Soups and Stews

Quick Black Bean Soup

Serves 6

Black bean soups and stews are especially common throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and the southern United States, particularly in Florida and in the Southwest. Using canned black beans makes it possible to whip up this soup at a moment’s notice. The secret ingredient is chipotle chile, a smoked-dried jalapeño, which adds a whisper of smoke and just the right amount of heat. You could substitute 1 to 2 tablespoons minced canned chipotles en adobo. Just be sure to add the cup of water to thin the soup.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the chipotle and boiling water in a blender. Let soak for 15 minutes.
  2. 2. Add the garlic and one-third of the beans to the blender. Process until puréed.
  3. 3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion, bell pepper, fresh chile, if using, and 1 teaspoon cumin in the oil until the vegetables are limp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the remaining beans, and the puréed bean mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes to blend the flavors. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, and cumin, if desired.
  4. 4. Serve hot, garnishing each bowl with a little cilantro.

Lentil Soup

Serves 6 to 8

The most famous lentil soup of all time is the “mess of pottage” for which the biblical Esau sold his birthright. Lentils were probably one of the first food crops to be domesticated, dating back to the beginning of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East. We have been making lentil soup ever since.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic in the oil until the onion is limp, about 3 minutes. Add the lentils, broth, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam that rises to the top. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the lentils are mushy, 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the variety and age of the lentils.
  2. 2. Let cool slightly, then purée in a blender. Return to the pot and thin with additional water, if desired. Add the tomatoes and mixed vegetables.
  3. 3. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley. Serve hot.

Curried Red Lentil Soup

Serves 6 to 8

The beautiful orange color of the red lentils fades to a mustard yellow-green as they cook, which is a pity. But as far as pottages go, the taste of this one is worthy of a birthright.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the lentils, water, onions, carrots, ginger, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam that rises to the top. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the lentils are very tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Let cool slightly.
  2. 2. Process the soup in a blender until smooth; you will have to do this in batches.
  3. 3. Return the soup to a soup pot. Stir in the hot sauce and coconut milk. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
  4. 4. Just before serving, stir in the cilantro. Serve hot. Do not allow the soup to boil once the coconut milk has been added.

Note: To toast cumin seeds, place in a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast until fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute.

Potato-Leek Soup

Serves 4

Call it “potato-leek soup,” and it is home-style comfort food. Call it “vichyssoise” and serve it cold, and it becomes an elegant soup first served at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 1917 and named after the city of Vichy, where Chef Louis Diat, the creator of the recipe, grew up. Substitute scallions for the leeks, and call it “shallot porridge,” as French-speaking Louisianans do.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the broth and potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool slightly.
  2. 2. Purée the potato mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth.
  3. 3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot. Sauté the leeks in the oil until limp, about 4 minutes. Add the puréed potato mixture and half-and-half. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer to blend the flavors, about 10 minutes.
  4. 4. Serve hot or cold.

“In taking soup, it is necessary to avoid lifting too much into the spoon, or filling the mouth so full as to almost stop the breath.”

— St. John the Baptist de la Salle
The Rules of Christian Manners and Civility (1695)

Split Pea Soup

Serves 4 or 5

Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot, nine days old. This good, old-fashioned soup won’t last that long. And when should you serve it? The second week of November has been National Split Pea Soup Week since 1969.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the peas, water, and ham hock in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and skim off any foam that rises to the top of the pot. Add the onions, celery, carrot, and bay leaf. Simmer for 1 hour.
  2. 2. Remove the soup from the heat to cool slightly. Remove the ham hock and bay leaf. Process the soup in a blender until smooth. Return to the pot.
  3. 3. Dice the meat from the ham hock, discarding the skin, bone, and fat. Add the meat to the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Thin the soup with water, if desired. Heat through before serving. The soup improves in flavor and thickens on standing. Thin again with water, if desired.

Variation: Split Pea Soup
with Smoked Turkey

Lean smoked turkey contributes the flavor — but none of the fat — of the traditional ham hock. Add 1⁄2 pound sm oked turkey, all in one piece, along with the onions, celery, and carrot. Remove before processing in the blender and finely dice. Return to the processed soup and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

Serves 4 to 6

With chicken stock on hand and canned beans, you’ll need only about a half hour to make this delicious soup.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the sausage and brown, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks, about 5 minutes.
  2. 2. Add the broth, beans, carrots, garlic, and rosemary. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, until the carrots are tender and the flavors have blended. Stir in the spinach. Simmer until wilted, about 2 minutes.
  3. 3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

“I live on good soup, not on fine words.”

