Soup and Stew Recipes
Like peanut butter? Chicken? Then this African chicken peanut stew by Hank is for you. Perfect for chilly weather. ~Elise Chicken, sweet potatoes and peanuts are one of those magical flavor combinations that make me feel all warm and happy...
Albondigas soup is a traditional Mexican meatball soup ("albondigas" means "meatballs" in Spanish) that my mother has cooked for our family for almost 50 years. It is our version of comfort food. What makes the flavor of albondigas soup distinctive...
The foggy coastline of Northern California is artichoke country. Like finding small hole-in-the-walls that serve clam chowder in New England, here one can sometimes find local diners that sell delicous artichoke soup. I first developed a taste for artichoke soup...
Please welcome Hank Shaw as he shares his quick and easy version of the Greek classic avgolemono soup, a chicken soup with lemon and egg. ~Elise The mixture of eggs, lemon and hot broth is a classic combination in Greek...
Many recipes call for beef stock (e.g. French onion soup), but good beef stock is hard to come by, with beef prices these days, expensive to make. Beef oxtails make a wonderful stock and sometimes you can get them (try...
Looking for something celebratory? This is our take on the iconic French dish, Boeuf Bourguignon, popularized in America by Julia Child. Less of a stew and more of an event, classic beef bourguignon is beef stewed with aromatic vegetables, herbs...
What better on a chilly day than a plate of steaming hot beef stew with light, fluffy dumplings? My super-hero father decided to make goulash for us recently and when the first recipe he tried didn't work out (go figure...
Although the days are getting longer, the sun just beginning to ride a little higher in the sky, the nights are still bone-chilling. Honestly, I never look forward to winter. But when I'm smack in the middle of it, I...
As some of you may be aware, California has been hit with some stormy weather recently. We warm-weather low-landers don't do cold and wet too well and for the last several days of rainy and cold I've been craving some...
My first memorable encounter with borscht was at a pot-luck party I had in San Francisco, in which my friend Elisabeth brought a huge, must have been 12 or 16-quart, pot of drop-dead delicious, deep purply red soup filled with...
According to tradition, there should be at least five different kinds of fish in a proper bouillabaisse. In Marseille, considered the mecca of bouillabaisse, they use at least seven, not counting the shellfish. The fish should be extremely fresh...
Although at first glance it may not look like it, with our Northern California sunny skies and green lawns, winter truly is here. The leaves have all fallen. The fish in the pond are half asleep. Several of the lettuces...
The trick to great butternut squash soup is the simple addition of one tart green apple to balance the sweetness of the squash.
Gumbo! (Don't you just love the sound of that word?) Here's a classic from Hank. Enjoy! ~Elise Gumbo is one of my favorite stews in the world. There are Cajun versions, Creole versions, gumbo from Alabama and from Mississippi. I've...
I've been begging my friend Arturo to teach me how to make pozole for months now. The problem is that it is sort of like asking someone to make you "taco night". Pozole is a big production, not in the...
Chicken soup doesn't need to take hours to make. This is a simple, light chicken soup that is richly flavored with shiitake mushrooms, and brightened with fresh ginger and soy sauce. The stock is very light, and comes just from...
"Stews are your best ally for stress-free dinner parties," says Clotilde Dusoulier, of her Mustard Chicken Stew in her Chocolate & Zucchini cookbook, and I couldn't agree more. They cook happily away while you enjoy the company of your guests...
Recipe updated Aug, 2011 Chicken and dumplings - the ultimate comfort food. When we were kids, my mother used to make chicken and dumplings for us by simply adding Bisquick biscuit dough to chicken stew. We would always fight over...
It seems as if there as many ways to prepare chili as there are cooks who make chili. Ground beef versus chunks, pork versus beef, pinto versus kidney beans, beans versus no beans, red chili or green chili - the...
This year on Halloween, in my typical do-it-at-the-last-possible-moment approach, I set out to find a carving pumpkin in the afternoon only to find all of the local stores completely sold out. So, instead I bought some sort of heirloom fairy...
