Hey it was good clean fun and looking forward to more events like these. Soups.

No, it's not Soup Swap season yet... But there is a Soup Swap announcement:

The people who run the National Soup Swap blog (soupswap.com) sent me an email that was a pre-call for recipes for a Soup Swap Cookbook they're going to put together. The cookbook will specifically feature soups that can be cooked in big batches for the purposes of swapping.

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They'll also be looking for kitchen testers ( ) and interesting soup stories (a la "the telling of the soup").

So, I just wanted to give everyone the heads up. There are a few of you who have recipes I'd love to see in the book! So, dig out your soup recipes (or write them down if you never did), and when we get the official word, you'll be ready!

I think I can safely report that The Great Jersey City SOUP SWAP '07 was a success.

I came home with a Salsa Soup, the famous Chili, Seafood Gumbo and Pasta Fazul. And there was so many other great soups to choose from.

Thank you to everyone who came, who brought delicious soups, and gave generously to the food pantry.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for the next SOUP SWAP I'd be happy to hear them.

A few people also suggested some kind of summer swap... maybe ice cream swap, or smoothie swap, frozen daiquiri swap, salsa or sauces swap... I'm open to ideas.

Again, I just want to thank everyone who came. This was my first time meeting jclisters as a group, and it was really nice.

I hope everyone had a good time and you all enjoy your soups! Thanks again.

The Soup Swap is being covered in the local press....

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerse ... 17402451922240.xml&coll=3

Sip a soup and schmooze Sunday at Barrow House
Friday, March 16, 2007
By COTTON DELO
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The abrupt return of winter weather this weekend may make it the perfect time for the citizenry of Downtown Jersey City to channel the spirit of the season over bowls of hot soup.

The Great Jersey City Soup Swap will be held Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the Barrow Mansion, 83 Wayne St.

Participants are advised to brew up four quarts of their favorite soup - to be distributed to other chefs in individual one-quart containers - and can arrive at 3 p.m. for a meet and greet.

Participants should also bring at least one nonperishable item - such as canned goods, cereal, peanut butter or tuna fish - to be donated to the food pantry of St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, which owns the Barrow Mansion next door.

The event is being organized by St. Matthew's parishioner Monyca White, 28, who read about soup swaps in Boston and Seattle and has promoted the gathering through the online forum Jersey City List (www.jclist.com).

White conceptualized the Soup Swap as a social networking event where attendees can sip wine and meet people in their neighborhood. No RSVP is required.

"I think the unfortunate thing about Jersey City is that so many of us work outside of Jersey City, so to some extent, you don't get to meet your neighbors," said White, who works as an attorney and has already brewed her batch of Thai green curry chicken soup for the occasion.

Though she claims to have no idea what the turnout will be, she plans to structure the swapping by having each participant pick a number and then take turns selecting a container of soup - or gumbo, chili, chowder or stew.

Even if someone draws a low number on their first try, that person is bound to draw high eventually and snag the most coveted concoctions.

"That's the excitement of it, if everyone's dying to try your soup," she said.




? 2007 The Jersey Journal
? 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

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HAHAHA! For any decent cook it ain't rocket science, just following a recipe.

Jesus Bright, making this chili is like launching a rocket.

Sorry folks, I realize in my haste to post yesterday I forgot to add the prep for below! Well here tis and hope you enjoy making those who can't make soup swap this Sunday.