— Jean-Baptiste Molière
author of Le Misanthrope (1666)

Pasta e Fagiole

Serves 6

The famous “pasta fazool” is an American colloquialism for this hearty soup of pasta and beans. Dean Martin immortalized it in his song, “That’s Amore” (“When the stars make you drool just like pasta fazool, that’s amore”). Made all over Italy, it’s a soup with many variations. This version is quite simple, very quick to make, and very satisfying to enjoy.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil until limp, about 3 minutes.
  2. 2. Add the broth, tomatoes, beans, rosemary, and oregano. Season generously with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes to blend the flavors.
  3. 3. Add the pasta and simmer until the pasta is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
  4. 4. Serve immediately, passing the cheese at the table.

Minestrone alla Genovese

Serves 6

Minestrone translates as “big soup,” which perfectly describes this hearty mixture of vegetables, beans, and pasta. The word is derived from minestrare, or “to administer,” presumably because the soup was portioned out as the only dish served at a meal. There are as many versions of minestrone as there are cooks in Italy. What distinguishes minestrone from Genoa is the last-minute addition of pesto.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil for 2 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, carrot, celery, fennel, thyme, and oregano. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  2. 2. Return the soup to a boil. Add the pasta and boil gently until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and beans. Simmer for 5 minutes longer, or until the greens are tender.
  3. 3. Add the pesto, if using, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve. The soup will thicken on standing. Thin with additional broth or water, if desired.

“Beautiful soup, so rich and green
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beautiful soup!
Who cares for fish
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?”

— Lewis Carroll
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

Barley Mushroom Soup

Serves 6

Barley is such an ancient grain that historians aren’t really sure when and where it originated. Because it is a grain that is well suited to harsh climates, it has sustained cultures that arose in cold northern climates as well as desert dwellers. Today, most of the barley grown goes first to animal feed and second to the making of malt for beer. Only a small amount of barley is made into a grain for the kitchen, usually as pearled barley. Grinding the barley kernels with very abrasive disks creates pearl barley. Each time that the kernel is ground is called a “pearling.” Before it is considered suitable for quick cooking, barley must go through three or four pearlings.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl. Pour the boiling water over the mushrooms and set aside to soak.
  2. 2. Combine the onions, celery, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse to finely chop. Set aside. Place 1 pound of the white mushrooms in the food processor and pulse to finely chop. Slice the remaining 1⁄2 pound.
  3. 3. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Sauté the chopped vegetables and chopped mushrooms in the oil until they are well browned and the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 15 minutes.
  4. 4. Add the broth, barley, and sliced white mushrooms to the soup pot. Add the soaked porcini mushrooms and their soaking liquid, avoiding any grit that has settled in the bottom of the bowl. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the barley is tender, 40 to 60 minutes.
  5. 5. Stir in the sherry, dill, plenty of salt and pepper to taste, and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve hot.

“Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite.”

— August Escoffier (1846–1935)

New England Seafood Chowder

Serves 4 to 6

A New England-style seafood chowder is milk-based — never tomato-based — and generally includes potatoes and onions as well as seafood, which makes it a complete meal in a bowl. The key to a great chowder is to cook the seafood as briefly as possible, so that each spoonful contains meltingly tender seafood in a creamy rich broth.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Put the clams in a large pot with 2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the clams begin to open, about 3 minutes. Remove the open clams and continue to cook for another minute or two, covered, removing more clams as soon as they open. Discard any clams that do not open.
  2. 2. Remove clams from their shells, holding them over a bowl to catch the juices. Chop the clams. Pour all broth and juice through a sieve lined with a coffee filter or paper towels into a glass measure; this should remove all the grit. Add enough water to measure 4 cups.
  3. 3. Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
  4. 4. Pour off and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat. Add the onion and celery and sauté over medium heat in the remaining bacon fat until limp, about 3 minutes. Add the 4 cups clam liquid and potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.
  5. 5. Add the fish fillet and scallops to the pot. Simmer, covered, until the fish is just cooked, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and chopped clams. Season to taste with salt, if desired, and pepper. Heat just long enough to return the liquid to a simmer.
  6. 6. Serve in individual soup bowls, crumbling the bacon and sprinkling the parsley on top of each.

