own - the pantry soup, born of what you ' ve got and what you ' re craving. Or you don't make one. You sit back and watch the others cook and drink your tea and exist in the bustle of others cooking.

The regulars of soup class live across mountains, oceans and time zones. We will never " go back in person" because we have always gathered like this, in little windows to our own cozy kitchens. What follows in this book is a small piece of what we do.

the soup class invocation

Soup is how we get to the table when what we need most is each other. Soup is how we use up all the scraps, when waste is not an option. Soup is the closest thing this Jew has ever gotten to communion. Soup means there's always room for more. Soup means everything is fixable, even if you burn it a little, or if it comes out oversalted. Soup is generous. Soup is forgiving. Soup is necessary.

equipment list

You will need the following things for each soup in the book:

a pot that holds at least 4 quarts

a sharp knife

a cutting board

a ladle

You will need the following things to make some soups in this book:

a whisk

a blender (countertop or immersion)

a wooden spoon or wooden spatula

mixing bowls, varying sizes

It is helpful, but not required, to have the following things always on hand for soup. If you keep all of these things in your kitchen, you will always have what you need to make several excellent soups (at least one of which is in this book.)

salt

pepper

bouillon or broth (chicken and vegetable are the most versatile)

a head of garlic

2-3 onions

fresh ginger

some kind of vinegar

dried mushrooms

canned or dried beans

peanut butter

canned tomatoes

small pasta

olive oil

dried herbs: sage, rosemary, thyme

esau's soup (red lentil soup)

Ingredients:

red lentils (2 cups, or about a pound/400g)

chicken or vegetable broth, (about 4 cups)

2 carrots

2 ribs celery

1 large onion (any color is fine)

a large can of passata, crushed tomato

2-3 lemons

cumin

coriander

olive oil, salt

cayenne pepper or another hot pepper

cilantro or parsley (optional)

chop the carrot, celery and onion. pour 5-6 glugs of olive oil into the pot over medium heat. add carrots, onions, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt. cook for about 5 minutes, then add everything but the lemon and cilantro. simmer for 20-30 minutes, until lentils are thoroughly cooked. blend. then add salt and lemon juice until it tastes perfect to you. garnish with cilantro or parsley, if you want.

tom

kha

Ingredients:

coconut milk, 1 can

broth, 2 cups

broccoli, 1 crown

baby corn, 1 can

bamboo shoots, 1 can

a little carrot

mushrooms, 3-5 white button mushrooms

ginger, about half a thumb's worth, grated

lemongrass paste

fish sauce

cilantro

1 lime

my virtual kitchen family

When people register for soup class, I always ask why they're taking soup class THIS monthwhether it's their first or their fifteenth. This one was submitted by a soup class regular who was so dedicated to our little group that they would wake up at 3:30 a.m. Monday morning during the year they lived in Tokyo so they could join us on what was Sunday afternoon in the U.S.

"It gets harder to answer this every time, especially now, after so many months without it. It's Soup Class. It's my virtual kitchen family. I need three hours of multipot chaos and running out of chopping boards and laughter echoing off my walls from other kitchens across the world. And I'm especially grateful for it and consider it part of my extended queer-fam community around the winter holiday months in particular."

-- soup class regular Kim, aka "Tokyo Kim"

when the pot is a cauldron

Sometimes, soup gets witchy. It can be a little like potion-making when the world's on fire. It starts with a chicken carcass in a pot on the stove overnight, and turns into a lemon-shallot-garlic chicken broth in the morning, because damnit, someone still deserves nice things, and if it isn't you, then you can probably think of someone.

And then you scavenge through your cluttered pantry that REALLY needs a clean out and unearth half a box of pasta shaped like tiny stars, hundreds of little pinheads. There's a box of dried garlic chips you alternately use in everything, then forget about for awhile. There's beans because there's always beans, small white ones in what was once a honey jar.

