Category Archives: Soup

Roasted Spaghetti and Butternut Squash Soup

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I start by rendering some bacon then I sliced a bunch of white onions then caramelize them for 4-5 hours in the bacon fat.   At the same time I cut up the two squash then roast them.   Then I toast some pumpkin seeds with cardamom, _ _ _ _ _ bean,  and sea salt. Then I make a muscat vinaigrette, julienne an apple, _ _ _ _ _ bean, toss in a brunoise of celery and carrot which will get tossed with a little celery leaf and those pumpkin seeds that will garnish the soup later.    I remove the onions, saute some celery, carrots, and leeks in the pan, deglaze with muscat wine, season,  add the roasted squash, add chicken stock, reduce the soup slightly, add the bacon back in, puree the soup, send it through a sieve. Pour into bowl, garnish with that little salad, eat it, high five anyone within close proximity.

Eric

Then and Now: Carrot Soup

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About a year ago I made a carrot soup on this site which is kind of amusing because I work up this morning and starting making a carrot soup then I went to post this picture above and I realized there was another post on here about carrot soup……This is the first time I’ve done that on this site.

What the hell was I thinking about a year ago?  It looks awful!

Original Soup (click) Garnish is sinking, cream should have been reduced before putting it in the soup at the end, parsley leaves could have been fried.  Ugh….disgusting.

Funny enough though, the process I used to make it didn’t change but some of the ingredients did (lots of ginger! No sugar or dill.).   Lard from a store a year ago???? Oh no no no, I do that in-house now.

The oil you see on top to garnish in the nice one is that japones chili oil mixed with rendered pancetta fat….. Yeah, things have changed in a year (I used to write recipes on here….hilarious).  Pretty awesome.

Eric

Three Little Pigs Black Bean Stew

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Mindy asked me to make her a hearty stew.  She said, “a thick winter-like stew with lots of meat”.   Since she’s my best customer I had to think of something special.   I thought, “I’ll cook up my three little pigs”.

From the top left moving to the right.

Chorizo (Spain), Linguica (Portugal), and Bacon (Washington).

The stew itself consisted of black beans, garlic, toasted cumin, tomatoes (MRF), thyme (MRF), Oregano (MRF), Bay Leaves (MRF), Chives (MRF), Veal stock, Brown roux made from rendering the three little pigs, Orange bell pepper, leeks, onions, Yukon Gold Potato, salt, and green peppercorns.  That’s how you do a stew!

Eric

2AM Meals…..

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I’ve been working a lot lately and doing the whole school thing as well.  5 days at work….Thursday-Monday…then school is Tuesday-Wednesday.  Where can I fit in this blog thing?  Don’t worry Mr. Blog, you’re taken care of.

I get off of work at around midnight. I race home and I’m still amped up and I want to improve my techniques that I learned at work or just reflect or answer questions I have in my own head so then I get to cooking.

I’m into my third week of cooking hot food on a line in a great kitchen and I have been rotating between saute station, fry station, and hot apps (appetizers).  Each one has its own recipes, techniques, and tricks. When I learn something new I have “aha” moments then I go home and practice them a few times to make sure the next day is better than the last…you’ve probably noticed all those damn scallops I’ve been cooking…..yeah, got those down :)

The dish pictured above isn’t on the menu but I learned the prep salad that goes underneath a halibut dish from Blueacre.  The vegetables and set up aren’t the same and honestly its something different but I was just working on my timing…..again, at 2AM…..I’m crazy.

The green sauce is a cilantro oil from Mindy’s farm.  The brown spots are my molasses ghost chili sauce and then I worked in Mindy’s red onion with radishes and a bunch of other things to mimic the Blueacre food.  Again, not exact but trying to bring balance and speed to the plate…..plated it 10 times….at 2AM. :)  The pork chop is fried in mangalitsa lard and seasoned with harissa….again, those touches that Eric brings.  Eric touches…..you like it.

Here are two things that I wanted to work on.  The Angry Crab dish needs proper caramelization of the shells and proper mix of seasoning. I didn’t have crab so I substituted some shrimp in its place. The method is the same so it translates to a crab shell…..super hot!   The sugo underneath is different but it’s still that same tomato sauce that goes under the scallop prep (I added my cherry wood smoked tomatoes and saffron).  I add garbanzo and remove the corn because at 2AM there is no such thing as fresh corn…. Questions answered, next dish!