“But when that smoking chowder came in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh! sweet friends, hearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuits and salted pork cut up into little flakes! the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt... we dispatched it with great expedition.”

— Ishmael, speaking in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851)

Seafood Gumbo

Serves 6 to 8

Named for the Bantu word for okra, gombo, gumbo is a thick stewlike soup from Louisiana. A specialty born of the Creole cooking of New Orleans, gumbo often contains okra and a variety of meat or seafood. It usually includes a dark roux, a well-cooked paste of flour and oil, which thickens the stew and adds a silky texture, as well as a deep, rich background flavor. If okra is unavailable, substitute green beans or zucchini.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Sauté the onion, green pepper, celery, jalapeño, and garlic in the oil until the onion is limp, 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. 2. Add the broth, okra, sausage, tomatoes, parsley, bay leaves, thyme, cayenne, black and white peppers, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes.
  3. 3. Meanwhile, combine the canola oil and flour in a medium frying pan, stirring until you have a smooth paste. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until the paste is a rich brown. This will take close to 30 minutes. Do not let the mixture burn; the darkened roux gives gumbo its characteristic flavor and color. If it burns, you must throw it out and start over again.
  4. 4. Carefully stir the roux into the gumbo, protecting your arms from hot spatters. Add the crabmeat, scallops, and shrimp. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Simmer for another 15 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and firm and the scallops are opaque. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
  5. 5. Remove the bay leaves. To serve, ladle the gumbo over the rice in large soup bowls. Pass the filé powder and hot sauce at the table.

Tom Yum Rice Noodle Bowl

Serves 4

Thailand’s delicate hot-and-sour soup served over rice noodles is possibly the world’s finest bowl of steaming comfort. The soup has the odd quality of tasting more and more delicious as you eat. All of the exotic ingredients, including the rice noodles, are available wherever Asian foods are sold. Rice noodles are variable, however, so follow the directions on the package for cooking the noodles if they differ from the directions here.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Bring the broth to a boil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger, and crushed red pepper. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes to allow the spices to infuse the broth. Remove the spices from the broth with a slotted spoon.
  2. 2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil for the rice noodles. (Be sure to follow the package instructions if they differ from the ones given here and in step 4.)
  3. 3. Add the shrimp, baby corn, mushrooms, snow peas, chile, lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar to the broth. Simmer for about 8 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and firm.
  4. 4. Meanwhile, add the rice noodles to the boiling water, remove from the heat, and let stand for about 8 minutes, until tender. Drain well.
  5. 5. Add the scallions and cilantro to the soup. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. You should have an equal balance of spicy, sour, and salty. To serve, divide the noodles among the bowls. Pour the soup over the noodles and serve hot.

Mediterranean Seafood Stew

Serves 4 to 6

A catch-of-the-day stew is a coastal favorite, no matter where the coast. This one has the characteristic flavors of the Mediterranean, though it bears a small similarity to gumbo. Serve with a crusty loaf of bread.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté the leeks, bell pepper, fennel, shallots, and garlic in the oil until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes.
  2. 2. Add the tomatoes, fennel seeds, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  3. 3. Add the clams to the broth, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the white fish and simmer for another 5 minutes. Then, add the shrimp, cover, and cook until the shrimp turn pink, about 5 minutes.
  4. 4. Stir in the pesto. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard any clams that have not opened. Serve at once.

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I’m halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God . . . I could be eating a slow learner.”

— Lyndon B. Johnson, former president of the U.S. (1908–1973)

Chinese Chicken Noodle Bowl

Serves 4 to 6

Comfort soup, Chinese-style. Throughout Asia, chicken soup is regarded as a healing food, prepared for the sick and for pregnant women, much like the “Jewish penicillin” of the West.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the broth, ginger, garlic, sherry, and 2 teaspoons soy sauce in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 40 to 60 minutes, until the soup is fully flavored with the ginger and garlic.
  2. 2. While the soup simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles in the water until just tender. Drain and toss with a few drops of sesame oil. Keep warm.
  3. 3. Remove the ginger and garlic from the soup with a slotted spoon. Season to taste with more soy sauce and salt, if desired. Add the chicken, greens, and baby corn. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until the greens are tender.
  4. 4. To serve, divide the noodles among the soup bowls. Pour in the soup, sprinkle with the scallions, and serve immediately.

