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My Favorite Soups: Appetizer Soups – Part I

The typical definition of soup suggests that it is primarily a liquid form of food which begins with a stock prepared from meat, fish or vegetables to which other ingredients are added, often in the form of solid pieces.

I love soups. However, as I think about soups, I have a great difficulty in naming my absolute favorites. Why? Because, I picture four distinct kinds or categories of soups and I have favorites in each of the categories.

The four categories of soup are: 1) Appetizer soups; 2) Meal soups; 3) Dessert soups; and 4) Cross-over soups. In this post, I will talk about some of my favorite appetizer soups. My lists of favorites will be in no particular order, because I enjoy all of them equally. In certain settings, some are more appropriate than others.

In my list, I will attempt to describe the soup and, if possible, name a particular restaurant where this soup is featured. In some cases, I must apologize because the restaurant is no longer open. Thus you won’t be able to necessarily savor the same flavors that I did. I still recommend the soup and encourage you to try to find a restaurant that prepares the dish well.

1.  Baked French Onion Soup:  This particular soup is made with beef or poultry stock or a combination of the two stocks. Beef stock gives it body and a rich taste. Poultry stock inparts a sweeter taste to the soup. The primary ingredient is sweet onions, chopped coarsely, and carmelized until tender. Add the onions to the stock; add herbs and spices to taste. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Take the hot stock and onion mixture and ladle it into crocks. Add croutons to each crock, making sure to immerse each crouton to soften and soak them thoroughly. Cover each crock with your choice of sliced or shredded Provolone, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Gruyere or Swiss cheese. Place the crocks under a hot broiler until the cheese melts and bubbles.

Because this soup is so easy to prepare, it is difficult to find a fine dining restaurant that doesn’t have a good French Onion Soup. There are also some fast casual restaurants that have very good French Onion Soup. These include: Applebee’s, an international chain with more than 2,000 locations in the US; Panera Bread, operates almost 1,700 Cafe & Bakery locations in 44 states; and Arnie’s Bakery and Restaurants, a chain of four cafes and bakeries in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, that also offers baked goods and frozen entrees in grocery stores across the Western Michigan region.

2. Rhode Island Red Chowder:  Rhode Island Red Chowder is the precursor to Manhattan Clam Chowder. It is a tomato-based clam chowder made with quahog clams,spicy Portuguese sausage, potatoes and other vegetables.  Tradition says It originated in Rhode Island among the Portuguese fishing community as an alternative to the cream-based New England Clam Chowder. The Boston crowd, in order to show their disdain for anyone diluting their perfect seafood chowder, nick-named it Manhattan Clam Chowder, since Manhattan was the worst dig that they could imagine. With spicy sausage and lots of Old Bay Seasoning, it does have a bite to it. I found it to be the perfect appetizer, as a segue way or contrast  to a light seafood  or a hearty steak dinner, followed by a sweet dessert.

The best Rhode Island Red Chowder that I have ever found in a restaurant is ironically from the Boston based seafood chain Legal Seafood, which has gone nationwide with restaurants in 10 different states, from the east coast to the west coast.Unfortunately, Rhode Island Red Chowder is not on the menu of every one of their restaurants every day. You have to hit it just right. However, you can purchase it online from their seafood catalog.

One note about Legal Seafood that I can’t fail to mention is their motto: “If it’s not fresh, it’s not legal.”  Is that a great motto, or what?

3. Hot and Sour Soup: Hot and sour soups come from several Oriental traditions. They get their name from the fact that they are made with both spicy (hot) and bitter or vinegary (sour) ingredients. I prefer the classic Szechuan variety made with a pork broth, shredded pork, tofu, dried or fresh mushrooms, bamboo shoots, finely chopped green onions, a fried egg and a variety of Oriental spices and vinegars.

Most any Asian restaurant will have its own variation of hot and sour soup. I will admit that I have been spoiled by two Western Michigan restaurants. The first is the Golden Wok in the Knapp Corner Shopping Center in Grand Rapids, MIchigan. Their spices “favor” the spicy side, so it is “hot.” The second is The Blue Dragon in Caledonia, Michigan. They tend to use more soy and vinegar, so their flavor is more sour. Both restaurants are quite liberal with the shredded pork, chopped onions and peas, giving the diner something to chew on. The Golden Wok uses a little bit more of the tofu and fried egg, so the diner has something to mash in his or her mouth.

4. Reuben Soup: What are your thoughts about a cream-based soup made with corned beef, sauerkraut or cooked cabbage, rye bread croutons, chopped onions and caraway seeds?  It is definitely different. I love it.  It is a heavy, but yet smooth soup. I think it serves as an excellent appetizer for a dinner featuring a deep fried entree like breaded white fish or chicken or a juicy hamburger, and french fries.

I was introduced to reuben soup at a small Western Michigan chain of a dozen restaurants featuring American family and comfort foods, some with a Dutch twist. The restaurant is Russ’ Restaurants. A unique feature of the two oldest Russ’es are the telephones located at each booth. The customers look over the menus that remain at the booths and then place their orders over these phones. Drinks and food are then served by waiters or waitresses. It is a system that has been in use for more than 30 years and seems to be effective for them.