There's a pile of near-dead things in the crisper that deserve salvation or resurrection, whichever: leeks with dried husks, scallions on the brink of slime, parsley that somehow managed to keep its bitter pep. A bag of baby spinach, because regular grownup spinach is getting harder to find for some reason. A bag of frozen artichoke hearts in the freezer that is somehow the most decadent thing in the world.

The end result isn't pretty, exactly, but it fills a

ladle well, with plenty of heft and the promise of warmth and nourishment. And as you serve yourself lunch, you realize you ' ve made the sort of soup you'd keep waiting on the stove for visitors: a welcoming soup. A bolstering soup. A fortification in scary times.

You read about a Ukranian woman who heard about the bombs and immediately bought a cake to share with her friend, and you read the conversation that started with a young Ukranian asking for advice on how to survive a war, and the responses that poured in from all over the world.

And no matter where it comes from, they all seem to arrive at the same place, which is to say: together. together. together. No way through but together.

The saddest part is that a potion by itself is not a spell. A pot on the stove can't conjure the people we need most.

But for a little while, this afternoon, I cooked like people might come making a soup that might not offer a taste of home, but of something equally important.

Together. together. together.

how to fix your soup

Too salty!

This is one of the hardest problems to fix, because the real answer is "make more soup to fix the salt/soup ratio." Add more liquid, add more starch, and make sure none of it is salted, but all ot it is otherwise seasoned - pepper, herbs, etc. Sometimes heat and acid will help.

Too spicy!

Add a little sweetness and a little acid. Honey, sugar, carrot are good for sweet. Vinegar, citrus juice - lime is good for many because it's sweet AND acidic.

It's fine...I guess? But boring.

Add salt, then acid, then adjust spice/heat.

Too sweet!

Add acid, and possibily a little bitterness can help.

Too bitter!

NO acid, YES sweetness, maybe a little salt.

Too watery and lacks depth or dimension!

90% of the time, your problem is not enough salt.

Ingredients:

5 beets

1 red onion

broth of some kind (beef is traditional, veggie or chicken is fine)

a carrot or two

a few cloves of garlic

something acidic - red wine vinegar, white vinegar, even cider vinegar is fine

black pepper

optional: fresh dill

optional: mustard

optional: dill pickles, chopped sour cream for serving

Wash & scrub beets. Then chop them into quarters or eighths. Roughly chop carrots & red onion. Put beets & carrots in pot, and pour in enough broth to cover about half of them. Cover tightly, and boil/steam for 20-30 minutes, or until you can cut them with a fork. Add peeled garlic and cook for another 10 minutes. Blend. Add salt, pepper, a spoonful of mustard, and splashes of acid until it tastes perfect to you. Eat with sour cream and chopped pickles.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

3 lemons

6 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

3 carrots

2 onions

4 cloves of garlic

1 cup of uncooked rice (short grain, like arborio, is ideal here, any kind of rice works) dried oregano

a bunch of parsley OR dill

Optional: 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Chop the onions and carrots small - pinky nail size. Mince garlic. Get those going in pot over medium heat with a little olive oil. Cook for 5 min, then add broth. Bring to boil, then add rice. Cook, stirring frequently, for 20-ish minutes, until rice is soft. If using chicken, chop into small pieces and add now, after rice is cooked. Add a few shakes of oregano. Turn heat down to very low.

Now the hard part: Beat the 6 eggs in a large bowl. SLOWLY take a cup of broth and drizzle into the eggs WHILE you beat them. Then another cup. Do this until the outside of the bowl is quite warm. Then dump it all in the soup. Finish with a ton of lemon juice and fresh herbs, and adjust salt until it tastes perfect to you.

pantry soup

Ingredients:

salt

pepper

olive oil

bouillon or broth (chicken and vegetable are the most versatile)

a head of garlic

1 onion

some kind of vinegar

canned or dried beans

dried herbs: sage, rosemary, or thyme

Start with beans: canned or prepare your dried ones as you normally do. Chop an onion and a head of garlic into near-paste. Get that paste going in some olive oil in a pot. Add pepper, salt, one of your dried herbs, and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently. Add beans and enough broth to cover everything, with about an inch of liquid on top. Turn heat to low and simmer for 20ish minutes. If it tastes boring, add more salt, herbs, and a little shot of vinegar, until it tastes perfect to you.