“Of Soup and Love,
the first is best.”

— Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia (1732)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 6

Chicken noodle soup is one of the greatest of all comfort dishes. The vegetables add much in the way of nutrition and heartiness to the meal. Choose whatever combination of vegetables you like — carrots and celery are classics, corn adds a delicate sweetness, greens are bracingly tonic...

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Bring the broth to a boil in a large soup pot. Add the chicken, vegetables, and egg noodles. Stir well and let simmer until the noodles and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
  2. 2. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls

Serves 4 to 6

Chicken soup with matzoh balls is an all-purpose cure — for a cold, the flu, or a broken heart. Matzoh balls are soup dumplings made from matzoh meal. Adding the chicken and greens is not classic, but it turns the soup into a complete meal.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Whisk together the oil, water, eggs, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the matzoh meal. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
  2. 2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low to keep the water gently boiling.
  3. 3. Form the chilled matzoh-meal batter into 1-inch balls and carefully ease into the water. Cover the pot and boil gently for 30 to 40 minutes. The balls will fluff up and float to the top of the pot as they cook. The only way to tell if the matzoh balls are cooked is to remove one from the water and cut it in half. It should be firm and uniform in color — no wet, dark center. When the matzoh balls are done, remove from the pot with a slotted spoon.
  4. 4. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil in a soup pot with the parsley and the dill, if using. Add the greens and chicken, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, until the greens are cooked through, 5 to 30 minutes, depending on the greens.
  5. 5. To serve, place 1 or 2 matzoh balls in each bowl and add the soup.

Mom’s Matzoh Balls

At some point in the evolution of matzoh balls, vegetable oil replaced chicken fat, or schmaltz, in the recipe. Olive and vegetable oils were scarce in Eastern Europe, so non-Jewish cooks used lard or butter as a cooking medium. For Jewish cooks, lard was out of the question because they were prohibited from eating pork products. Butter was acceptable only in dishes that contained no meat. That left chicken fat, which was cut from several chickens, then rendered by cooking it slowly with onion for flavor until it was reduced to a liquid. The fat was then strained and cooled before using.

Some say the lighter and fluffier the matzoh ball, the better. To make a lighter matzoh ball, use three eggs instead of two in the recipe opposite. To make a “cannonball,” add more matzoh meal. But two people can follow the exact same recipe and come up with different results. Why? It is all in the handling. If you want to make light matzoh balls, don’t compress the balls as you form them. Use two soupspoons to shape the mixture, and handle carefully. But note there is a fine line between light, fluffy matzoh balls and wimpy, easily crumbled ones. To make cannonballs, compress the mixture as though you were making meatballs.

Chicken Barley Soup

Serves 4 or 5

Homemade chicken soup with whole-grain goodness. This is another recipe that assumes you have homemade chicken broth and cooked chicken on hand.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms and onion in the oil until the mushrooms have given up their juice, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, carrots, barley, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes, until the barley is tender, stirring occasionally.
  2. 2. Add the chicken and parsley. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the chicken is heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and more thyme, if desired. Serve hot.

Chicken Gumbo

Serves 6 to 8

A cold gray day in Louisiana brings “gumbo weather,” the perfect time for this highly spiced chicken stew. Laissez les bons temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)

Chicken and Broth

Gumbo

Instructions

  1. 1. To make the chicken and broth, combine the chicken, onions, celery, and garlic in a large soup pot. Cover with the water. Bring just to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 hours with the lid partially on. Do not allow the soup to boil. Strain and discard the vegetables. Remove the meat from the bones and set aside. Discard the skin and bones. Chill the stock for several hours. Skim off the fat that rises to the top and hardens.
  2. 2. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion, green pepper, celery, jalapeño, and garlic until the onion is limp, about 4 minutes.
  3. 3. Add 6 cups of the prepared broth, okra, sausage, tomatoes, parsley, bay leaves, thyme, black and white peppers, cayenne, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes.
  4. 4. Meanwhile, combine the flour and canola oil in a large frying pan, stirring until you have a smooth paste. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the paste is a rich brown. This will take 20 to 30 minutes. Do not let the mixture burn; the darkened roux gives gumbo its characteristic flavor and color. If it burns, you must throw it out and start over again.
  5. 5. Carefully stir the roux into the gumbo, protecting your arms from hot spatters. Add the chicken. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
  6. 6. To serve, ladle the gumbo over the cooked rice in large soup bowls. Pass the filé powder and hot sauce at the table.

