sick soups

OK, I know all the stories about Chicken Noodle for when you have a cold, but I don't eat birds or fish. So, when I got a cold, for the first time in many years, I wanted some soup, and I bought both Campbell's Onion Soup, and Asparagus, which is a little heavier than the onion.
Now, I know we all sort of think Campbell's is lame, compared to some other options, but the stories I hear are that they hired a really good French chef a long time ago, and they are pretty serious about their formulas, OK?
So, here's what I concocted while I had a bad cold. First, I got into the onion soup. Made it two days in a row. I like the "Francisco" brand sourdough bread that resembles a football. I take the heels, toast them, cut them into cubes, toss them into the cold soup, add some cracked pepper, then heat that up. A microwave is fine for that step. Now, add a couple slices of swiss cheese, and put the bowl under a broiler until the cheese starts to brown. I'm using a toaster oven. Be very careful with this thing, it will be HOT. Let it rest for a few minutes. What works nicely for this item is a small souffle dish. Straight sides. Throw a little parmesan on there if you like. What's interesting here is that the same concept works well with the asparagus, and most likely with mushroom, too. I'd like to hear from folks who try out this cold remedy, 'tis the season!
-Scott Lindgren scottlindgren@netzero.net 213 219 7160

With reference to Campbell's. I for one think they make excellent soups. Yes, they can have a bit more sodium and msg than most people would want but, I really like all their soup products. Especially, their "select" range.
Salt and MSG = flavor.
Many of their soups are available as "low sodium".

The above recipe sounds great. However, for those of you like myself, that do eat fowl, I make my own "cold cure" chicken soup (Jewish penicillin) in less than 30 minutes!
It's so easy. The secret is my 6 quart electric pressure cooker. I simply put a 3-4 lb fresh chicken in my cooker with a large onion cut in quarters, about 6 crushed cloves of garlic, 2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced stalks of celery, a few big sprigs of parsley, a large piece of peeled ginger and about 10 whole peppercorns.
I add 6 cups of water, lock, and start. 28 minutes later-delicious chicken soup!
Don't salt the soup until you remove all the ingredients. The soup stays clear that way.
I'm telling you, it's like liquid gold.

dont forget about turkey!!!

I don't get sick that often, but when I do I'm not worth a darn, so I don't go near a stove. I stop by my favorite Chinese restaurant and pick up a large eggdrop soup and a small side of steamed rice and mix them together.

joe

I made a great soup last night and it was very easy. Here 'tis:

Saute 2 cups of sliced zuchinni, 1 med. sliced onion, and 2 cups sliced carrots in a stick of butter until veggies are soft.

Add 1 can condensed cream of potato soup, 1 can condensed chedder cheese soup, 1 soup can water and 3/4 can tomato jucie.

Add cut up chicken or turkey; salt and pepper to taste. Heat and enjoy.

Soup, (any kind) is the best food invention of all!

Re: Campbell's asparagus soup:

When I have some leftover asparagus, I saute' a little onion in butter, then add chopped asparagus, a can of asparagus soup, milk & a pinch of nutmeg. This is an excellent was to dress up Campbell's.

I usually don't eat any Campbell's without dressing it up. With tomato soup, I add a can of diced tomatoes, with different spices, depending on what kind of tomatoes I use {i.e. with jalapenos, italian style}.

I take Mrs. Grass dried noodle soup and mix it with cream of chicken soup with cajun seasoning, garlic and hot sauce. Good stuff.

My wife likes for me to make a soup she calls "sick soup" when she's feeling ill.

It's just chicken broth, a splash of white wine, some lemon zest, a bit of salt simmered, then tiny star pastas added to cook.

My Wife likes my chicken soup when she's sick, but for me it's Hot and Sour from a good Chinese restaurant all the way.

I think the last time we bought canned soup it was 1992 when we picked up a few cans of Progresso. We finally put them in the food pantry bin at the supermarket.

When I have an upper respiratory illness, I like some nice strong posole with plenty of Pico Pica sauce in it. Sort of opens up the passages. Respiratory passages, not digestive.

quote:

Originally posted by Ashphalt

My Wife likes my chicken soup when she's sick, but for me it's Hot and Sour from a good Chinese restaurant all the way.