Next up is a take on the minestrone dish and vegetable stew dish we have at work.  I had some of the vegetables that we used at work available at my house so I proceeded to find out how long I could cook the vegetables in order for them to be cooked and keep their color.  We add the majority of the vegetables and do the soup to order so its important to make sure that eat vegetable gets the respect it deserves.  It’s not just a vegetable boil…..it’s a nice clean soup……The first time I made the soup at work I boiled the hell out of it and heard the dreaded words, “Re-fire!!”.   I have it figured out now :)

2AM meals……pretty cool stuff.

Eric

Black Bean and Rice Soup

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This is a monster dish.  It will never see the light of day in a restaurant but it’s one of my go-to at-home dishes.

Ingredients:  Sofrito sauce, sofrito relish, chicken stock, mangalitsa jowl bacon fat, black beans, rice, cumin, saffron, tomatoes, fresh bay leaves, mangalitsa lardons, shrimp, cilantro, culantro, adobo, black pepper.

Eric

Veal Stock Soba Noodle Soup

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It’s nasty outside….have some soup!

Sauté some onions, zucchini, then add veal stock and cooked soba noodles.  Add those pickled sweet chili pepper flakes (this is the key!),  small amount of rice vinegar, soy sauce reduction (so many secrets),  and fresh ginger.   Let it work a bit then add some of that roasted turkey, egg,  green onions, and leek strips.   Confuse the hell out of everyone when they want to know what it’s called.  Welcome to my world :)  Soooooooooooooooooooo good!

Eric

Miso Ginger Soup

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Ginger with a little red miso…..and a few friends.

Chicken stock then add a bunch of chopped up ginger, red miso, toasted szechuan peppers, toasted coriander, roasted tomato powder, pickled white onion, minced garlic, kasu paste, and then simmer…….then strain.  Work in some sriracha, salt, and garnish with some chopped up cilantro. A work in progress….tastes great, let’s make it look good next time!

Eric

Hamachi in a Roasted Tomato Saffron Broth

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Give me scraps, I brainstorm, I cook.  A small piece of hamachi was given to me that included bones so I took the meat then made a broth from the bones and unusable meat…court bouillon style.  I roasted some tomatoes on the vine for 6 hours then pureed them then strained.   Mixed a bit of the broth together with the strained puree then seasoned it with sel de mer and saffron.  I cured the hamachi for 24 hours with salt.  The picture you see above is before I poured the broth over the hamachi with a little green onion and black pepper.   Once I  poured the broth over the fish I added some ginger oil to finish.

Eric

Double Beef Stock Soup with Thin Sliced Beef, Asparagus, Carrot, Leeks, and Mushrooms

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I took a double beef stock I had on hand then built this soup around it.  It’s nothing crazy but it’s just a nice warming soup.

I started off by thawing out the double stock then seasoning it with salt, black pepper, leeks,  lemon thyme, and rosemary.  Once the proper taste was achieved I added the asparagus, carrots, and let them get tender then I added the mushrooms finally and adjusted the seasonings again.

Eric

Roasted, Sous Vide, and Pureed Corn Soup

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I love clean soups.  I love clear soups even more but I decided to bring a few experiments together in order extract the most amount of corn flavor into a soup.  What this ends up being at the end could be called a creamed corn soup but I think it’s a bit more than that.

I saw Heston Blumenthal do something similar to cauliflower except for his was a dish where he used a puree, a sauteed piece, and a roasted piece.  I wanted to do the same 3 way play but decided to make a soup and substitute the sautee for sous vide.  Why the sous vide? It allowed me to keep all of the juices from the corn intact while I played with the other techniques being used in the soup.

I started by roasting some corn in the oven with a little butter, salt, and pepper.  Once the corn was done roasting I removed the kernels then pureed them, the strained them.  I put chicken stock in a pot then added the roasted kernel juice. The soup was left to simmer while I had more corn in its vacuum sealed temperature controlled water bath (sous vide).  Then I took some raw corn and made a puree then strained then added it to the simmering soup.

When the soup was nearing completion I sauteed some leeks in butter to use as a garnish. I had previously noted on this chicken stock that I used leeks so this would be a nice finishing touch….the green looks pretty cool floating around.

I prepared a piece of baguette with Beecher’s flagship cheese, thyme oil (prepared a few days ago), leeks, salt and pepper then broiled it until the cheese melted. I was going to cube it and throw it in the soup but I wanted a nice clean soup so I made the decision to serve it on the side as more of a dipping bread.

The soup was ready for the sous vide corn so I pureed it, strained it then added it to the soup along with some cream. I would love to learn how to make an essence of corn but I will save that for another time.

The cream helped thicken the soup a little bit which is what I was looking for. I adjusted the seasonings of the soup with a little salt and pepper then plated, garnished, and served.  Everything worked the way I wanted to but I will explore different plating options next time.