Every Thanksgiving, after our grand roast turkey dinner, we fill up a huge stock pot with the turkey carcass and water, and make several quarts of turkey stock for soup. Usually turkey soup is a pretty standard affair, but if...
"I'll make cioppino," my brother John announced as the family discussed what to make over the holiday weekend. "Great!" said my father and I, relieved that someone else would do the cooking for a night. "Have you ever made cioppino...
My father made this cold tomato and zucchini soup the other day. "Don't call it gazpacho." "Why not? It looks like gazpacho, but with some zucchini." "It's my soup. I made it up. It's not gazpacho. Don't call it gazpacho...
Recipe updated May 5, 2011. This is our version of a Colombian recipe (Ajiaco) that hinges on using several different kinds of potatoes, which are native to South America. The soup is served with a variety of garnishes, including a...
With sweet, fresh corn, still available at the local farmers market, we just couldn't resist trying our hands at some fresh corn chowder. The recipe is adapted from one by Mitchell Davis in Kitchen Sense and is full of flavor...
During the winter months, our local Whole Foods gets one or two shipments in a week of freshly cooked Dungeness crab. Like all seafood, crab tastes best when it is as fresh as possible. When buying crab, ask the guy...
Cream of mushroom soup was the first soup I fell in love with as a child. Of course, back then it was Campbell's. At age 8 I could make it myself, quickly learning that adding milk tasted a whole lot...
This delicious cream of spinach soup is as rich, smooth and creamy as the label "Cream of" would imply. It's basically a vichyssoise, with spinach in addition to the potatoes, and can be served either hot or chilled.
Last spring I discovered with delight wild morel mushrooms popping up in our backyard. After two winters of biking the American River bike trail looking for edible mushrooms, having been bit by the wild porcini bug on forays in Northern...
Here's another recipe from the archives while I'm on vacation. Enjoy! ~Elise Spring here means strawberries and rhubarb, sweet peas and asparagus, and dreams of the summer bounty to come. Asparagus are everywhere, big, fat, and fresh. And yes, although...
Looking for a special soup to serve over the Thanksgiving holiday? Consider this creamy sweet potato soup seasoned with nutmeg and maple syrup. We found this recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit and made it this weekend. I...
In honor of my friend Barbara and her efforts with the food blogger Taste of Yellow event raising awareness for Lance Armstrong's LiveSTRONG Day, I set out to make a vibrant, yellow soup. This curried potato soup is filled with...
One of the things I love about butternut squash, or any winter squash for that matter, is that they're practically indestructible. They last for months. You can harvest one in November and still find it perfectly good to eat in...
Tis the season for squash and pear. My friend Lorenza gave me this recipe back in the spring, when neither were in season. I finally made it last week, and it was lovely! Similar to the spicy pumpkin soup I...
My father has been making this soup for several years now. It is incredibly easy to make, given how tasty the results. The key ingredient is the clam juice, though I have prepared it for people with shellfish allergies substituting...
Please welcome guest author Garrett McCord as he shares his favorite Chinese egg drop soup. ~Elise In college one of the dishes I relied on was my own version of egg drop soup. It was simple, tasty, comforting and (most...
A few weeks ago I was wondering what to do with the end-of-season eggplants, tomatoes, and chiles from our garden and stumbled across this recipe from Food and Wine, which also calls for pomegranate molasses. The recipe comes from the...
Hank introduced me to this Brazilian black bean stew a couple months ago and I couldn't stop eating it. It is outstanding. And perfect for the chilly weather we're having these days. ~Elise This is another of those big, hearty...
My first job out of college was in Boston, in the financial district downtown. My local friends did their best to initiate this wide-eyed Californian into New England traditions of every sort, especially food. We feasted on indian pudding at...
The trick to a great French onion soup is starting with good stock. French onion soup is usually made with beef stock. I've made delicious soup with stock from the leftover rib and chine bones of a rib roast. Another...
Gazpacho soup was invented for the summer. Refreshingly cold on hot summer days, this adaptation of the classic Spanish cold tomato soup deliciously combines the best of summer vegetables. Make sure you only use the freshest, highest quality ingredients for...
