Can we please stop posting epic soup recipes?

I have always been the soup guy in the family, but my nephew's girlfriend is showing me up.  I challenged her to a contest.... we each bring a soup contribution to family Thanksgiving, the family blind taste-tests, and judges the winner.

It's on.

Soup recipes.... and GO!

Ooh. Here's the Suddard family's kale soup--Fall River, heart of Portuguese cuisine in the NE, is right next to where Tim grew up, so pretty sure this is authentic:

1 pound linguica or chorizo (the former if you can get it, but chorizo is fine)

1 pound pork chops with bones

1 large onion

2-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced (I like Yukon Golds because they're waxier and hold shape better)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 bunches kale, stemmed and chopped

1-2 cans red kidney beans

6 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade

1 T vinegar

1 T worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the sausage first, remove, then brown pork chops, remove and add onion to soften, garlic at the end. Add kale, stirring as it shrinks into the pot. Add meats back to pot (dice pork but keep the bones and add them, too), add chicken broth, vinegar, worcestershire and salt and pepper, simmer covered for an hour or so. Add beans and cook uncovered for 15 minutes to heat up. Remove pork bones, and serve.

This recipe is great for any leftover meat so if you don't have pork chops, feel free to sub cooked chicken or beef--no need to brown them first--but the pork bones make it nicer. EDIT: And you may need more broth. It's more of a cover the stuff/eyeball thing for me.

Margie

Just in time for winter!

Really, no others? I've been watching this thread hoping y'all would start spilling the beans on your chili secrets. (Actually the no-beans, because they don't belong in chili.)

Margie

I don't know if this is going to win any epic soup-offs, but my go to is lentil soup. It's so savory and comforting and satisfying. Also amazingly simple to make as long as you have an immersion blender. My default is the Alton Brown recipe here: (note: just skip the grains of paradise. I've never missed it and am convinced it's put in there to make the recipe seem fancy.)

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lentil-soup-recipe-1947017.amp
 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed

1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes

2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground grains of paradise

Directions

1. Place the olive oil into a large 6-quart Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery and salt and sweat until the onions are translucent, approximately 6 to 7 minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes, broth, coriander, cumin and grains of paradise and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency. Serve immediately.

Side note, today we are going to the annual Stone Soup event the kids school puts on where everyone brings an ingredient and we all put it in a giant cauldron and make a huge batch of soup. It usually turns out really really good. 

In reply to dculberson :

As long as one genius brings cabbage, you're GTG.

Ham hock and cabbage soup.  My dad got the recipe from an Emeril Lagasse cookbook, and was great for a cold, lazy day.  I've made it successfully myself, and have won office soup contests with it.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound bacon, chopped
• 1 ham hock (about 1 pound)
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 6 cups chopped cabbage (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups peeled and cubed red potatoes (about 1 pound)

Directions

• Heat the oil in a large deep pot over high heat. Add the bacon and fry until it is slightly crisp, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the ham hock, onions, and carrots. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the onions are slightly wilted.

• Add the cabbage, garlic, bay leaves, black pepper, salt, and cayenne. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until the cabbage is slightly wilted. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. Add the potatoes. Cover and cook for 1 hour, or until the cabbage and potatoes are soft and tender.

• Remove the ham hock from the soup. Pick off the meat and add to the pot. If desired, skim off any fat that has risen to the surface and remove the bay leaves.

Marjorie Suddard said:

Really, no others? I've been watching this thread hoping y'all would start spilling the beans on your chili secrets. (Actually the no-beans, because they don't belong in chili.)

Margie

Family secret
Its got clove in it, though.  Gives it a different taste profile.

that is not my beef stock recipe, use your own home made stock, but the rest of the recipe is legit. 

this is an excellent choice but probably not Thanksgiving appropriate. Instead of vegetable stock I save my shrimp and crab shells throughout the year and make stock with them instead. 

Sorry Margie, my chili doesn't really have a recipe and it's different every time. But it starts with actual peppers and onions, and uses zero pre prepared/jarred/bagged spices at all. No beans, and whatever meats are left over from smoking sessions throughout the year.