Bridge City, Louisiana, claims to be the “Gumbo Capital of the World” on the basis of its annual gumbo festival, sponsored by the Holy Guardian Angels Roman Catholic Church on the first full weekend of October each year. At the festival, gumbo is cooked daily, and more than 2,000 gallons are served each year.

Tomato Chicken Soup

Serves 4

The characteristic flavors of the sunny Mediterranean — tomato, olive oil, garlic, and rosemary — will cure whatever ails you. This recipe assumes that you have chicken broth (see recipe) and cooked chicken on hand, ready to be transformed into a delicious main-course soup.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the mushrooms, onion, and green pepper in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to give up their juice. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
  2. 2. Add the tomatoes, broth, basil, rosemary, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 45 minutes, until the flavors have blended.
  3. 3. Add the chicken and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Chicken & Dumplings

Serves 4 to 6

There are many different ways to combine chicken and dumplings. Some cooks make a chicken soup — with or without vegetables — then plop down the dumplings on the soup. The dumplings absorb quite a bit of the broth, ending up extremely tender, but the dish is quite soupy. This version starts with a chicken fricassee — chicken in creamy sauce, which again could be made with or without vegetables (this version has plenty). It is topped with dumplings, which are then steamed on top of the stove, resulting in a dish that is not too dissimilar to chicken potpie.

Chicken

Dumplings

Instructions

  1. 1. Cover the chicken with water in a large pot. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 35 minutes, until the chicken is tender and no longer pink. Allow the chicken to cool in the cooking liquid.
  2. 2. Steam the carrots and green beans until just barely tender, 4 minutes. Drain.
  3. 3. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove it from the broth. Discard the skin and bones. Chop the meat into bite-size pieces.
  4. 4. Strain the broth and discard the solids. Skim off any fat that rises to the top. Reserve 4 cups broth for this recipe and refrigerate or freeze the remainder for other recipes.
  5. 5. To make the dumplings combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat until simmering. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Pour in the heated milk mixture and stir with a fork, until the mixture just comes together. Pinch off 18 walnut-size pieces and roll each into a 11⁄2-inch ball.
  6. 6. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté the leeks in the oil until tender, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until all the flour is absorbed into the oil. Whisk in the 4 cups reserved broth and the sherry, and stir until thickened and smooth. Stir in the chicken, carrots, green beans, peas, and dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.
  7. 7. Carefully lay the dumplings on the surface of the chicken mixture. Cover and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

The Shape of Dumplings

The origin of using small lumps of boiled or steamed dough to extend soups and stews is unknown to food historians, but it is a food of such simplicity that it probably evolved independently in peasant cuisines in various parts of Europe. The matzoh ball of chicken soup fame is one type of dumpling. Gnocchi, often made of potatoes, is another type.

In the U.S., dumplings may be made of wheat flour or cornmeal. If you grew up in the South, chances are your mom rolled out the dumpling dough thin and cut it into strips, or she rolled the dough thick and stamped out biscuit shapes. If your mom grew up in the Midwest or East, she probably shaped the dumplings into round balls. Is one way better than another? Does the dough have to accommodate these different ways of finishing? After much testing, the cooks at Cook’s Illustrated concluded that either shape works just fine.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Serves 4 to 6

A quick soup for a cold night. Will knowing that the shape of the tortellini was inspired by Venus’s navel make the soup more appealing?

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Bring the broth to a boil in a large soup pot. Stir in the tortellini and cook until al dente. The timing will vary depending on the brand and whether the tortellini are fresh or frozen. The tortellini are done when they float to the surface.
  2. 2. Add the chicken and Swiss chard. Simmer until the chicken is heated through and the Swiss chard is wilted, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

“Whoever tells a lie cannot be pure in heart — and only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”

— Ludwig van Beethoven, letter to Mme. Streicher (1817)

Caldo Verde

Serves 4

Caldo verde (“green soup”) is one of the national dishes of Portugal. It is a particular specialty of descendants of the Portuguese seamen who settled along the New England coast.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the sausage and broth in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer while you prepare the potatoes.
  2. 2. Combine the potatoes with water to cover in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Boil until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and briefly mash with a potato masher for an uneven, lumpy texture. Add to the chicken stock along with the kale.
  3. 3. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the kale is quite tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. 4. Serve hot.