Another hearty stew from Hank Shaw. Enjoy! ~Elise Green gumbo, or gumbo z'herbes, is a Lenten tradition in Louisiana. Ironically, it is not always vegetarian, as this hearty stew is often served on Holy Thursday to fortify the faithful for...
What to do with leftover Easter ham? If it's still chilly where you are, warm up quickly with a simple potato leek soup with some added chopped ham. This is one of our standby recipes when we have extra ham...
Oxtails! My oh my how I love oxtails. We grew up with oxtail stew, a deeply rich, hearty stew perfect for cold days. You don't find them that often in the market, so when they appear I'll usually pick up...
What is it about September that the minute it's no longer oppressively hot we can't wait to make a slow-cooked, braised stew? Perhaps it was that these lamb shanks had been sitting in our large freezer all summer long, and...
Please welcome guest contributor Garrett McCord as he shares this recipe for a Chinese American favorite, hot and sour soup. ~Elise Hot and sour soup is a lot like chili; every family has their own recipe, and each family thinks...
Years ago, when I was in college, I was told by my Chinese doctor to make soup from scratch for my health (the reasons too long to go into now). In his words, "get beef bones and boil them". The...
There are several ways to make chicken stock. Two of our favorite methods are presented here. The first method uses the leftover bones from a chicken carcass and vegetables, and takes several hours of slow cooking. We often use this...
Years ago, on a little island off the coast of Marblehead, Massachusetts, a friend's aunt showed me how to eat a lobster, including the fine art of sucking the tender meat and juice out of the spindly legs. It was...
Homemade stock almost always tastes better than boxed or canned, and this is never more true than with vegetable stock. In the case of chicken or beef stock, the stock comes from cooking bones in water on low heat, for...
"Have I got the best recipe for you!" my friend Tomas announced, upon his return from a trip to photograph vineyards in Italy. "It's an Irish beef stew," he added, "and it's the best thing I've ever had." Apparently the...
Around St. Patrick's Day I notice many people coming to this site looking for an Irish lamb stew recipe. After some experimentation and a lot of research into Irish stews, I've settled on a stew that has its roots in...
Brrrr, it's cold outside. We had a warm spell for a few days, sunny, high 60s, but now the storms have returned and Sacramento is getting a good chilly drenching. Perfect timing for a big pot of warm and filling...
Goat meat is the best! Please welcome Hank Shaw as he takes us through a wonderfully spicy way to prepare goat. ~Elise “What are we going to do with this goat?” Elise asked. Her acupuncturist Steve had given her an...
When I was a kid, my mother often used to add sliced raw jerusalem artichokes to our salads. I have no idea why. She doesn't do it any more, and hasn't for years. At the time I just thought they...
We first posted this kale soup recipe four years ago and it has since become a regular winter staple in our home. Roasted vegetables, puréed and then cooked with broth, kale, and white beans make up this hearty soup. Of...
Burgoo! Just word itself sounds like there should be a song about it (and there is). If you are unfamiliar with the concept of burgoo, it's Kentucky’s most famous stew, usually made for big gatherings (such as Derby Day) in...
These days when I step outside, I just want to turn around and go back in the house. Sacramento makes up for its blazingly hot summers with foggy, gloomy, dark, dismal, chilly winters, perfect weather, come to think of it...
I'm in serious weather denial. With what seems like the fourth storm this week to hit California (is Noah building his "arky arky" yet?) I'm still puttering around the house in shorts and flip flops, and dreaming of good times...
According to food historian and blogger Janet Clarkson, the very first printed recipe for chowder appeared in the Boston Evening Post in 1751. Written as a poem, it described a stew with onions, pork, fish, herbs, and biscuits (hard tack...
According to the Wikipedia, minestrone is an Italian soup made with fresh seasonal vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes. There is no set recipe for minestrone, since...
Mom and dad are both sick this week with a "rotten cold" that is keeping them feeling pretty miserable - coughing, sneezing, grumpy, etc. Mom made a delicious chicken soup today with just chicken broth and vegetables, no chicken meat...
