Chet wrote:
>
> I did not do any sauteing in this recipe or use any butter, do you
> think this may help the flavor

Definitely. After cooking for 8 hours the veggies will be mush anyways
and since you're using a blender the exact texture doesn't matter. The
slight browning from a brown butter sautee will make a large difference.

> do you think a few drops of
> liquid smoke would help or destroy the soup flavlor.

Help, especially since you want it smokey. But liquid smoke is intense
so try it with a couple of drops and see how it goes.

Also if you want it like in a restaurant it should probably get several
times the salt you put in it. Restaurants heavily salt their foods for
a long list of reasons. At the head of the line is that for a lot of
people it improves the flavor. Some can't tell so the salt gives it
some flavor at all. Some have pallettes that can tell but they can
separate the salt from the other flavors. But for most adding salt
accelerates the other flavors. Sort of like a touch of hot.

If you don't want the extra salt consider the hot principle - As long as
the capsicum is below threshold what it does is increase the intensity
of all of the other flavors. That works all the way until the most
sensative person pegs and it just overwhelms there taste/flavor with
heat. You know the people who will be eating your soup. Late in the
process add a couple of drops up to a big splash of hot sauce.