Soup is a savoury liquid food that is made by boiling ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and beans in stock or hot water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth. Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers about 5,000 years ago, so soups presumably were little-known before that time.

Over the centuries, the terms gruel and potage have become separated from broth and stock (and their refinement, consommé). The language may have shifted over time, but the modern definitions of soup and stew were established in the 18th century: soups usually are more liquid; stews are thicker, containing more solid ingredients. Stews are cooked in covered containers for longer periods of time, at a gentle boil with less water and at a lower heat.

Traditionally, soups are classified into two broad groups: clear soups and thick soups. The established French classifications of clear soups are bouillon and consommé. Thick soups are classified depending upon the type of thickening agent used: purées are vegetable soups thickened with starch; bisques are made from puréed shellfish thickened with cream; cream soups are thickened with béchamel sauce; and veloutés are thickened with eggs, butter and cream. Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups and broths include rice, flour, and grain.

Octopus and Seaweed (Ramen Noodles and Hot Dogs) Recipe #150006 My kids always loved this. Was a great way to present an old idea. 1 (3 ounce) package beef-flavor ramen noodles 4 hot dogs 5 drops green food coloring mustard ketchup 4 servings
 10 minutes 5 mins prep   

1. In saucepan, bring 1 - 1 1/2 cups water to boil.
   
2. Add noodles and contents of package.
   
3. Boil 3-4 minutes.
   
4. Meanwhile, add 4 inches of water to a learge saucepan, bring to boli.
   
5. Cut each hotdog into 8 strips to within 2 inches of one end.
   
6. Drop into boiling water.
   
7. Cook till heated through.
   
8. Add food coloring to noodless and drain if neccessary. Place noodles on serving plate.
   
9. Top with hotdog, standing up.
   
10. Add eyes and mouth with ketchup and mustard

-- Edited by Ruby at 15:28, 2006-03-01

JD The Jazz Doctor wrote:

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I think that would be like a fun first date kind of meal......LOL!!!

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And your last date

 

Make it for your nephew- he would love it!

busted!

LOL! I had Lentil soup and I am starving!

man! a year later and I still likes me some soup.

SOUP OF THE EVENINGBeautiful Soup "Beautiful soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Beau--ootiful Soo--oop! Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, Beautiful, beautiful Soup"[Hear 12-year-old Michael Bannett perform Lewis Carroll's "The Mock Turtle's song"]For centuries, soup has been the first resort of a special dinner and the last resort of weary providers with tired vegetables and hungry children. And it's a lot more than that. Thackeray has versified on it; Queequeg has rhapsodized about it; George Santayana has waxed downright Proustian for its sake. In these pages, dear readers, I would sing a song of soup to fill your bellies and satisfy your souls.

Soup Jokes

A minister was at a banquet when a careless waiter dropped a steaming bowl of soup into his lap. The minister looked around the room with agony in his face and finally whispered, "Would some layman kindly say something appropriate?" (Milton Berle)

A middle-aged man was sitting in a truck stop when three mean-looking bikers walked in. The first walked over to the man and stubbed a cigarette out in his soup. Then the second biker spat in the soup. Finally the third biker picked up the bowl of soup and threw it on the floor. Without saying a word, the man got up and left. "He wasn't much of a man, was he?" sneered one of the bikers to the waitress. "Not much of a truck driver, either," she said. "He just backed his truck over 3 motorcycles."

Two missionaries were captured by a tribe of cannibals who put them in a large pot of boiling water. After a few minutes, one of the missionaries started to laugh uncontrollably. "What's so funny?" said the other. The first missionary replied: "I just peed in the soup!" (Thanks to Steve McMullen for the cite.)