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Well, I hope my chili is not so infamous as famous! I'm bringing both medium hot vegetarian (made six quarts, two for swap, two for St. Matthews and two for missa) and regular beef medium hot and here below are the recipes:

BrightMoment Medium Hot Chili

1.25 cups dried red kidney beans
1.25 cups dried pinto beans
1.5 lbs braising steak, cubed
2tbsps canola oil
2 medium onions or 1 vidalia preferred
1 garlic clove minced fine
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1 fresh chipotle pepper + 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobe sauce(comes in can)
2tbspn of adobe paste (in can with chipotle peppers)
3 tbspns of all-purpose flour
1 tbspn chili powder
.5 tbspn cumin powder
.5 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsps of tomato paste
1.75 cups of water
1 beef bouillon cube, crumbled
1 yellow pepper , cored, seeded, diced
6 drops of Los Vieques Sweet Revenge Hot Sauce*
(rated #10 out of 20 on hot scale with the base for the sauce is the Asi Dulce Pepper native to the Island. Habanero-carrot sauce with tamarind will knock your socks off. XXX-Hot)
salt and pepper to taste

*I always use dry beans to soak but for a quicker version, use 2 14 oz cans of red kidney beans and 2 14 oz cans of pinto beans. Goya makes both and others too.

*Browning the meat is most important. Add meat a few pieces at a time, cut 2 inches, leaving some space around each piece. If you put all the meat in your pan at same time the temp will be lowered, leaving insufficient heat to seal the meat.

*Cook the chili a long time at a low oven temp (300F). This allows the meat to develop a tender, moist texture and mellow flavor. If the oven temp is too high, the meat will cook too quickly and be chewy.

1) Soak the dried beans overnight. Boil for 10 minutes then cook for 1.5 hours and drain. Rinse in cold running water and set aside. Preheat the over to 300F

2) Trim the fat from the meat (I use braising steak, you can add or change as you desire). Pour half the oil into a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until a haze appears. Add about one quarter of the meat, spacing chunks out.

3) Cook over HIGH HEAT for 2-3 minutes before turning, then keep turning until brown all over. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cubes to a plate. Repeat with remaining meat.

4)Add remaining oil to the pan, heat over medium heat for 1 minute, then add the onions, garlic and chilies. Cook for 3 minutes stirring to loosen the residue from the bottom.

5) Add flour, chili powder, cumin, parsley and cilantro+ and stir for 3 to 4 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes and meat with it's juices, then tomato paste, water and bouillon cube.

6) Stir until simmers, season with salt pepper, cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1.5 hours then add the diced yellow (or red) bell pepper. Add the 6 drops of Sweet Revenge hot sauce to pot. Re-cover and return to oven for 30 minutes longer.

7)Before serving serving, test a piece of meat and few of the beans by biting into them to make sure they are tender. If not cook longer. Taste sauce as to seasoning if you need more salt,peper,etc.

8) Serve with grated x-sharp cheddar and sour cream and enjoy!


BrightMoment Veggie Chili

2 lbs of mixed vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, eggplant)

1.25 cups dried red kidney beans
1.25 cups dried pinto beans
2tbsps canola oil
2 medium onions or 1 vidalia preferred
1 garlic clove minced fine
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1 fresh chipotle pepper + 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobe sauce(comes in can)
2tbspn of adobe paste (in can with chipotle peppers)
3 tbspns of all-purpose flour
1 tbspn chili powder
.5 tbspn cumin powder
.5 tbspn fresh chopped parsley
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsps of tomato paste
1.75 cups of water
1 vegetable bouillon cube, crumbled
1 yellow pepper , cored, seeded, diced
6 drops of Los Vieques Sweet Revenge Hot Sauce*
(rated #10 out of 20 on hot scale with the base for the sauce is the Asi Dulce Pepper native to the Island. Habanero-carrot sauce with tamarind will knock your socks off. XXX-Hot)
salt and pepper to taste[/quote]

I can't believe I didn't read this thread until now - I made curry pea soup on Monday night... had the last of it today.

Anyway, have fun people, I will keep an eye out for SS08

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MMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Stewing now, Red Beans, Wild Rice and a thousand Vegetables and stock. Perfect mixed vegetarian good stuff. See ya Sunday.

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I'm appeasing everyone. Mine is more of a Thai curry than an Indian curry.