From the recipe archive. Happy Thanksgiving! ~Elise Every Thanksgiving my mother takes what's left of the turkey carcass and makes a delicious turkey soup that we enjoy for days. The first step is to make the stock, which you can...
It seems like every culture with a coastline has their version of a seafood stew. The French have bouillabaise, the Portuguese bacalhoada, New England "chowdah" and San Francisco cioppino. In Brazil, they make moqueca (pronounced "mo-KEH-kah"), a stew made with...
New England boiled dinner is a one pot dish consisting of corned beef or plain beef brisket or smoked picnic ham shoulder, with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. When made with corned beef, it's an Irish-American corned beef and cabbage dish...
Revised and updated, Jan 27, 2009, in honor of the Year of the Ox Have you ever had oxtails? Most people I know haven't even heard of them, which is really quite a shame. Think braised beef short ribs, but...
When I told my friend Becca that I had made oyster stew, she looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and asked, "well, did you like it?" As I nodded yes, she added laughing, "it's a lot better...
Green is the color of Ireland, which you understand immediately if you've ever been there or even flown over it. Looking over the land from several thousand feet up, one cannot but be struck by the patchwork of vivid shades...
A stew with sauerkraut, a whole head of cabbage, and 3 types of pork? You should have seen my dad's eyes when I told him Hank was making this recipe for us. Enjoy. ~Elise Also known as bigos, this hearty...
Years ago when I spent a summer studying Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico, my Mexican teacher told me that it was much easier to pronounce the language properly if you smiled as you spoke it. She was right! Good thing Mexican...
Potato leek soup is so easy to make and delicious too. This recipe can be prepared in 40 minutes or less.
Hank made this seafood bisque for us the other day and it was so outrageously good I begged him to make it again. I served some of it to a friend from Provence whose eyes lit up upon tasting it...
Have you ever tried cooking with smoked paprika? A few months ago I posted a recipe for roasted chicken with smoked paprika in which I told how I first encountered smoked paprika in a kumara soup in New Zealand. Like...
I have been bugging Hank Shaw for years for a good rabbit stew recipe and he's finally delivered. Thanks Hank! ~Elise At the BlogHer Food conference recently, I asked Michelin-starred Chef Dominique Crenn what dish she was most proud of...
Fall is here and it is soup season once again. This roasted eggplant and tomato soup recipe is a terrific recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. The flavors of the roasted tomatoes, garlic, carrots, chickpeas, and curry combine beautifully...
Recipe updated Aug 31, 2010 The inspiration for this recipe comes from my mother's friend Claire, who grows beautiful red bell peppers in her garden. She brought over some soup for us to try and a recipe. Over the years...
In Bahia in Northern Brazil, there is a savory fish stew called "Moqueca" that they make with local fish. Fernanda Guimaraes Rosa, who writes the Brazilian food blog Chucrute com Salsicha, brought a Vancouver friend's salmon version of Moqueca to...
The debate didn't last long. "You could have used boneless beef short-ribs. You're paying for the bones when you buy them bone-in," my mother remarked in while we were all enjoying this wonderful stew. "It's better with the bones," my...
Making soup doesn't have to be difficult, and if you are working with fresh, high quality vegetables, you don't even have to add stock. This cauliflower soup couldn't be easier; just blanch cauliflower florets for a few minutes, purée them...
The cool weather has finally arrived here in Sacramento, and with it the first rains of the season. Goodbye fresh corn and tomatoes, and hello stew! Over the years several of you have requested slow-cooker recipes and I've had to...
A little trivia here. What makes a bisque a bisque and not a chowder? Both bisques and chowders are made with seafood and vegetables, with a cream base. Chowders tend to be more stew-like or chunky, and bisques puréed. Bisques...
With shorter days and colder nights, this richly flavorful lamb stew with butternut squash is a great way to fill up and stay warm.
Is it stew weather? I think it's finally stew weather here at least. This morning a thick, chilly fog bank settled on the northern central valley and didn't lift until after 10. We actually made this stew in early summer...
