A Cream Soup Base is the foundation of several soup types as well as gravies and casserole bases. Learning to make this is a beginning skill that could be used quite often in daily cooking.
This is little more than making a gravy but depending upon the thickness & the other ingredients you add, you can make a soup, a chowder, or even a bisque. In this you may use milk or broth to create foundation components for various
uses.
The simple recipe for a cream soup base:
1 stick of butter or margarine
6 TB of flour
2 Cups of Milk
2 cubes of bouillon Favor to suit the soup (you could use "Better Than Bouillon or a low sodium variant)
Ground black pepper in a simple gravy has many uses.
In a sauce pan melt the butter on low heat and adding the flour slowly while stirring to make a paste. Then add Milk slowly while stirring to form a smooth texture. (free of lumps) When adding the ingredients for the soup add more
Milk as needed to produce the thick or thinness desired. Don't be afraid to be generous with your liquid as it will thicken more while cooking. Add too little liquid and you'll wind up with a paste.
Depending on the type of soup you want to make, Milk can be substituted with Broth, Stock, or as a combination with Milk. Canned Evaporated Milk works well with this too.
Common cream based soups :
Cream of:
Potato (precooked diced potatoes in cans and other foods to make a loaded soup)
Chicken (available in Tuna Fish sized cans for convenience)
Broccoli florets steamed until tender (with shredded cheddar cheese)
Mushroom (using mushrooms from jars diced)
Celery
Cheese
Smoked sausage (with diced potatoes, carrots, and celery)
If using fish, shellfish, or potatoes you would be making a Chowder which has a chunky texture. These can be sourced from cans too. I've even made Oyster Stew from Canned Smoked Oysters.Using diced canned clams and diced potatoes will produce a clam chowder.
If using Lobster, Crab, or a Tomato ingredient, you may be making a Bisque. Here you may be using a heavy cream or white wine. When camping you may not be able to make a fine textured dish like you would in a well equipped kitchen using a blender & strainer. But it's still good. You can use Lobster, or Crab substitute products found in the refrigeration case with other fish products.
Gravies with other foods added such as thin dried beef (like in the glass jars), or crumbled sausage patties, or onions can be used can be prepared with beads or biscuits and make great breakfast meals. (either diced onions or the cut up green spring onions tops). Even coarse ground black pepper for a peppered gravy, or shredded cheese can be used as a
gravy or as a dressing for steamed vegetables.
As for a Casserole, the cream base sauce will serve as one of the five components of the classic Casserole. Casseroles generally have five components as follows: a protein, a vegetable, a starch (pasta), cheese, and a sauce such as the cream sauce described here. It is simple, cheap, and easy to make. (so you won't have to spend all of your time cooking)
This basic cooking skill could serve every camper & nomad. Cook once and have enough food to eat two or three times.