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Well, I hope my chili is not so infamous as famous! I'm bringing both medium hot vegetarian (made six quarts, two for swap, two for St. Matthews and two for missa) and regular beef medium hot and here below are the recipes:

BrightMoment Medium Hot Chili

1.25 cups dried red kidney beans
1.25 cups dried pinto beans
1.5 lbs braising steak, cubed
2tbsps canola oil
2 medium onions or 1 vidalia preferred
1 garlic clove minced fine
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1 fresh chipotle pepper + 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobe sauce(comes in can)
2tbspn of adobe paste (in can with chipotle peppers)
3 tbspns of all-purpose flour
1 tbspn chili powder
.5 tbspn cumin powder
.5 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsps of tomato paste
1.75 cups of water
1 beef bouillon cube, crumbled
1 yellow pepper , cored, seeded, diced
6 drops of Los Vieques Sweet Revenge Hot Sauce*
(rated #10 out of 20 on hot scale with the base for the sauce is the Asi Dulce Pepper native to the Island. Habanero-carrot sauce with tamarind will knock your socks off. XXX-Hot)
salt and pepper to taste

BrightMoment Veggie Chili

2 lbs of mixed vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, eggplant)

1.25 cups dried red kidney beans
1.25 cups dried pinto beans
2tbsps canola oil
2 medium onions or 1 vidalia preferred
1 garlic clove minced fine
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1 fresh chipotle pepper + 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobe sauce(comes in can)
2tbspn of adobe paste (in can with chipotle peppers)
3 tbspns of all-purpose flour
1 tbspn chili powder
.5 tbspn cumin powder
.5 tbspn fresh chopped parsley
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsps of tomato paste
1.75 cups of water
1 vegetable bouillon cube, crumbled
1 yellow pepper , cored, seeded, diced
6 drops of Los Vieques Sweet Revenge Hot Sauce*
(rated #10 out of 20 on hot scale with the base for the sauce is the Asi Dulce Pepper native to the Island. Habanero-carrot sauce with tamarind will knock your socks off. XXX-Hot)
salt and pepper to taste

Quote:

We're just trying to keep rockroller and trp3 (and their hatred of the smell of Indian food) away.

For those of you thinking soup season is over...

Mike Woods is calling for snow again this weekend, Friday night into Saturday.

Wouldn't it be nice to know you have some nice (curry) soups coming your way???

SOUP SWAP. This Sunday. Be there.

i think curry might be the theme this swap...

made my "sunshine" red lentil soup during american idol, affectively killing 2 birds=1 stone. thanks to hurtle and elgoo for prompting me to stir on the commercial breaks.



by teh way, a&p has 1qt ziplock plastic containers on sale 2pks of 4 (equalling 8 containers) for $5

Hey all, I got a tip that the Jersey Journal is going to cover the SOUP SWAP. It would be really great if we could have an excellent turnout.

So, if you've been on the fence about whether to make soup or whether to come, come on out!

Here's your chance at Soup Stardom!

Any way that you want to measure out a quart is file - quart-sized plastic containers or freezer bags are probably best.

I found them at the 99 cent store on Newark closest to Jersey Ave. (I think it's next to the pet store maybe), for 3 for 99 cents. I bought 6 which was perfect - I made 6 quarts of soup, 2 for me and 4 for the swap.

(BTW, that may be the cleanest/nicest of the 99 cent stores.)

How should we supply the soup? Containers, zip lock baggies, jars, or should I just bring the cauldron we have sitting in the fridge right now?

Off to pick up the ingreedients for our curried butternut squash soup. Yummmm!

Just cooked up a batch of Green Curry Chicken Soup.

It's yummy.

Want some? I'll give it to you... a week from tomorrow!

This weekend should be a good time to whip up a batch of soup to freeze for NEXT WEEKEND'S SOUP SWAP!

i will be there with my vegetarian soup.

and in case you are wondering, soup is art.

i got a painting with 10 bowls of soup on it for yule, so take that, naysayers!

In case you're wondering, SOUP SWAP is totally going to kick Soup Club's a$$.

Soup Club tries to trick you into thinking "Oh, they're vegetarian, they must be caring... and nice..."

