Chicken Stock & Cream Soups:

Method of cooking/technique to discuss:

This week, we will be using chicken stock. Chicken stock is super versatile, and has a relatively neutral flavor profile that can serve as a foundation for all sorts of dishes. Chicken stock is made from bones and carcasses simmered for hours. Bones that are rich in connective tissue (wings, neck, back, feet, etc) are preferred because they have high levels of collagen. The collagen turns into gelatin during simmering. Another staple part of the chicken stock is the aromatics; a standard mirepoix is common (onions, carrots, celery), though additional aromatics such as leeks, herbs, and spices are also frequently incorporated. Chicken stock is different from other stocks in a few ways: firstly, it has a lighter and more neutral taste than other stocks, such as beef stock. It also doesn’t have to be simmered as long as beef or veal stock, which can take 8-12 hours. It also can be used in all sorts of dishes, whereas fish stock is typically just used in seafood based dishes. 

Primary Ingredient/ Dish of the week:

The primary dish of the week is cream soups. A cream soup can be made with several variations, but according to The Culinary Pro, there are four main steps: Sweating aromatics, adding liquids and simmering, pureeing, and finishing with cream or dairy. Some other methods include using a roux for thickening, using a premade Bechamel or Veloute sauce, and using dairy alternatives to the cream. 

My Learning Objectives:

My primary learning objectives are learning how to properly prepare a stock, as well as properly prepare cream soups with varying consistencies and flavor profiles.

My Prior Knowledge:

While I have used chicken and beef stock many times in recipes, I’ve never actually made the stock myself. The main piece of knowledge I have about stocks is how they differ from broths, and how the sign of a good stock is a gelatinous texture. Other than that, I’m walking into this with little knowledge prior to the research. As far as cream soups go, I have even less knowledge. Naturally, I know that some sort of cream will be incorporated into the recipe, though I’ve never made a cream soup before! I’m very excited, however.  

Research and discussion of the method of cooking/ techniques/ ingredients:

Chicken stock is produced by simmering the chicken bones low and slow. The goal controlled extraction rather than speed. Traditional components include bones (especially joints), meat scraps (often on the bones used), mirepoix, other aromatics like garlic, herbs, peppercorns, and cold water. The cold water is important because hot water makes the stock cloudy and emulsifies fat into the stock. Simmering allows proteins, fats, and impurities to rise to the surface where they can be skimmed off. Skimming periodically while the stock simmers is important to remove fats and impurities, maintaining a nice, clear stock. The use of aromatics adds flavor to the stock when cooked, making a more complex taste. 

A cream soup is typically made from a flavor base (vegetables, poultry, seafood etc), a liquid (stock, milk, even water), a thickening agent (roux, starch, puree), and cream or milk added towards the end of cooking. The first step in most cream soups is sweating vegetables such as onions, leeks, garlic, or celery in butter or oil over low heat. Typically a roux or starch is added to thicken the soup, though some soups rely on pureed vegetables instead of a roux or starch. Once the liquid is added, the soup is simmered, not boiled to preserve delicate flavors, prevent breaking emulsions, and prevent burning dairy proteins (if dairy has been added); boiling the soup can also seriously alter the texture. Next, if the soup is using a pureed vegetable, you may use an immersion blender to puree the ingredients, which makes for a smooth texture and thicker soup. Usually the last step in a cream soup is adding the cream, as prolonged heat can cause separation, and cream can dull sharper flavors, so seasoning can be adjusted afterwards. The cream adds to the richness of the soup and gives it a nicer texture. 

Dish/method variations 

The first variation of chicken stock would be making a brown chicken stock rather than the white stock. Making brown stock involves roasting the bones and vegetables before simmering them. After roasting, the pan is deglazed to get all the flavor from the bottom of the pan. The brown stock has a darker color and a richer flavor. Brown stocks are typically used in stews, hearty soups, gravies, and braises. Another way chicken stock can be made differently is with different aromatics/flavors. Chicken stock is typically made with a classic mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery), but can also be infused with different herbs (parsley, thyme, bay leaf), or ginger, scallions and garlic for a more asian-influenced soup.

One variation of tomato soup can include using fresh tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes, but this method depends on the tomatoes being in season. Another variation is a roasted tomato soup, where the tomatoes are roasted and develop caramelized sugars, resulting in a deeper, sweeter flavor. Tomato soup can also employ different thickening methods such as puree-thickened, and roux-thickened. The roux thickening method uses a roux, made by equal parts butter and flour.

