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“No Soup For You” soup tasting at the new SoupMan restaurant

“No Soup For You!” Sound familiar? The SoupMan restaurant is a spinoff of Al Yeganeh’s Soup Kitchen International. Yeganeh, made famous for his officious demeanor in an episode of Seinfeld, has been making legendary soups at his New York City restaurant since 1984 and I got a taste of it at the new SoupMan restaurant at Mohegan Sun. For the record, this cardboard cut-out (right) was as close as we got to the ever-elusive Yeganeh who rarely makes public appearances.

In a blind taste test I was asked to tell what soups were from the SoupMan’s new frozen line and what were completely fresh. The first soup I tested was seafood bisque. It was creamy and rich with delicious mussels, lobster, shrimp, scallops and crabmeat. Every bite seemed to bring another fresh piece of seafood, making it impossible to tell if it is frozen or fresh, frozen or fresh?? I just threw out the guess frozen and with 50/50 odds I got it right. But, between you and me that was a random guess, they both tasted fresh to me. This is my favorite soup of the day and I highly recommend it to any seafood lovers out there like myself.

Next up was the tomato basil. Tomato soup is not my favorite in general, but this had a fresh taste that was impressive. The texture was heavy, with thick chunks of tomato and fresh-tasting basil throughout. Overall it was a nice hearty soup and, once again, I could not tell what was fresh and what was frozen. Kudos to the SoupMan for making frozen soups that taste like a chef made them moments ago.

One of the best parts about the SoupMan’s frozen soup collection is that they are so hearty they can be used as sauce over pasta to make a meal for 2 for around $2-$3 per person. Another bonus is they come in BPA-free bowls. For the next week I’ll be posting those recipes on Captivate.com/Cooking. The Seafood Pasta recipe, starting us off on Good Friday, is below.

Finally, I participated in a soup and sandwich pairing. Hat’s off to Johnny Rockets founder Lloyd Sugarman, who came into the SoupMan organization with enough courage to say “let me do my own thing.” That “thing” was perfecting sandwiches to go with the already perfect soup. The sandwiches, while do not seem healthy at all, were outstanding. My pick (hands down) is the Penn Station, which is made with extra lean corned beef and pastrami thinly sliced with melted Finlandia Swiss cheese on rye bread topped with coleslaw and Russian dressing. A close second was the Hudson – made with lean shaved steak covered in melted American cheese with mushrooms and mayo on a toasted sub. Trust me, if I did not have to get into a wedding dress this summer I’d be eating these every day. As you may have noticed, the SoupMan prides itself on being from NYC and names all of its sandwiches after the Big Apple.

My takeaway from my first soup tasting was that Al Yeganeh is a perfectionist in the kitchen and will not skimp on ingredients. The food is extremely high-quality and I urge you to try one of the meals on the go to get a great meal for minimal money. The frozen soups can be found in grocery stores nationwide.

Want a free Soupman T-Shirt? Just visit the SoupMan website and tell me which soup sounds the best to you. Email me at JPini@captivate.com with your soup pick, address and age (must be over 18). Full contest rules are below. The winners’ first name, last initial and city will be posted Friday, April 9, 2010 on Captivate.com/Cooking. Good Luck!

Seafood Pasta recipe
Courtesy of Soupman
  • 1lb. of pasta of your choice (avg $1.59)
  • 1 Original Soupman seafood bisque ($4.49)
For $3.04 you can have seafood pasta for two or more
Cook pasta, place into plates and pour heated soup over it as you would sauce. Enjoy!
GENERAL SWEEPSTAKES RULES1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF WINNING. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.2. ELIGIBILITY: Each promotion is open to legal residents of the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) and Canada who are 18 years or older at the time of entry unless otherwise stated. Employees of Captivate Network (“Sponsor”), Gannett Co., Inc., and each of their subsidiaries and affiliated companies, advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, or any person domiciled with, any such employees are not eligible to enter or win. You are not a winner until you have been notified as a potential winner, your eligibility has been verified, and you have complied with all terms of these rules.3. HOW TO ENTER: [Send an email to JPini@Captivate.com with your soup pick, address and age (must be over 18) to run with the winner's first name, last initial and city on Captivate.com/Cooking and address where prize can be shipped. Contest opens 12am EST 4/2/2010 and closes 12am EST 4/9/2010 THE FIRST NAME AND CITY OF WINNERS WILL BE POSTED ON CAPTIVATE COOKING, PERMISSION IS GRANTED BY THE WINNERS BY SENDING IN THE EMAIL ENTRY. The Sponsor is not responsible for incomplete, lost, late, postage-due, misdirected or illegible entries, or for failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or Sponsor. All entries become property of Sponsor and none will be returned4. SWEEPSTAKES WINNER SELECTION & ODDS: Sweepstakes winners will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible entries received by Sweepstakes deadline. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.5. PRIZES: [3 'No Soup For You T-Shirts)6. WINNER NOTIFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE: Winners will be notified at the email address and/or U.S. mail address provided on winner’s entry form. Email or mail notification: Sponsor will email or mail notification at the address provided. Return of prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and an alternate winner may be selected from among all remaining eligible entries. Failure to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, may result in a winner’s disqualification, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize, and the award of the prize to a substitute winner.7. PRIZE TERMS: PRIZES WILL BE MAILED TO THE ADDRESS PROVIDED BY THE WINNERS Winners may waive their right to receive prizes. Prizes are non-assignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed by winner. Prizes and individual components of prize packages are subject to availability and Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Winners are solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on prizes. Acceptance of any prize constitutes winner’s consent to the publication of his or her name, biographical information and likeness in any media for any commercial or promotional purpose, without limitation or further compensation. Prizes not won and claimed by eligible winners in accordance with these Official Rules will not be awarded and will remain the property of Sponsor.8. PARTICIPATION: By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this Sweepstakes as solely determined by Sponsor. In the event the Sweepstakes is compromised by a virus, non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the promotion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate any promotion at any time. Should a promotion be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Sponsor reserves the right to award prizes based on the eligible entries received before the termination date.9. CONSTRUCTION: The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.10. The decisions of Sponsor regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of a promotion shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to the promotion. If you have questions on a specific sweepstakes, contact: [Jacqui Pini 978-845-5042], or for a list of winners: send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Jacqui Pini Captivate Network 2 Executive Drive, Suite 301, Chelmsford, MA 01824].























































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““No Soup For You” soup tasting at the new SoupMan restaurant”