I think the last time we bought canned soup it was 1992 when we picked up a few cans of Progresso. We finally put them in the food pantry bin at the supermarket.

I agree. Hot and Sour soup is just perfect...........Chinese penicillin.

You sound like a vegetarian and there is nothing wrong with that, my wife is one. I wonder if you are aware Campbell's Onion soup is beef broth based?

As far as a curative soup I think you are on the right track with onion, although garlic would be better. Don't wince, garlic mellows considerably in the cooking process. Perhaps a combination of both, homemade in vegetable broth would work for you.

Personally, I am in favor of using commercial soup stock over using canned soup. Commercial soup stock seems to be getting better while commercial canned soup seems to be getting worse for the most part. One benefit of using stock is all the work is done for you. Throw in anything you like and create your own special signature soups. That alone should make you feel better.

Of course there is no substitute for making your own stock and soup from scratch which is also pretty easy. A few minutes work, let it simmer and go watch a movie. Watching the movie might be the hardest part...they don't make them like they used to either.

I guess I am simple minded. Lipton noodle soup with 3 cups water a few chicken boullion cubes and some kluski noodles and I am good.

When I have a cold, the best thing I have found is hot and sour soup, available at any Chinese restaurant. The hotter, the better. Clears up your sinuses better than Roto Rooter!

Study the history and nature of viruses and you will discover why chicken soup helps with a cold.
Joe

Well, this is fun! I finally brought up a topic that does not generate hate mail! I really appreciate all the replies, that's very sweet. I know the onion soup is beef broth, I don't care about that. It's yummy. Ah, on the hot & sour soup, that works for me, too. But when I am REALLY sick, it's all I can do to open a can, in a bathrobe. I do not feel like talking to wait staff, you know? What's this talk about commercial stock? Where do you get that? I have a chef friend, he makes stock every day, but are we talking about something I can just go out and buy, fresh? That sounds good. Uh, regarding the Chinese soup... In LA, I would probably head for Thai soup first. That stuff is really kick-ass. I like the hot & sour stuff that's sort of milky, I guess it's coconut milk, with just a little bit of chicken in there, and FYI... They like to throw in some bizarre hot spicy thing that looks like a chip of wood. DO NOT PUT THIS IN YOUR MOUTH. I don't know what it is, but you are NOT supposed to eat it. I make it 10 times hotter than a habanero. Speaking of which, I've been playing around with roasting chiles lately, mostly serranos, but also jalapenos and habaneros. Anybody got any cute ideas about formulating a soup around chiles? Hmm... I think some garlic, a pinch of cumin, a little fresh cilantro, with habanero (which I know is really hot, but it has a unique sort of fruity quality), and all that tossed into a tomato soup base might be good. Maybe some of those hot pickled Mexican carrots, too. And a little potato. Ah, and some zucchini. Now I'm getting complicated. Oops, gotta add some crumbled cojita queso on top. Ole!
Mexican penicillen (sp?). Well, I agree that soup is a great addition to the planet's culture. And it's kind of universal. Anywhere you go, you'll find a soup you'll enjoy, right?
As I said, this is a fun topic, and everyone wants to help with ideas about what's good when you are sick, I hope lots more folks post replies!
As for brands... I go along with those who like fixing up, improving, on the Campbell's products. They are affordable, and it's interesting to put your mind to work on new recipes. I used to think I liked Progresso, but I don't know about them anymore, I think even the minestrone is too chunky, or something. The lentil is good.
Regarding stocks... Anybody have opinions about the stuff in the boxes, as opposed to cans? Any real difference?
Thanks for the ideas, ya'll!
-Scott Lindgren scottlindgren@netzero.net

My sick soup is a strange breed of monkey, I'll admit. I cook a chicken or chicken parts in a stockpot with a bunch of dried peppers and curry powder, the hotter the better. Then, when it is done, I debone the chicken, put the meat in and add lima beans and frozen peas. Cook until very hot. It sounds weird, but that soup cures what ales me just about every time. Burns the cooties, me thinks.

