Kitchen Chemistry: Soup

I'm a girl made for Autumn. An apple pie-baking, wool scarf-swathed, college football-obsessed girl who waits impatiently for the day when glaring summer ripens into glowing fall, when it's time to bring out the biggest stockpot and make soup. Adam is back today with the first in a series of soups that celebrate the season (without dipping into your pumpkin spice latte budget!).  

Soup is the ultimate autumn meal- warmth, color, and rich fall ingredients are just the thing to impress my just-in-from-the-cold guests with my culinary genius. Take, for example, my Taco Soup.

This dish is milk-based (or half & half, or cream, depending on your latitude/metabolism), and utilizes canned black beans and whole kernel corn as primary texture elements. Condensed cream of chicken soup is added for thickness and complexity of flavor (but can be omitted to modify this recipe for vegetarians). My Taco Soup is seasoned with sharp cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion salt, chili powder, ground cumin, and cinnamon (a side note: from Southeast Asia to New England to the American Southwest, no spice crosses geographic and culinary boundaries like cinnamon).

I garnished the bowl with sour cream, shredded cheddar, red pepper flakes, lime, and chopped cilantro. Elizabeth made the tortilla crackers- they're analogous to oyster crackers in clam chowder, and they were delicious.

For another bowl of soup, check back next week for part II in this series... or watch my Salmon Bisque tutorial videos, here, here, here, or here!