But SOUP SWAP actually benefits a food pantry. AND you can get soups with meat or seafood or whatever you want.

(Now we need a choreographer so we can have a Soup Gang dance-off in the middle of the Jersey City streets.)

SOUP'S ON!!!

Sunday, March 18, 2007
3:00 p.m. to meet and mingle
3:30 p.m. - SOUP SWAP begins

Barrow Mansion, 83 Wayne Street, Jersey City.
(Wayne Street between Jersey and Barrow.)

Invite your friends, the more soup, the better. You can even copy and paste the info below to an email!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Great Jersey City
SOUP SWAP 2007

Bring 4 Quarts of Your Frozen Homemade Soup
(divided into single quart containers)
PLUS
One or More non-perishable item to donate to the St. Matthew?s Food Pantry
(canned soup, one-can meals, cereals, peanut butter, tuna, canned tomatoes or sauces, canned fruits or vegetables, and non-perishable milk are all appreciated)

WHEN: Sunday, March 18, 2007
3:00 p.m. to meet and mingle
3:30 p.m. to swap soup

WHERE: Barrow Mansion, 83 Wayne Street, Jersey City.
(Wayne Street between Jersey and Barrow.)

What exactly is a SOUP SWAP?
You bring FOUR single-quart containers of your homemade frozen soup. (Plus your donation to the food pantry.) We will then draw numbers and take turns picking out different soup. You will leave with FOUR 1 quart containers of a wonderful mix of homemade soups. Bring whatever soup you like to cook best. This can include chili, stews, chowders, and gumbos. Can?t be here? You can always assign a proxy to do your soup swapping for you!

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! We can never have too many soups to choose from!

The St. Matthew?s food pantry serves persons living with HIV/AIDS through the Hyacinth Foundation.

I'm in, I've got a great leek soup recipe (although I've never frozen it). I'll do a test run beforehand.

It's a soup SWAP. We come, we put the frozen soups on a table, maybe we mingle (and drink a little wine) a little while we wait for everyone to show up. Once we've got everyone who is coming, we go around and tell our soups - what's in it, how it tastes, etc.

Then we'll each draw a number. Number one goes first, and picks what soup they want to take home. Let's say there's 10 people. We'll go 1 through 10 and then 10 through 1. (So that number 1 goes first and last, and number 10 goes in the middle, twice.) Then repeat.

Once all the soup is chosen, you can take your frozen soup and get out. It's not a long process, because I don't want anyone to say, "I'm not going to do it because I don't want to devote a whole afternoon to this swap."

And you leave behind at least one canned soup (or other non-perishable food item) to be donated to the food pantry.

You can bring bread or crackers to go with your soup, but you certainly don't have to.

For future reference:
Tip on Freezing, Storing, and Reheating Soup

I mentioned a soup swap on another thread (Things to Do When It's Freezing Outside), but maybe to see whether or not it is really viable, it deserves it's own thread.

So, first, what is a soup swap?

To participate, you make a BIG batch of soup. You freeze a few quarts. (We would set a number, probably between 4 or 6 quarts).

We get together somewhere in downtown Jersey City and, through some democratic system, choose to take home 4-6 quarts of different soup.

We could drink a few glasses of wine and make it a social event, but it's not like a soup dinner or anything. The whole thing might take an hour-ish, depending on how many people are involved.

I can draw up much more detailed rules and guidelines, for people who feel they need that sort of thing.

Some blog posts by other people about their soup swap experiences are here:

Boston Soup Swap '06

Seattle Soup Swap

I'd like to do it in a few weeks. This would give people time to research their recipe, buy their groceries and cook up their batch. (Maybe Sunday 3/4 or 3/11?) But if everyone feels like they'll be souped out by March, you can hold out for National Soup Swap Day - January 23, 2008.

If you're interested in swapping soup, leave a reply or PM. Please let me know if you have a preferred date and if you have a suggestion for a swap location.