Recipes:

Chicken Stock:

Ingredients:	Amount:
Chicken carcass & neck	1 lb
Water (cold)	60 fl oz
Mirepoix -Onion med dice -Carrot med dice -Celery med dice -Leek med dice	Onions: 2 oz Carrots: 1 oz Celery: 1 oz Leeks: 2 ea
Sachet -Thyme -Bay leaf -Peppercorns crushed -Parsley stalks -Garlic cloves, whole	Thyme: 3 sprigs Bay leaf: 2 Peppercorns crushed: 1 tsp Parsley stalks: 6 ea Garlic cloves, whole: 2 ea

Tomato Soup:

Ingredients:	Amount:
Mirepoix, small dice	4 oz
Olive oil	0.25 fl oz
Butter	0.25 oz
Tomato paste	2 oz
Vegetable stock	12 fl oz
Canned tomatoes	22 oz
Salt and pepper	To taste
Bouquet garni/sachet	1
Worcestershire sauce	To taste
Thyme, chopped	As needed
Heavy cream	2 fl oz
Basil for garnish	As needed
French bread for garnish	As needed
Sugar	As need
Cheese	4 oz

Plan of Work:

Time:	Method of Production	Time taken:
8:00-8:30	Chef huddle, review
8:30-9:00	Mise en Place all ingredients for stock and soup	30 mins
9:00-9:15	Wash and dice all vegetables, make sachet	15 mins
9:15-9:30	Add bones and bring to boil, reduce to simmer, add mirepoix and sachet	15 mins
9:30-10:15	Start on tomato soup	45 mins
10:15-10:30	Puree soup, add back to pot, finish soup	15 mins
10:30-11:00	Check for seasoning, make grilled cheese, plate and garnish	30 min
11:00	Plates up
11:00-11:20	Eat	20 min
11:20-12:00	Cleaning	40 min

Reflection:

Results

The first thing I noticed about the technique and methods we used was how efficient utilizing Mise en Place is. The biggest stressor I have when cooking is trying to prepare and measure out ingredients as I go. Having everything prepped and portioned out makes cooking so much easier and less stressful, and makes clean up at the end a lot easier. I also needed practice with measuring out ingredients, so this was a good opportunity for that. 

Sweating the vegetables worked great- by the time they were finished, they were nice and fragrant. The onions were translucent and everything was cooked through but not browned and caramelized. 

Another method that worked well was the pureeing of the soup. Blending the soup after cooking gave it a smooth and creamy texture that was super enjoyable. It also worked as a thickening method, so I felt like we were killing two birds with one stone when blending the soup.

Sensory results of the dish: 

Taste: The soup was bitter and acidic, with nearly no sweetness.

Flavor: The canned tomatoes dominated the flavor profile, making it difficult to even taste much else. Very little of the flavor from the bouquet garni was noticeable, and the worcestershire sauce was also very strong.

Texture: The texture was perfect. It wasn't too thick or sauce-like, but not so runny that it was difficult to eat. It was velvety and smooth, with minimal texture/chunks. 

Appearance: The soup itself was visually appealing, and it appeared to be the correct color. The garnishing, however, needed some serious improvement.

Results

As mentioned above, utilizing Mise en Place allowed for everything to flow smoothly while cooking. I found it to seriously improve the organization and cleaning process as well, and it allowed me to not be frazzled and make a mess while cooking the soup.

Next, after sweating the vegetables, the tomato paste is added and cooked. This is where the first area of improvement comes in: in future, I would absolutely let the tomato paste cook longer. Not to the point of caramelizing the mirepoix, of course, but I think we could have brought out the flavor a little more in the tomato paste.

Instead, I think the process of adding the tomato paste and canned tomatoes was rushed, and that we didn’t take enough time letting the ingredients cook before adding the next one. Next, the soup itself was not simmered for nearly long enough. I believe we didn’t do a good enough job at keeping track of time, and inadvertently undercooked the soup. The acidity of the tomatoes was overpowering, and having eaten (and made, once) many tomato soups before, I knew the flavor and taste were off. I would have added more salt as well as more sugar, and let the soup simmer for the full amount of time. So, as far as technique goes, it’s not that the simmering didn’t work well, but more so user error. The technique itself was fine but we, as the chefs, made the mistake of cutting the time short.