Chicken Provençale

Serves 4 to 6

Rich with the flavors of the Mediterranean, this chicken stew makes a fine one-dish meal. Be sure to serve it with a good loaf of crusty French bread to sop up all of the delicious sauce. A Côtes de Provence is a good choice for wine, and it can be used in the stew and for drinking with the meal.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Cut the chicken into small pieces (cut the breast into quarters; cut the thighs in half). Remove any fat, rinse, and pat dry. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Season the flour with the salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon of the thyme. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess.
  2. 2. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a single layer of the chicken and brown, turning as needed, about 10 minutes per batch. Adjust the temperature as needed to allow the chicken to brown but not scorch. (Make sure the chicken is well browned or the final dish will look anemic.) Remove the browned chicken to a bowl or plate and keep warm. Repeat until all of the chicken is browned.
  3. 3. In the oil remaining in the Dutch oven, sauté the onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and fennel over medium-high heat, until the mushrooms have given up their juice, about 8 minutes.
  4. 4. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven. Add the tomatoes, wine, garlic, remaining thyme, and bay leaves, submerging the chicken in the liquid.
  5. 5. Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender and no longer pink, about 45 minutes, turning the chicken every 15 minutes or so.
  6. 6. Remove the chicken from the sauce with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Bring the sauce to a boil and boil until somewhat reduced, about 5 minutes.
  7. 7. Remove the bay leaves. Return the chicken to the pan. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Garnish with the parsley, and serve hot.

Italian Wedding Soup

Serves 6

Greens and soup — particularly this combination of greens and meatballs in a clear broth — make a marriage made in heaven. Hence minestra maritata has been translated as “Italian wedding soup,” though it was not necessarily served at wedding celebrations in Italy, where the recipe was developed. Greens can include escarole, chard, spinach, broccoli rabe, chicory, and cabbage, so feel free to use just one or a combination of these. This updated classic uses ground turkey in the meatballs, but the turkey can be replaced with the traditional 1⁄2 pound ground pork and 1⁄2 pound ground beef.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a Dutch oven.
  2. 2. To make the meatballs, combine the ground turkey, eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper in a food processor. Process until well mixed. Alternatively, mix by hand in a large bowl. Form the meat mixture into 1⁄2-inch meatballs (the size of marbles) and add to the simmering soup. Simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 30 minutes.
  3. 3. Increase the heat slightly, add the pasta, and boil gently until the pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the greens and continue to boil gently until the greens are tender, 3 to 10 minutes longer, depending on the type of greens. Taste and adjust the seasonings, remove from the heat, and serve.
One-Dish Tip:

Tips for Making Meatballs and Cleaning Greens

When making meatballs, you will find that the meat mixture will not stick to your hands if you keep your hands wet. Keep a bowl of water next to the meat mixture into which you can dip your hands from time to time.

When preparing greens, it is important to thoroughly wash them because the curly leaves can harbor dirt. Fill a basin with cold water, swish the greens around, then lift out of the water. Strip the leaves from tough stems and discard the stems.

Beef Stew

Serves 6

Does anything say “home cooking” better than a hearty bowl of beef stew?

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the flour, 1 tablespoon of the thyme, and the oregano in a medium bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the beef and toss to coat.
  2. 2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Lift the beef pieces out of the flour, shaking off the excess, and add a single layer of meat to the pot. Do not crowd the pot. Let the meat brown, turning as needed, about 5 minutes. Remove the meat as it browns and set aside. Continue cooking until all the meat is browned.
  3. 3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the onion to the Dutch oven and sauté until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, wine, garlic, and remaining thyme. Stir to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a slow simmer. Return the meat to the pot. Partially cover the pot and let simmer until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.
  4. 4. Add the rutabagas, carrots, and potatoes to the pot and let simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour.
  5. 5. Add the peas and continue to simmer until the peas are heated through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve hot.