Ingredients:

4 fist-sized or other size equivalent yukon gold or red potatoes (russets will make you sad. don’t get russets)

1 fist-sized onion

3 ribs of celery

½ stick of butter OR grease of your choice

Dried thyme, a few shakes

Optional: bay leaf

2 cups broth

2 cups whole milk (dairy free folks can double the broth, but why make chowder?)

IF MAKING FISH CHOWDER: 1 lb of hake, cod, or other flaky white fish

IF MAKING POTATO CHOWDER: 1 carrot, and double the celery

IF MAKING CLAM CHOWDER: 1 can (10 oz) whole baby clams, if you can get it.

Chop the potatoes into bite-size pieces. Chop the onion and celery into pinky-nail size pieces. Get them going over medium heat with the butter, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Add the broth and boil for 15 minutes. Add the milk and simmer for 10 more. Add your fish or clams or shrimp or whatever, simmer 4 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper until it tastes perfect to you.

peanut butter chicken soup

Ingredients:

peanut butter (fewest ingredients possible)

can of crushed or diced tomatoes (depending on how chunky you like your soups)

1 can coconut milk

2 onions

a head of garlic

a couple of hot peppers, your choice salt

a quart of chicken or veggie broth

4 chicken thighs (bone-in if you can get them) or 5 potatoes and 2 carrots (if you ’ re vegetarian) or both because why not optional garnish: cilantro, scallions

Chop the onion and garlic pretty fine and get them going with a little oil over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, then add 3 big spoonfuls of peanut butter. Stir until soft and runny, then add coconut milk and tomatoes, mixing well to incorporate PB. Chop the potato & carrot, and throw that in. Nestle the chicken well into the mix and top with enough broth to cover it all. Add salt & simmer 45 minutes. Taste and adjust salt until it tastes perfect to you. Serve with greenery.

jewish chicken soup

Ingredients:

the remains of a chicken, roasted and eaten

2 onions

3 ribs celery

3 carrots

a head of garlic

a parsnip or two

for the end: a lemon's worth of juice, parsley optional: a package of egg noodles

Make the broth as written below. After 2 hours of simmering, chop all the vegetables nice and small. Pull out the chicken. Put in the vegetables. Let it cook another hour. Pull the meat off the bones and put it back in. Cook the noodles in another pot. Add to soup and serve with parsley & lemon.

Sometimes, the only thing one can do is make chicken soup. The right way, the old way, with onions and celery and parsnips and an old chicken, boiled slowly, with only the barest hint of bubbles, so the broth turns out clear and rich. Skim the scum and foam with a tarnished spoon, add salt. Let it soak into your apartment. Invite your grandmother in. Give her a seat in your softest chair. Tell her how much you wish you could be on her linoleum floor again. Sometimes, all you get is the soup, the ghost of love in your nose.

finishing touches

To top a soup with a flourish, make it an occasion, a celebration, something more than comfort. Sprinkle, drizzle, splash and glorify. You get to decide what goes on each soup.

a bunch of parsley, a lemon's worth of zest, two cloves of garlic, chopped fine

3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin and simmered in half a cup of olive oil on low heat for 15 minutes

a bunch of cilantro, 4 scallions, chopped fine. mix with the juice of one lime.

small chunks of bread, tossed with a little salt and pepper and enough olive oil that they're not soaked but you can see a little shine on each piece. sprinkled with any sharp cheese, grated. broil for 2-4 minutes, depending on how good your broiler is.

equal parts toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, and hot sauce

toasted nuts & a sage leaf, chopped fine