50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker - Lynn Alley [4]
All recipes in this book were tested in the 7-quart slow cooker. This means that if you are using a smaller slow cooker, your recipes may take a little longer to cook than the times recommended in the book. The slow cooker is a very forgiving tool, and while you may have to watch closely at first to see how long the recipes take in your own slow cooker, the cooker times should be fairly accurate. I would caution you that different manufacturers and different sizes, however, can sometimes make a difference in cooking times, so keep your eye on the pot, and if something does not seem to be done by the time it should be (according to the recipe), just keep on cooking.
Handheld Immersion Blender
Here’s a tool I wouldn’t want to be without. Gone are the days when soup or sauce instructions read “puree in batches in your blender.” I don’t know about you, but I always managed to puree unevenly and slop stuff all over the kitchen counter. With a handheld immersion blender, pureeing a soup is but the work of a minute or two. You just hold the head of the blender underneath the surface of the soup (this is very important because if you let the head pop up above the surface, you’ll splatter soup everywhere) and move it from spot to spot until the whole pot full of soup has been pureed to the texture you desire.
Spice Grinder
Many of the recipes in this book call for whole spices that are ground just before you use them on the principle that the spices will taste brighter and fresher if ground just before using, just like the pepper that is ground fresh over your salad at table. This may sound like a lot of work at first, but once you’ve got a system, the rest is easy. I nearly always buy spices whole and in bulk and store them in the freezer. When I want a little freshly ground cinnamon or a spice blend, I simply pull the spices out of the freezer and grind them up in an electric mill or by hand in a mortar and pestle. Either one works well. Within the last year, the ever-inventive folks at Cuisinart have come out with a spice and nut grinder made exclusively for this task. It has a heavy-duty stainless-steel blade designed especially for grinding spices and nuts, a dishwasher-safe bowl, and a plastic lid for storing spices in the bowl in case you grind more than you need. (I often store any leftover spice blends in clean baby food jars.) In addition, the booklet that comes with it has some great recipes in it: red chile powder, five-spice powder, chai (for tea), a curry blend, and a blend for pad thai noodles.
You could also use a coffee grinder devoted solely to spice grinding. I recommend using separate grinders for coffee and spices because the oils responsible for giving both coffee and spices their unique flavors and aromas will eventually leave residues in the grinder. So unless you enjoy the slight smell of cardamom or cumin in your coffee, devote a grinder to each purpose. When all else fails or if you are truly pressed for time, feel free to substitute commercially ground spices for the whole spices I’ve recommended in the recipes. Substituting 1 teaspoon of whole spice for 1 teaspoon of ground spice should get you close enough!
Preparing a Dish and Minimizing Your Work
Those of us who work a nine-to-five job rarely have time to do the prep work required for a soup before going to work in the morning. And while most of the recipes in this book require very little preparation other than browning onions, chopping vegetables, and grinding spices, all of these tasks can be done ahead of time to save stress and strain in the morning before you leave for work.
Ingredients can always be chopped up ahead of time and stored overnight in the refrigerator in plastic bags for easy assembly of a dish in the morning. Onions can even be browned and stored ahead of time, and spices can be ground and stored in plastic