Eric

United Way of King County’s Hunger Action Week: Potato and Leek Chicken Stock Soup

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(knife cuts are awful when you can’t use your left hand….ahhhhhhhhh)

This is the 4th item made from the whole chicken.  Granted, it’s really 3 things because the chicken stock became this soup but I like to make it seem like I did a lot more than I actually did….story of my life.

After you have made the chicken stock then cube up some potatoes, cut up some leeks (save some to garnish with), add a little thyme, salt, and pepper and there you have it.  I would prefer if you cooked the soup slow so potatoes don’t cause it to get too cloudy, it will take longer but the appearance is great (this is perfect for a crock pot).  For some reason I like clear soups, I have the same problem when I go swimming….if I can’t see the bottom then I won’t go in….hi, I’m twelve!

DONATE NOW TO THE UNITED WAY OF KING COUNTY’S HUNGER ACTION WEEK!! If you have donated then donate again, this time with a smile on your face :)

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Seafood Phở

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Ir’s all about the stock when you make Phở.  This is my second go around making this on the site but this time I decided to go with a seafood stock instead of a beef stock.  I think with the addition of a few tricks from the Momofuku cookbook and talking to a few different Phở restaurants that this whole Phở thing is going in the right direction for me.

Ingredients:

The stock

  • 1.75 gallons dungeness crab stock…..made it from the crab I had a couple weeks ago.   Mirepoix added when I made it
  • 2 tbsp. lobster base
  • Red pickled onions
  • Pickled cucumbers
  • Sweet chili sauce
  • Plum sauce
  • Fish sauce
  • Crushed red pepper
  • Star anise
  • Clove
  • Cinnamon
  • Fresh ginger, peeled, minced
  • All-spice

The goods

  • 1/2 lb. shrimp soaked in salty water for 30 minutes
  • 1/2 lb. mini-portobello mushrooms…..quick pickled for 30 minutes in a black garlic vinegar mixture….could have gone longer but I just wanted a quick shock to the mushrooms then I dumped the rest of the mix in the soup
  • Sambal Olek
  • Sriracha hot sauce
  • Bean sprouts
  • Fresh lime juice

The Noodles

  • Rice Noodles

Procedure:

Stock

  1. Saute red onions and sweet chili sauce in stock pot then throw in crab stock. THROW IT IN…DO IT!!!
  2. Reduce mixture by 10% then add the rest of the stock ingredients.  Season with salt if you need to. I cooked it for about 2 hours but I’m going to cook it further tomorrow…I was hungry….the flavor will be even more intense tomorrow!

The Goods

  1. Place shrimp and mushrooms in stock when you are ready to eat then place other ingredients in a bowl to your taste…..that’s the best part of Phở

The Noodles


  1. Follow the instructions on the box…..if the box has directions in a different language that you don’t understand then buy 2 boxes and take notes. It’s ok to F up every once in a while.

Enjoy,

Eric

French Soup Version 2.0

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Yeah, I don’t care for the picture either. I’m sick right now and cooking for myself so I don’t really care about the fancy bowls, garnishes or anything else. I ate it out of the pot, that’s right, I ate it out of the pot.  Sneeze, cough, nose running, fever, and drool….

I made a French Onion soup in class last quarter but I felt like it was missing something. I don’t know why I felt like it was missing something because it was the first time I ever had French onion soup but that’s how I roll.  I had some black garlic and raw it tastes like it would be amazing with French onion soup……it was/is!  It just adds another texture to the taste by giving a slightly salty and sweet taste to it.  So try it, I triple dog dare you.

Ingredients:

  • 3 white onions
  • 1 gallon beef stock
  • Clarified butter
  • 3 cloves black garlic
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Black pepper and kosher salt, tt
  • Shiitake mushrooms, for  additional texture and taste
  • AP flour
  • White wine or red if you feel like running to the store……I didn’t

Procedure:

  1. Place clarified butter in pot then caramelize onions
  2. Add a little flour to the onions then deglaze with white wine
  3. Add rest of the ingredients then simmer for about 45-60 minutes.
  4. Eat out pot with large spoon intended for noodles because you don’t feel like running the dishwasher either.

Enjoy,

Eric

Once, Twice, Chicken Soup with Rice

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Mindy is still not feeling  well so after a few meetings I ran home, melted a gallon of chicken stock I made on Saturday, cooked up some smoked paprika chicken, added some rice, celery, thyme, carrots, parsley, salt, pepper, and voila!

Chicken Soup with Rice!

Ingredients:

I listed them already! :)

Procedure:

  1. Mix it all together….it’s soup!

Enjoy,

Eric