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In winters, along with roast veggies and meats, if there is one dish that provides sheer comfort and warmth, it is a bowl full of aromatic and deliciously flavoured soup. Served with dinner rolls or warm, toasted and buttered bread, winter staple soups can be made easily in the USHA Steam Oven by adding all the ingredients to a pot so the gentle, even heating and moisture cooks the dish to perfection. What’s more, these deeply rich and restorative broths require very little attention when they are cooked in the oven – which makes them no-fuss cosy meals that provide warmth amidst chilly temperatures.
Roast And Steam For Depth
The steam oven provides a dual function of roasting and steaming. This means veggies and other ingredients used to make winter soups are steam-roasted without losing their moisture. Use this technique to make fragrant pumpkin soup laced with the flavour of bay leaves or a roasted carrot soup with crushed white pepper for more complexity. The steam roasted veggies can be blitzed into a soft purée with the addition of chicken or veggie broth into a velvety smooth soup served with a side of garlic bread. The roast-steam function enhances caramelisation while keeping the veggies tender and blender ready.
Steam Function For Simmering
One of the more essential steps in making wintertime soups is bringing them to a boil. However, when this happens on the stove, it requires continuous attention and there also remains the persistent risk of scorching the soup or of the veggie purée sticking to the bottom of the soup pot. The best way to minimise this and still serve a simmering warm soup is to prop it in the steam oven. This is especially useful for brothy soups like chicken noodle, veg clear or lentil soup which can be simmered without stirring. The steam will cook all ingredients evenly without burning them.
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Batch-Cook Beans And Broths
In winters, large quantities of chicken or meat broth can be prepared and stored in the fridge to be used whenever you prepare tomato soups or bouillabaisse that require some stock for bringing all ingredients together. Preparing winter broths becomes easier with the steam oven. Dried beans, split peas and other assorted veggie ingredients can be placed with aromatics in the oven. The same goes for chicken bones and the meat used for making stock. Slow, steady steam extracts all the nutrients from the produce to leave behind a nourishing, warm and uniformly cooked fragrant broth.
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Low Steam Function For Reheating
Pre-made soups can be brought out of the fridge and propped in the steam oven for reheating without the risk of splitting the ingredients. Sometimes, if you make soups ahead of time and they go cold, the steam oven can be used to bring them to a simmer as well. This is an especially useful trick for reheating creamy soups like mushroom and leek, chicken and corn or broccoli and cheddar which can split if put on the stove for too long. The steam oven will instead keep the soups warm, without thickening or burning them.
One Pot Grain Soups
Steam ovens are excellent contraptions for preparing soups which require slow-cooking. Grains like barley, black rice and quinoa can be slightly difficult to treat on the cooktop. Use the steam oven to prepare a barley and mushroom soup or a chicken and wild rice restorative broth as the steam-bake function of the oven will cook the grains until they are perfectly tender. What’s more, when placed on the low-steam function after the cooking is complete, the soup will also remain warm until dinnertime.