“Talk of joy: there may be things better than beef stew and baked potatoes and home-made bread — there may be.”

— David Gayson, American journalist, popular essayist (1870–1946)

Mom’s Best Bowl of Red

Serves 5 or 6

Chili con carne is arguably one of the few truly American dishes. Jane and Michael Stern, in the introduction to their book Chili Nation, write, “We have come to believe that chili may just be this country’s one truly shared national food. Although Tex-Mex in origin, it is a dish now found on every American table, across cultural and ethnic lines.” This particular version is made with chunks of beef, as it is in Texas. But it also contains beans, which is decidedly not the Texan thing to do. It gets its heat from fresh hot chiles, ground chipotles, and plenty of ground chili powder, which, incidentally, was devised by a German immigrant in Texas in 1902 and did much to popularize the dish.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the meat, chili powder, chipotle, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat the meat with the spices.
  2. 2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté half the meat in the oil until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a Dutch oven. Repeat with another 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining meat.
  3. 3. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet. Add the onions, bell peppers, and chiles, and sauté until softened, about 2 minutes.
  4. 4. Add the sautéed vegetables to the meat in the Dutch oven, along with the tomatoes and 2 cups of the water. Simmer over the lowest possible heat (do not boil), uncovered, until the meat is tender and the sauce is reduced and somewhat thickened, 2 to 3 hours. It is important not to rush the cooking; otherwise, the meat will be tough.
  5. 5. Stir in the beans and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt, pepper, cumin, or chipotle powder as needed. Mix the masa harina in a small bowl with the remaining 1⁄4 cup water until dissolved. Stir into the chili and cook for about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

“Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili.”

— Alleged dying words of mountain man Kit Carson (1809–1868)

Vegetable Broth

14–16 cups

When you are cooking for vegetarians, you’ll want to use a good vegetable broth rather than chicken broth for your soups. Most canned vegetable broths are dominated by one flavor — sometimes mushrooms, sometimes carrots, sometimes tomatoes. This broth is balanced in flavor and should serve as a good all-purpose foundation for soups, stews, and sauces.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the carrots, leeks, onion, cabbage, fennel, garlic, parsley, thyme, and mushrooms in a large soup pot. Add the water. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
  2. 2. Add the wine and peppercorns and continue to simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Strain and discard all the solids.
  3. 3. Season to taste with salt, if desired. Use immediately or cool, then refrigerate. The broth will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator or for up to 6 months in the freezer.
One-Dish Tip:

Fennel

To prepare fennel for cooking, slice off the root end. Then slice off the stalks, leaving the bulb, which is layered. Remove all tough or blemished layers from the bulb, usually the outermost layer. Cut the bulb in half and remove the core. Then slice or cut into wedges, as required by the recipe. Save a few fronds for a garnish.

Chicken Broth

8–12 cups

Save chicken parts, such as wings, backs, and necks, for making stock. If you are buying chicken specifically to make broth, buy dark meat. It is less expensive than white meat and more flavorful. The additional fat in the dark meat will be skimmed off and discarded. As a bonus, the recipe yields 6 to 8 cups cooked chicken that can be used in soups, salads, or any dishes calling for cooked chicken.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Combine the chicken, onion, celery, garlic, and parsley in a large soup pot. Add the water. Cover and bring just to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 hours with the lid partially on. Do not allow the soup to boil.
  2. 2. Strain and discard the vegetables. Remove the meat from the bones and save the meat for another use, such as chicken salad.
  3. 3. Season the broth to taste with salt.
  4. 4. Refrigerate the broth for several hours. Skim off the fat that rises to the top and hardens.
  5. 5. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Turkey Broth

About 10 cups

Making good use of leftovers is a skill worth acquiring. Here’s how to make soup stock from a leftover turkey carcass. Turkey broth can be used in place of chicken broth in any recipe.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1. Break the carcass into four or five pieces. Cover with the water in a large soup pot. Add the carrot, onions, celery, garlic, parsley, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 11⁄2 hours.
  2. 2. Remove the turkey pieces and strain the liquid through a sieve, pressing on the solids to extract as much flavor as possible. Season to taste with salt.
  3. 3. Remove any meat from the bones and finely chop. Add to soups or make into turkey salad.
  4. 4. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 5 months. Remove the layer of fat that hardens on the surface of the broth before heating and using.