Soups and Stocks

The soups unit as a whole, in my opinion, was a success. The basic stock we made went very smoothly. We had to butcher a chicken, which thankfully I sat out. Next we chopped up herbs and vegetables, but them in a cheesecloth and made a bouquet garni. We let that all simmer in a stockpot and then it was done. Very easy and our group made virtually no mistakes. My group made Thai Chicken Soup for the recipe we got to decide. The first day we were just gathering and chopping up our mise en place but we accidentally started our stock. Class ended and our stock was not ready so with a miscommunication with Mrs. Hoagland we ended straining our stock with a chinois. We were left with scraps of chicken and some onions. The next day we ended up just getting 2 cups of pre-made chicken stock which was not nearly enough for our soup. We boiled rice noodles and then poured our “soup” over the noodles. To me, this did not seem like a soup. Next time I know that we can follow directions better and make a stock with a lot more liquid in it. It was 90% noodles and 10% liquid/soup. I did not eat it because if the chicken but my group seemed to enjoy it very much. The second soup we made was a potato based soup with 3 potatoes and a pound of vegetables and let it simmer for a while. The only notable error was the fact that we did not measure a full 1 pound of vegetables for the nourishing element. The soup smelled delicious and I wish that it was a vegetable stock rather than a chicken base so I could eat it! We used some basil as a garnish and the soup looked picture perfect. The soups were easy because although they vary in ingredients the process is generally the same. Every soup we made had mirepoix, stocks and a bouquet garni for a nourishing element and we had to let the vegetables sweat in the pot so they could release moisture in the soup. Our group took our safety and sanitation very seriously and we cleaned as we went and there were no accidents. We worked very well together and I am sad we won’t be together anymore. -Emma Bayuk