I love pumpkin soup, don't you? This recipe is adapted from one featured in Oprah Magazine. The original called for the soup to be served in roasted carved-out sugar pumpkins - a nice touch, but a little overkill for my...
I will be the first to admit that I love my mother's turkey soup, the one she makes with the turkey carcass and leftover turkey from Thanksgiving dinner. That said, by the time the fourth day of eating leftovers comes...
Those of you who have been reading Simply Recipes for a while probably sense (rightly) that my father is a committed carnivore. Thus you may appreciate that dad, spending an afternoon making this vegetarian chili with vegetables that he had...
If you have friends growing zucchini, right about now they are probably delighted, bordering on desperate, to give some of it away. Especially problematic are those huge, baseball bat-sized monsters, that appear out of the blue when you've neglected to...
There's something about winter that just begs for the making of split pea soup, wouldn't you agree? Like the proverbial groundhog, who failing to see his shadow, retreats into the comfort of his burrow, in the chilly, foggy dampness of...
There are two butchering seasons for lamb, fall and spring. Most of our lamb stew recipes are fall recipes, heavy on the root vegetables. But even though spring tempts us with flowering dogwoods and daffodils, there's still plenty enough blustery...
Welcome spring with this savory soup from Hank. ~Elise Minestrone is one of my favorite soups, and it is infinitely malleable with the seasons. This version celebrates springtime, when fresh, new vegetables begin to show up at the market. I...
Every time I take a cooking class from Sacramento chef Evie Lieb I'm inspired for weeks with new ideas and recipes for bringing out the best from ingredients. This summer pea soup is an Evie inspiration, a re-creation of soup...
September is tomatillo season around here. Little green lanterns hang from our tomatillo plants like ornaments on a well decorated Xmas tree. Do you ever cook with tomatillos? They look like smallish green tomatoes, and are even called "tomate verde...
In spite of the unusually poor tomato season this summer (mild summer translates into not enough heat for their ripening) we have still managed a bountiful harvest from our garden. And while the taste of our raw garden tomatoes might...
Tortilla soup encompasses all the things I love best in Mexican cooking. Do you like salsa? avocado? cilantro? fresh hot tortilla chips? Tortilla soup is like a soup version of my favorite enchilada, with chicken, and tortilla chips. And avocado...
Updated, from the recipe archive. First posted in 2005. ~Elise One of my father's favorite dishes to make in the winter is a hearty turkey stew with lots of root vegetables like rutabagas, turnips, and carrots. It's warming, filling, and...
Usually after Thanksgiving we have plenty of leftover turkey and enough turkey stock for several days of dishes. Today I whipped up some turkey white chili, based on our chicken white chili recipe, but made it with cooked turkey meat...
Church book sales are a great way to pick up cookbooks at bargain prices. Ours was last weekend and we found the Food and Wine Magazine's 1999 Annual Cookbook for a dollar. What a deal! Most of the recipes in...
My father found this recipe by Wolfgang Puck, who says that he got this recipe from his mother. It's really an excellent vegetable soup. Surprisingly tasty.
Summer has officially arrived, and with it, the dry summer heat for which Sacramento is so well known. Chilled soups were invented for hot days like these. Vichyssoise, a chilled creamy potato and leek soup, was created by a chef...
One of my earliest memories as a kid was my father taking the family out on excursions to Antelope Valley, about an hour and a half outside of Los Angeles where we lived. We used to go out there to...
We've had some wonderfully cold, rainy, winter storms here lately in Northern California. This soup is the perfect hardy accompaniment to a cold winter day. Note, this soup is the kind that is much better the next day, as the...
Is it that time of year yet for hearty soups? Maybe, maybe not. In any case, this one is a family favorite, combining a potpourri of colorful vegetables with the creamy texture of white beans.
My friend Steve-Anna, who has been tempting me with tales of her white chili for years, finally sent me the recipe. It originally comes from the Beyond Parsley, by the Junior League of Kansas City, MO. Both she and I...
With all the hot weather much of the country has been experiencing, we thought we'd suggest a gazpacho, a chilled soup, one that you can make quickly, with minimal use of the stove. Not all gazpachos are made with tomatoes...