One of my favorite sick soups is Campbells tomato soup. I put lots of coarse ground pepper and a chunk of butter. The pepper makes kind of a nice burn as it goes down!

Lynn

Scott,

By commercial stock, I meant The better canned and boxed stuff found in the supermarket.

I especially meant the lower fat and sodium ones. You can buy soup base as well, but I find it to be just a more expensive and slightly better form of those nasty old Herb Ox cubes.

Since you do eat beef and like onion, garlic and hot peppers your solution is easy. Chili.

Buy a good mix like Wick Fowler's, make it soupy if you like, add more garlic, onion and hot pepper...all these things are curative.

Too bad you don't like chicken soup though, that would be my first choice simply because it is so comforting.

quote:

Originally posted by shortchef

When I have a cold, the best thing I have found is hot and sour soup, available at any Chinese restaurant. The hotter, the better. Clears up your sinuses better than Roto Rooter!

Chicken soup or broth loaded with black and cyan pepper. Years ago when I worked with a bunch of Koreans, their soup was so hot that a hour later the top of your head was still sweating. But it wasn’t so hot in the mouth while eating. Anyway, several times I was starting to come down with a cold, my cold was always gone the next day after eating the hot soup.

It has been almost 20 years and I think I’ve only had 2 colds that has lasted more than 3 days. When I first feel the onset of a cold, I load chicken soup or broth with as much pepper as I think I can handle and drink it. If the pepper can make a 200 lb man sweat, think what it must be doing to the little critters in the blood stream. If I can catch it early the cold is gone the next day, if not it may take 2 or 3 days while eating the soup each day.

My druggist go me some capsule cases last year that I fill with cyan pepper. I just pop a couple pepper capsules 2 or 3 times a day until the cold is gone. Oh, the pepper capsules seem to be real good at opening the sinuses too and with the capsules there is no heat in the mouth.

Dearfolk,
Upon my first glance, I thought this thread was going to concern itself with extremely strange soup combinations and/or add-ons and/or conceptions, like putting peppermint oil into beef consomme (glarg) or adding a generous amount of limburger cheese to cream of broccoli soup (gnerp) or maybe even Chef Boyardee Spaghetti And Golf Balls (don't go hunting that one in your local Safeway, folks!).
My vote for the sickest soup imaginable (and maybe someone will actually want to try to make it!) is Cream Of Livermush Soup. Frankly, I'm surprised that nobody has ever attempted it in that land o' livermush, North Carolina.
Obviously, Cheerwine on the side is a requisite.
Bowlfully, Ort. Carlton in Nearby Athens, Georgia.

Ort, chicken livermush would work I'm sure!

Ed, the combo of chicken and those Korean peppers might cure almost anything!

Gery, that chicken chili sounds great to me even if I'm well.

Ted, that "strange monkey" soup sounds good to!

Ok, no one responded to my earlier post about the nature and history of viruses. Their nature is to not harm their hosts. That takes a while to work out though. They had everything going smooth with the Dinos but things went all haywire. Now, only the small feathered Dinos are left. Ingest some of thoes and it helps with your virus infiltration. The pepper acts as a catalist,

You heard it first here at Roadfood!
Joe

Cream of Sardine Supreme is also very good for what ails you!

quote:

Originally posted by salindgren

Well, this is fun! I finally brought up a topic that does not generate hate mail!

I hate soup.

Not really, but I thought I'd oblige with some hate.

Okay Hoffman, give me an address and I'll ship you some mushroom soup.
-SL

I hate soup too. Was sick as a dog for nearly 2 years. And I still hate soup.

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

I hate soup too. Was sick as a dog for nearly 2 years. And I still hate soup.

Lleechef: That surprises me. I thought that I had read that you were a fan of soup? You have posted on this thread many times??

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Any flavor homemade stock with pastina cook in it. Canned broth will do in a pinch but I try to keep some homemade on hand in the freezer.

Love Campbells soup...Hot soup(any kind) has been shown to help upper respiratory colds...but my favorite is good old Campbell's chicken noodle...grind some pepper into it and have a few saltines with it.