6 Soups from around the world

Recipes for Lobster Bisque, Saxe Coburg Soup, Kimchi Udon Noodle Soup, Beouf Bourguignon, Polish Beet Soup, African Stew. All easy and delicious recipes.

I’m going to be honest here.  I LOVE making and slurping soup all year long, not just when it gets cold.  I know when the temps drop and the leaves do that magical turning orange thing, home cooks around the world fire up their soup pot, or crockpot.  In homage to all of those seasonal soup lovers, I’m sharing 6 soup recipes from around the world that I’m really jazzed about.

Why do I love soup?  Besides being really easy to make, it’s a great way to try new flavors.  Also, if I eat a heavy lunch, I get really sleepy and take long naps.  I like long naps once in a while but not every day.  Soup is a light lunch, even the cream or bean soups can be light, just don’t eat a chunk of bread with it, I know blasphemy.  Soup is also, for the most part, healthy.  It’s not fried, usually has some or a lot of vegetables and can be a well balanced meal, all in one pot.  ONE POT = less dishes.  See?  Soup is for all seasons but just for you, my friends, here are some soups to warm your innards.

Senegalese Chicken Soup

This North African Soup is perfectly seasoned with curry powder, peanuts, garlic and coriander and finished with peanut butter for extra creaminess.  This easy version uses market rotisserie chicken for a weeknight version of an amazing recipe.  Topped off with some scallion, cilantro and chopped peanuts, this soup is popular with my family.

Saxe Coburg Soup

This soup is really easy to make with just a few ingredients but yields a somewhat rich taste and texture with little effort. If you aren’t a fan of sherry you can skip it, the soup tasted great before I added it but it does give another dimension to the soup. If you are so inclined, definitely add it.  This dish makes a great starter to a meal, or with some cheese and bread, a nice vegetarian meal in itself. Garnish with sour cream and croutons if you like.

Polish Beet Soup

Beets are your friend. They are colorful, very good for you and their sweet earthiness is unique and versatile. People enjoy them in salads, soups, sandwiches, pickled and even in smoothies. For the Northern climates, beets are a staple. They grow well in cold weather and as with most root vegetables, can survive, even thrive in light frosts. Most Northern communities enjoy some variation of beet soup and Poland is no exception. I like the simplistic nature of their typical beet soup recipe. Just a few ingredients, nothing that overpowers the beauty of the beet.

Boeuf Bourguignon

The first time I made this fabulous stew I was a pretty green cook. It took me a few hours to make this dish but it turned out AMAZING! Although at the time I felt like it was worth the time, it actually discouraged me in the future from taking on this long recipe. Don’t let this happen to you!  Julia Child once said “As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good Boeuf Bourguignon”.  Ladies and gents, I present to you, every day Boeuf Bourguignon, a one-pot meal!

Kimchi Udon Noodle Soup

The chewy Japanese Udon noodles perfectly seasoned with broth, fish sauce and Korean kimchi makes this Asian fusion soup a winner.  Add some hard boiled eggs and spinach and your colorful, steamy bowl of nutritious goodness awaits you.

Lobster Bisque

A classic seafood soup with origins in France. Normally the flavor is extracted using several steps in order to extract the most flavor out of crustacean shells like lobster or shrimp. I have taken the long version and adapted a quicker version that does not sacrifice flavor or depth. Bottled clam juice is the key here which adds a tremendous amount of flavor while making this soup very easy to make. In fact, beginner cooks can make this and really impress their friends and family.

Enjoy these soups and stay warm.  Bake up some chewy, crusty bread like Mana’eesh or just stop by your local bakery for some baguettes.