5. Pasta e Fagioli: This is obviously an Italian bean and pasta soup. It is made with a tomato base, various varieties of beans and different pastas. It is an excellent start to a hearty Italian dinner. I was introduced to it more than 30 years ago at a small Italian restaurant, Steffano’s in Peekskill, NY. Steffano, owner and executive chef made his pasto e fagioli with fresh Roma tomatoes, prosciutto sauteed in a savory olive oil,  home made penne pasta, along with northern, kidney and garbanzo beans.   I have sampled pasta faioli at many other Italian restaurants. Most of them were good. However, none compared to that first pasta e fagioli from Steffano’s. Unfortunately, after we moved from NY, I heard the restaurant had closed.

In Appetizer Soups – Part II, I will highlight some more of my favorite opening acts to great meals.        

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These Are a Few of My Favorite Things — Food-Wise: Introduction

Those who know me, know that I have this thing for food. I love to eat.  I also have a reputation for knowing or being able to find great places to eat. Whenever friends or colleagues wanted to know where to eat in a particular location, they would come to me and want to know: “Where should I eat in …?”  When I was doing a great deal of traveling for my work, I kept an electronic diary of my restaurant visits that included location, prices, specialties and other notes of interest. If you wanted seafood in San Diego, I could name six or eight great places to find excellent seafood. If you wanted real Thai food in Washington, DC, I had that covered with three authentic Thai restaurants, each in different parts of the city.

If you wanted great Greek food in Chicago, I could recommend two places. That was until one of them closed. I almost cried when i discovered this on a trip back to the windy city and asked the hotel concierge to make a reservation at one of these restaurants.  But I had my heart (and stomach) set on Greek food that night, so I quickly named a second spot, a local favorite in Greektown. Later during the same stay, when I asked the same concierge to make a reservation at a particular Italian restaurant. he exclaimed, “You certinly know your way around Chicago! That’s one of my favorites, but not many out-of-towners know about it.”

Prior to the construction of several interstate spurs, the primary automotive route between Harrisburg, PA, and Rochester, NY, was US-Rt 15. If you wanted coffee or a snack anywhere along this six-hour drive, I had you covered. I knew the location of every Dunkin’ Donuts within three miles of US Rt 15 between these two cities.

If you wanted to or had to stop while you were traversing the Ohio or Pennsylvania turnpikes, I could help you. I knew what food vendors were located in each of the rest stops. I also knew which rest stops kept their restrooms clean. There were several which I always advised people to avoid.

Although I have eclectic tastes, I love simple dishes along with some of the more exotic fare. For the past several years, since I have been grounded from my travels with some medical problems, I have become addicted to the food programs on television. I enjoy thinking about the exotic dishes produced on the Food Network’s classic “Iron Chef America” series. The show features heated competition in the iconic Kitchen Stadium between a world renown chef and one of the pantheon of Iron Chefs. The current Iron Chefs include Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, Cat Cora, Jose Garces, Michael Symon, Marc Forgione, Geoffrey Zakarian and Alex Guarnaschelli. Wolfgang Puck was also an Iron Chef for a short period of time. However, he voluntarily retired when he wouldn’t commit to continual appearances on the television series. Each of these chefs had to win a crueling knock-out tournament to win the honor and title of Iron Chef.

I also enjoy the more thoughtful, less competitive dishes prepared by Ina Garten on her Food Network program “Barefoot Contessa:Back to Basics.”  The ads for her show pretty much tell the story of the show: ” recipes, menus, and serving ideas for stress-free cooking, baking, and entertaining.” Ina’s dishes are fairly simple to prepare and make for casually-elegant luncheons or dinners.

However, I also enjoy the simpler, basic fare featured on the Food Channel’s program “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”  I especially enjoy those shows when I have eaten in the featured eatery. Most of the time for these shows, I have enjoyed one or more of the restaurant’s specialties when I visited the spot. As I watch Guy talk about the featured food, I recall each bite right along with him.

Once in awhile I will also watch Adam Richman’s program “Man Against Food” on the Travel Channel. I will admit that most of his food challenges are beyond reasonableness. However, if one would just cut back the portions proposed, I find many of the featured foods appealing. Two recent examples of this were monstrous omelets and chili dogs. The omelet challenge was to eat a five pound breakfast consisting of one pound of home fries and a four-pound, 12-egg omelet. The ingredients of the omelet actually sounded great. They included sausage, spinach, onions, green peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes. A nice three egg omelet made with these ingredients, along with a reasonable amount of home fries, would make a nice breakfast. The chili dog challenge included four, yard-long hot dogs covered with two pounds of chili and one pound of french fries, along with a proportional amount of melted cheese, chopped raw onions and yellow mustard. This monstrous plate was way too much. However, give me one regular sized hot dog, covered with just the right amount of chili, onions and yellow mustard, along with a small order of french fries, and I am satisfied with a nice lunch.

This post is the beginning of a series I am planning on some of my favorite foods. I hope to cover the gamut from appetizers to desserts, from soup to nuts. I will start simple and light. The next group of posts will feature some of my favorite soups. They will be followed by my favorite sandwiches and salads. Those will be followed by my favorite appetizers. I will then move on to my favorite breakfasts, dinner entrees, and ethnic specialties. I will finish off the series the way any great meal should end, with great desserts. Some of the posts will point readers to particular restaurants that serve these items. Other posts may include recipes for the dishes which are either my creations or dishes that my wife prepares regularly.

I hope that you enjoy these posts. I welcome any comments and suggestions. Great food is meant to be shared. As Phil Robertson finishes many of the episodes of Duck Dynasty, he offers a blessing at the family table similar to the following one that I offer to our gracious God:

“Dear Father, thank you for your bountiful goodness and harvest of great eats. Bless this food we are about to receive. In our precious Savior’s name, Amen”