Soups are a place to be adventurous. If there is a food you like, it may well go into a soup. My mother would make Refrigerator Soup, which was all the leftover meats, vegetables, and starches in the fridge after three days, popped into a flavored liquid of some sort. Some were very good and some were… filling!

Here’s a bit of a guide from which to choose, all adjustable by you to your taste:

1. Liquid base – water, broth (home made, canned, or jarred paste), juice; you must have a liquid base.
2. Flavoring – herbs and greens (add part way through cooking), onion or garlic (fry in oil until golden to give the best flavor), vegetables, beans, spices
3. Body – vegetables, grain, bread and sops (more about sops below), pasta, fruit, fish, poultry, meat (including meatballs!); most soups are named by the main or most intense of the ingredients in the body.
4. Thickening – if needed; grain, bread, starch (wheat flour, rice flour), eggs
5. Enhancements – completely optional; bread and sops, pasta, dried fruit, fats (marrow, butter, olive oil), eggs, cheese, nuts, more spices
6. Garnish – only if you want to; herbs and greens, flowers (edible, of course), dried fruit, pastry, hard-boiled egg yolks, nuts, etc.

(Sop – crackers, toast, or stale bread over which soup is ladled; gives soup its name to distinguish it from other potages.)

That list looks intimidating, so let’s go through it by using an example.

Onion Soup

1. Liquid base is water, or broth if you have it.
2. Flavoring is onion and maybe some paprika, marjoram and thyme.
3. Body is… more onions!
4. Thickening… eh. More onions!
5. Enhancement is a sop with cheese; that is, toast with a heavy load of Parmesan and some other cheese.
6. Garnish… let’s float the sop on top and put it under the broiler for a few seconds.

Thinly slice one large sweet onion per person; that is, cut off top and bottom points, cut in half lengthwise, peel, then slice across the grain into half-circles.

Put a tablespoon or two of cooking or olive oil into a medium heated frypan, add the onions and cook slowly until the onions are all golden and sweet (caramelized). The paprika can go in with the onions early, a goodly sprinkle for color. You could add a dollop of butter to the oil for extra flavor; note that butter on its own can burn.

Add a bit of dried thyme and/or marjoram, a pinch for one or a 1/4 t for four. Smell it; if you like it, add a bit more. Hm… a little salt and pepper might be good.

Now add your liquid, maybe up to a cup or so per person and bring it just to a boil; canned broth does work well here, and gives it fuller flavor. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for ten to twenty minutes until it looks and smells tasty. Come to think if it, dip in a spoon and have a taste; does it need any seasoning? If so, add it now.

Make some toast. Grate some cheese, like Swiss, Gruyere or whatever is melty, and mix it with some Parmesan. Heat up the broiler or set the oven to 350 degrees F.

Ladle the soup into heatproof bowls. Float the toast on top. Cover it all with the cheese mixture.

Using those oven mitts, careful put the bowl(s) onto a baking pan to slide the soup into the oven; broil briefly, or bake until the cheese melts and gets a touch of color. Carefully take out of the oven and serve on heatproof boards while warning everyone that the bowls are hot!

Actually, I usually burn myself in the last bit, so I just top the soup with toast and cheese and serve. If you have a kitchen torch, you could lightly melt/toast the tops safely.

That’s a classic Onion Soup. It took more time to type it up than it takes to cook it! And that is the general process for making -any- soup: determine the ingredients, prepare (peel, chop, seed), season to suit, cook until done, and serve it forth.

Create! Enjoy!