Next, tasting as we go is something I’d like to work on. I feel that I waited too late to taste the soup, and at that time did not have enough time to correct the issue. The addition of the worcestershire sauce also went awry… far too much was added. I believe Chef Souji said to begin with half a teaspoon or so, and to taste it before adding more, but we accidentally added too much and the flavor ended up dominating the soup. After adding the worcestershire sauce, we blended the soup. Blending the soup gave it a smooth texture and blended all the flavors very nicely.

The last thing left to do was plate our food and present it; this went very poorly. I wanted to garnish with heavy cream, but when I tried to make a swirl with the heavy cream, the cream completely sank below the surface of the soup and became essentially invisible/made a murky cloud on the top of the soup. My partner garnished it with “basil” but it ended up actually being parsley. Overall, the garnishing portion went pretty poorly, and I look forward to improving upon the skill in the future. 

Conclusions

Overall, the lab taught me fundamental techniques for preparing stock and cream soup. Practicing mise en place significantly improved my organization, efficiency, and stress levels during cooking. The techniques of sweating aromatics and pureeing the soup worked really well, producing a smooth, velvety texture and a thickened cream soup.

However, there were several areas of improvement: Insufficient simmering time and rushed cooking/adding ingredients, resulting in acidity and bitterness. Seasoning adjustments were not made early/frequently enough, and too much Worcestershire sauce negatively impacted the flavor. Additionally, plating and garnishing techniques need serious improvement, as the final presentation didn’t enhance a dish I worked hard on.

Learning outcomes

The main goals of this lab were learning how to properly prepare a stock and learning how to make a cream soup with the right consistency and flavor. Making chicken stock gave me experience with the basics, like Mise en Place, controlling the simmer so that the stock/soup doesn’t boil, skimming impurities, and using the aromatics to build flavor. Even though I’ve used stock plenty of times before, actually making it from scratch helped me understand how much time and patience it really takes to do it properly.

When it came to the cream soup, I followed the steps of sweating the aromatics, adding liquid, simmering, blending, and finishing with cream. Texture wise, the soup turned out really well, which showed that the technique itself was solid. Flavor wise, though, it was clear that we still need more practice. Overall, the lab showed that I understand the process, but we still need to slow down and ensure that we are following all the instructions.

Additional Skills

One of the biggest things I took away from this lab, was how helpful mise en place really is. Having everything prepped and measured ahead of time made cooking way less stressful and much more organized. I also learned how easy it is to throw off a dish by rushing steps or not paying close enough attention to timing. Another big lesson was tasting as you go. I made the mistake of waiting until the end, which made it harder to fix mistakes. Lastly, plating and garnishing ended up being more challenging than I thought and showed me that presentation is a skill I still need to work on.

Application

Everything we practiced in this lab is super transferable. Knowing how to make a stock is useful for pretty much anything: soups, sauces, stews, risottos, and braises. Mise en place is something I can apply in any kitchen, whether I’m cooking at home (which I do a lot) or working in a more professional environment. Learning how to manage taste, seasoning, and flavor development will definitely help with any dish I choose to make in the future. The plating skills will also be useful in future labs, especially when presentation is part of the final evaluation.

Areas That Still Need Practice

There are definitely a few areas I want to keep working on. I need to be more mindful of simmering times and not rush steps, especially when flavor needs time to develop. Tasting earlier and more often is something I know I need to improve on. I also need to be more careful with strong ingredients like Worcestershire sauce, since a little goes a long way, and the overpowering flavor kind of ruined the soup. Lastly, plating and garnishing is an area I want to improve so the look of the dish does the effort put into it justice.

Sources:

Tomato Soup Variations: 7 tomato soup variations from around the world. (n.d.). Voyo Eats. https://voyoeats.com/7-tomato-soup-variations-from-around-the-world

Cream Soup Techniques: The Culinary Pro. (n.d.). Cream soup. https://www.theculinarypro.com/cream-soup

Stock Guide: Harris Scarfe. (n.d.). A guide to crafting flavourful vegetable & chicken stock. Harris Scarfe Food Hub. https://www.harrisscarfe.com.au/hub/food/how-to-make-vegetable-chicken-stock

CIA Chicken Stock: The Culinary Institute of America. (2024, July). Chicken stock. Developing Healthy Recipes and Menus. https://www.ciachef.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/developing-healthy-recipes-and-menus.pdf